The Meet Up

EMMA'S BOAT

Part Three

Back in the boat and zooming along the water I was still very conscious of the life jacket but it was a relief to be away from the crowds. It was still an extremely weird sensation to be tightly strapped into the jacket, but having been through the ordeal on shore I was no longer embarrassed out on the water. Looking over at Steph it seemed she was in a very different place. Steph was fidgeting with her life jacket constantly: twisting in it left and right, pulling on the foam pads on her stomach, and pulling at her crotch strap. It was really hard not to somewhat enjoy her discomfort. She had no idea how easy she was getting off.

It was then that Emma’s phone started ringing. She had it propped up on the dash but had to bring the boat to a stop to be able to talk on it.

Emma picked up the phone and held it to her ear as the boat slowly drifted to a stop. Now more or less over the lifejacket I was genuinely enjoying the sunny day on the water.

“Heyyy! Ya we are out right now… like halfway to the up the bay”

Emma pulled the phone back from her mouth and looked over at us. Mike and Jamie are out on Mike’s sea doo wanna go meet up with them?

I had met Mike and Jamie the week before, I was not so embarrassed in the jacket any more but I wasn’t so sure I wanted to hang out with people I knew like this. I was busy trying to think of a reason to say no when Steph started to speak up.

“Owww I dono, I was kinda thinking we might just hang out alone today... “

Then it hit me again, the desire for revenge against Steph. Steph didn't want to be seen in her jacket? Makes sense, it definitely felt awkward when I had to walk past dozens of people. She wasn’t getting off easier than I did. No way.

“Ow I'm down for sure, sounds like fun” Steph was much closer friends with Mike and Jamie, this would be way more embarrassing for her than it would be for me.

It was all the feedback Emma needed. “Ya sounds good we will meet you over at the Cove!”

Emma tossed her phone back on the dash and we were off again. Steph gave me a look of confusion but then just kinda sank back into her seat. I swear as we shot over the water that she was fidgeting with her jacket more and more the closer we got to the cove.

A few minutes later I got my first look at the cove. It was on a heavily treed and undeveloped part of the lake and consisted of a pair of high cliffs with a large bay between them, the cliffs came out into the lake so that the entrance was only about twenty meters across.

We were still a ways away from the Cove when the SeaDoo came scooting across the lake to meet us. Emma brought the boat to a stop so they could come up alongside us. Steph looked like she was trying to sink down into her seat.

The SeaDoo pulled up alongside them as the boat still bobbed in its own wake. Mike was driving and Jamie was hanging onto him sitting on the back. Both had lifejackets on but they were very normal ones, much like what Emma had one. Nothing like the child vest that Steph and I were strapped into.

“Hey Guys!” Mike looked like he was having the time of his life driving the sporty watercraft. “What’s the plan?”

Emma stood up facing them from the driver's seat. “Want to head into the cove for some cliff jumping? “

“Hell ya!” Mike was apparently into that idea as he immediately restarted his seadoo and sped off toward the high rocky outcrops. Emma restarted our own boat and followed at a more conservative pace, slowing way down as we approached the entrance and pulling the motor right up out of the water to avoid the shallow rocks. Again I was struck by her skill with the boat as we drifted over the shallow areas with just enough speed to clear them and allow her to drop the motor back down into the water.

Looking around the cove there were lots of large rocky cliffs, but no obvious spot to jump from, everything sloped down to the water pretty gently.

“Where are we going to jump from?”

Emma turned to answer.

“Up the river a ways, there’s a perfect spot where the cliff juts out over the water and it’s really deep. We’ll leave the boat here, there’s a trail we can hike up, then just float back down here again. It’s not too far, like a fifteen minute hike, but you float for a ways because the river kinda curves around and makes a big loop. It’s a blast there are some rapids that you go down and everything. Bank can be a bit hard to climb up out of but otherwise it’s perfect for jumping.”

She slowly brought the boat to a stop as we pulled up close to the shore. The bank here was pretty steep and went down deep right away, so it was relatively easy to jump from the boat to shore. Emma set about tying the boat to a nearby tree.

Standing up on the shore the strap between my legs was brought up tight again, it was pretty easy to forget about while sitting but standing and walking around with it it was impossible to ignore. Aside from the obvious effects of having it pulled up tight; bunching up my shorts and causing a very awkward weggi, it also caused the jacket around my torso to pull down tightly on my shoulders, adding to the bulky restricted feeling of the jacket.

