Still Skunkless on Willard 4-22-21

[Tin-Can]

Pat, my son and I float tubed for an hour today as well. It was his maiden voyage and he had a blast. He missed a few hits working a jig and I missed my only hit I got. I am thinking it was a wiper. We launched almost directly from the fishing pier in the north marina, just on the opposite side, outside the marina, on the main lake. Nice report
Gabe

Sounds like you got your son's new tube all put together.  Glad he likes it.  It will be nice if you guys can share some more tubing trips.  I got my kids out in tubes as soon as they were up to it.  And even had a 3-generation outing a few times.  Here's a picture of one trip down in Arizona...with one of my sons and a grandson.  Good memories.

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Pat, those auto inflate PFD's do work. I learned that about 2 years ago when I got "launched" off the back of my boat at Mantua while leaning over the motor to clear grass off the prop. 
Glad your inflation wasn't due to a needed case of falling out of your tube.... 

Me too.  I bought that model PFD because it was red...matching my tube.  It had good reviews from other users so I was confident that it would do the job if needed.  But there is always that question in the back of your mind..."Will it work if I need it?"  And when it went off promptly after slipping into the water my first thought was "Well, it worked.".  My second was "Glad I found out this way than the other."

   Pat, just some info you may find valuable:  When I accidently water tested my PFD at Mantua, I learned an additional valuable lesson. My PFD inflated as advertised, kept me afloat BUT it dang near strangled me.  When it inflated, it blew up around my neck so tight, I had to release the buckle so I could breath. So it would have kept me from drowning, but had I been unconscious, it would have choked me to death.  I bought a new one from West Marine, longer in the sides with the head support pillow and a wider opening in the front like a old horse collar.  This new one, I inflated it manually by blowing it up with my little pancake compressor to see how tight it got around my neck. Much better.   A bit pricier than my first one, but now maybe I won't drown, or choke. 
Recommend you test fit your PFD with it inflated. You can either blow it up by huffing and puffing, use a small compressor, or pull the cord.