If you are a manufacturer: Please consider using PFDs on your models in your magazine and Web print. Even a message about water safety is a step in the right direction. The B.A.S.S. industry has done a great job in promoting PFD’s and water safety. Even if you are a rod, reel, line, or fly manufacturer, please consider this in your advertising.

If you are a sales rep: Help spread the word. Make copies of this letter and send it to your customer base. This would be the quickest way to get the message out.

Hopefully my message will make an impact on you. I was not paid by any PFD manufacturer to send this. It is my way of doing something in Mark’s memory.

Please contact me if you have questions or ideas. Thank you for your time.

Sincerely,

Tom Malech
Owner
San Jose Fly Shop

Watch Your Backside
By Shawn Alladio

I was pushing my stand up Jet Ski (Personal Watercraft) in waist deep water in Long Beach, California. We call them 'skis' when referencing our stand-ups personal watercraft, a one person 'boat' with a handle pole. I was walking along the inshore section of Marine Stadium. Fortunately for me being an athlete my physical conditioning was in top form and I was wearing a full wetsuit and lifejacket at the time.  

There were people on the beach watching me, my mood was charged, it was a good day, I was having fun, my family was there, I liked my new wetsuit which I just bought, a big investment at the time. I was in my own space pushing the ski, heading back to our beach chairs ahead, thinking about my riding. There was a precise moment when time began to shift. It was the beginning of shock, something I can translate as a definitive change in dimension where time becomes expansive. (cont.)