As the others pulled up to shore a short distance away it was pretty obvious that the kiddy life jackets were going to have to be acknowledged. As they climbed to shore Mike took a minute to tie up the smaller craft the same way Emma had, while Jamie started to walk over. Jamie looked a little confused as they approached and looked me up and down

“So ahh, Kiddie lifejacket eh?”

“Ya... Emma’s brother took the other ones so there were all we had…” I tried to act normal but it was all I could do to avoid squirming around in the tight fitting jacket. Steph did a full on ‘turn and look at something interesting in the distance’ move. Unintentionally giving Jamie a very open view of her wedgie from behind.

Starting right at Steph’s behind Jamie just raised an eyebrow.

“Looks comfy” the tone was heavy with sarcasm.

I rolled my eyes and tried to brush it off. “Honestly it’s not bad”

“If you say so” Jamie didn't look at all convinced. Looking back over at Steph and continuing the question “are those really not too small for you guys tho?”

Emma walked up and cut in at this point “I know right? I was surprised they fit into them. I was really worried we wouldn’t be able to go out today when I realized Adam took the real ones with him. At least that Steph fit anyway” Emma pointed at me. “You’re tiny, I wasn’t so worried there.”

“Ow ok fuck you too” Steph’s tone was joking

“I just mean you aren't actually the size of a child!”

“No kidding” Steph’s last response was more of a murmur, as she pulled at the shoulders of her vest. Mike was walking over and as we turned to him I noticed Steph’s left hand drop to her waist, pulling on the buckle of her crotch strap for the briefest of moments.

As Mike walked up to us I saw he had five plastic helmets in a variety of colors in hand.

“Are you guys ready to go?” He seemed to notice the kidy jacket’s just then shooting a questioning look at Jamie, who just shrugged, but not saying anything. Overall the interaction went about as well as I could have hoped. Steph was a bright shade of pink.

Mike tossed a faded blue helmet to Jamie and handed the other three over to Emma; one black and the other two bright orange, keeping a black for himself.

I made a face as Emma handed me a bright orange one. “Helmets too?”

“If you’re jumping off the cliff ya, you want a helmet”

By this point I had learned my lesson and just put the damn thing on. Placing the plastic bucket over my head and feeling around for the chin strap. I got it buckled easily enough but was struggling to tighten it up, this time it was Mike who walked over to help; reaching under my chin and pulling the strap tight for me. In keeping with the rest of the day it ended up just a touch tighter than I would have liked.

“There ya go kiddo” Mike gave me a pat on the shoulder of my children's life jacket. I didn’t appreciate the joke.

The helmets consisted of a heavy plastic shell with a dense but soft padding inside, it came down over my ears on the sides and wrapped noticeable around my face. It even had a small built-in sun visor. The chin strap had a large pad on it , so it felt like my head was now wrapped in foam in the same way that my torso did with the life jacket.

Looking over I saw that Steph had received the other bright orange helmet. Emma apparently decided she would prefer the neutral black one for herself.

With everyone ready it was apparently time to start the hike up to the top of the cliffs.

Chip Stand Expedition

EMMA'S BOAT

Part Two

As Emma throttled the boat up and pulled away from the dock I couldn't help thinking about the Life Jackets we were wearing. It was so strange how normal they seemed to Emma and Steph. In my mind they were juvenile at best and at worst downright embarrassing. The jacket was extremely bulky and noticeably limited my movement. It felt weird, the padding pressed up against the seat was reminding me of its presence. Emma had tightened up the straps significantly, almost to the point of discomfort, though the jacket was actually not uncomfortable, it just felt awkward being strapped into it, and it was impossible to forget you had it on. The fact that Steph was also wearing one made it much less embarrassing, I caught myself wondering if she felt as weird about the jacket as I did, the nonchalant way she had donned the vest seemed to imply that she was more ok with it than I was, not to mention taking Emma’s side when I complained about the tightness of the between the leg strap.

Steph and Emma were attempting to have a conversation over the sound of the boat's motor, I wasn't really paying attention, being more preoccupied with the mess of foam and straps secured around my torso and running between my legs.

Emma called to Steph to look at something off to the right and Steph got out of her seat and walked over holding onto the windscreen for balance as she did so. Again I noticed how the bright yellow strap that passed between her legs stood out against the shiny black of her swimsuit. Looked like I wasn’t the only one with a bit of a wegie. I was struck by how surprisingly long that strap was as she bent over next to Emma to look at where she was pointing.

