Pond Skating

Apparently there were a few people skating out on the lake yesterday afternoon and the kids are sort of eager to go -- me too, to be honest. So I was looking up information on the ice conditions but HRM hasn't started measuring ice depth yet, due to the warm weatherso I moved on to ice safety. Maybe there are some reliable ways to guage the safety of the ice without going out and buying an auger. Probably not.

I got a kick out of the advice found in Safe Sport.co.uk. As far as I can tell it is either some sort of NGO, or a bored parent. Apparently their experience with water is rather limited.

If a friend falls through the ice when pond-skating, do not go out on the ice to help. Instead, you should, "Provide the victim with something to hold onto such as an emptied plastic milk jug or soda pop bottle to keep them afloat. Once safely afloat, toss the person rope or a branch."

Call this a general disclaimer, if you will. If I ever fall through the ice I will not consider you negligent if you skip Step One and jump right into Step Two. If you do happen to have an empty plastic milk jug in your hand (you know who you are) feel free to toss it to me, but don't wait until I am "safely afloat" before proceeding to Step Two. Finally, an "emptied plastic milk jug or soda pop bottle" cannot under any circumstances be substituted with beer, wine or liquor bottles regardless of whether it is in your hand or not.

Play safe, kids!