I was snapped out of my trance when Emma turned to me and called me forward to look as well. As I stood up, my own overly long ‘between the legs strap’ tightened up again. The bulk of the life jacket reminded me of its presence by interfering with my arms as I reached for the side of the boat for balance.

Emma was pointing at a restaurant with a dock they sometimes would eat at while boating, way across the lake. She was half yelling over the sound of the boat. “Are you guys hungry at all?”

I replied “not really but I can get a fry or something if you guys are, I'm easy” I returned to my seat before hearing Stephs response. I wanted to sit down again to loosen that long strap between my legs. It still just felt odd, particularly when I looked down to see the long purple strap cross the lower part of my stomach and curve down between my legs. I noticed that my purple strap contrasted the white shorts I was wearing even more than Steph’s yellow on black. Looking at Steph I could see again how it looked from behind and couldn't help but think about how I looked the same. Though I had to admit again, once I sat down, that it was not uncomfortable at all. I just felt really embarrassed with it on.

Sitting in the back I was able to forget about the jacket for a few minutes, enjoying the hot sunny day and being out on the water. I could see why people were so into this, the boat was really flying across the water, it was a great way to spend a summery day. My brief respite was cut short as Emma turned the boat causing a shift in the wind. I was startled as something suddenly smacked into the back of my head. Turning and reaching behind me I realized the wind was pushing the collar of the life jacket up against my head. I pushed it back down annoyed, only to have it pop-up again. I repeated this several times before giving up. ‘Great’ I thought ‘now I have a big yellow collar. I got up and made my way to the front of the boat, the collar pressed up the back of my head the whole way. After making it to the front of the boat I forced the collardown behind my back and lay down on top of it on the reclined seat so it couldn't flip up. What I failed to predict was that laying down was like standing up and made the strap between my legs tighter. It was giving me a bit of a wedgie and I started to pull at it, trying to loosen it or make it more comfortable. I was still totally unsure how Emma had adjusted it, as far as I could tell it was a fixed length. I pulled at the plastic buckle a bit, I wanted to just unclip it but that seemed taboo based on Emma’s earlier reaction. Suddenly realizing that I was now at the front of the boat though and in full view of Steph and Emma, I stopped fiddling and just put up with it.

Emma and Steph must have decided food was worth getting as we were headed right that way and now getting quite close. A few minutes later Emma pulled the boat into the restaurant dock. She yelled over the engine as she throttled down.

“We’re just gonna grab some snacks to go from the stand”

Emma knew how to handle the boat, she docked it perfectly, coming to a stop just off the floating dock. Steph was first out grabbing the rope that Emma tossed her. I got up from my seat and followed. Jumping over to the dock. Emma reached over, handing me the rope for the front which I went about tying off. As I bent down the collar from the jacket fell onto the back of my head again. I was more than ready to take the jacket off. But, having already made a scene, I figured I would wait for Steph and Emma to take theirs off first.

As I stood up however it was looking like this might not be the case, Steph and Emma were both still wearing their life jackets, and they were walking down the dock toward shore. I really, really, didn't like the idea of walking around the somewhat busy area strapped into a children's life jacket; complete with a large collar and strap between my legs, and I strongly considered taking mine off, but Emma and Steph had both been so weirdly hostile about a minor complaint earlier. After a brief moment of internal struggle I let out an “ugh” and hurried after them; my life jacket still on, all bucked up securely.

I caught up to them as they were making their way up a wooden set of stairs to the restaurant and chip stand. Steph's life jacket looked so out of place, with the strap standing out against her swimsuit and it’s large yellow collar and grab loop. I was trying desperately not to think about how mine must look the same.

As we got to the top of the stairs I glanced left at the restaurant just a couple meters away. It had large floor to ceiling windows and in the direct sun they reflected back my own image like a mirror, against my own judgment, and without wanting to, I stopped and stared. An 18 year old in a tightly secured bright yellow life jacket with contrasting purple straps. Complete with a large collar, grab loop and a crotch strap. The purple strap around my waist was tight enough that it visibly squished the lifejacket inward, not a little, a lot, it was obvious in the reflection two meters away. The collar didn’t lay completely flat down against my back the way I thought it did, rather it went out at a sort of 30 degree angle, sticking up and out away from me like a peacock's tail. Worst of all, the purple strap against my white pants was even worse than I had thought. Not only was it totally impossible to miss the vibrant purple on white, ironically one of my favorite color combinations, but it was bunching up what were meant to be relatively loose shorts. It looked every bit as tight as it felt, slowly I turned to see my back, twisting at the waist to look at the window still so that I was twisted around like I was posing for a photo. The purple strap was pulling down on the back of the jacket, pulling the bottom edge of the jacket down into a ‘V’. The jacket only came down to about the middle of my back. The strap ran the rest of the way down, first against my yellow shirt, then over the white pants, finally disappearing into a wedgie. My yellow T Shirt was even worse than my white pants, it made the purple really pop. I could not have picked a worse wardrobe for today. My wedgie was plainly obvious from the back. I was in the middle of pulling on it, trying to pull the strap out of my but when I realized it was a window I was standing in front of. Leaning in a bit I saw someone staring right at me. Turning quickly I walked away as fast as I could without running.

Catching up with the others at the chip stand I realized I was still pulling at the strap between my legs and forced myself to stop. Looking at Steph’s crotch strap I now realized it was definitely not remotely as tight as mine. Nor was her waist strap. It wasn’t squishing the lifejacket the way mine was; and her crotch strap was not pulling down on the back of her jacket or disappearing up into a wedgie like mine.

Emma was just finishing her order. Looking at the menu I wasn’t able to begin to make any decisions. Standing in my life jacket in front of some teenager, who had to be at least three years younger than me, the best I was able to manage was “Small fries please” , fishing out my wallet and paying. Standing around waiting for our orders, I swear every third person was staring right at me. What on earth were Steph and Emma chatting so casually about?

Food finally in hand, it was everything I could do not to run back to the boat. Passing the store I couldn't stop myself from looking at our reflection. Again I was shocked at my appearance, the purple strap stood out against the yellow and white like an advertisement. Steph’s jacket was definitely not as tight or noticeable as mine. I managed to wait until we were making our way down the stairs, with Steph and Emma ahead of me and out of sight of the restaurant, before I started to pull at my crotch strap again. I didn’t think Emma would notice if it was like half an inch less tight, but for the life of me I couldn't figure out how to get it to loosen.

Back at the boat I finally resolved to try again with the tightness of my jacket. Rolling my shoulders and unable to fix my wedgie I pleaded with Emma.

“Emma, I really think this life jacket is a bit too tight” I was pulling at the foam on the front, twisting, and trying to adjust the jacket.

Emma turned to face me, looking a little annoyed but not hostile. Wordlessly she took two steps over and stuck her finger in under the arm whole, presumily seeing if she could feel space between the waist strap and me. Then moving behind me she grabbed the shoulders and yanked up hard twice. Making my wedgie much worse.

“It’s totally fine. That’s how it’s supposed to fit. Does it hurt at all?”

“Well no...” It didn't hurt per-say

“Then quit complaining, seriously...”

It was more than I could take. “Well what about Steph!”

Emma turned, looking much more annoyed . Steph didn't wait for her to respond though.

“What? What about me?”

“Your jacket is WAY looser than mine.”

“Is not”

A now thoroughly annoyed Emma walked over to Steph and repeated what she had done to me, pulling on the waist strap and yanking up on the shoulders. Her expression changed as she pulled the jacket around and lifted it, ever so slightly, off Steph’s shoulders. Steph looked more than a little put off at the procedure.

“Ow wow, ya Steph you are a bit loose.”

“Wha-?” Steph tried to object.

Emma was already going. “Hold still let me fix it”

Steph’s face was a mixture of shock and embarrassment as Emma set about “fixing” her life jacket. This had not been my intent at all but it was hard not to feel some satisfaction after Steph had shut down my complaints so harshly early that day. Emma followed the same procedure she had with me starting with the belt around Steph’s waist. She pulled hard on the loose end and I watched several inches of slack pull through easily. Steph was holding onto her food and drink trying not to spill as she was yanked about. Then Emma gave it several good hard tugs, taking off just a bit more slack and making the strap squish Steph’s life jacket in the way mine did. Steph’s arms were spread out from her sides slightly. She looked like she wasn't sure what to do. She was just kinda standing there awkwardly as Emma worked around her. This time I got to see how the crotch strap worked as Emma unclipped it and spun Steph around so her back was to us. There was a little clip that moved along the strap. The strap came down from the back of the jacket, went through the buckle then back to this clip. The more this clip was moved away from the buckle the shorter the crotch strap was. It was no wonder I hadn’t been able to get it to loosen. It also explained why Emma had undone mine when she tightened it up. Emma eyeballed Steph’s crotch strap and slid the clip a good few inches back, dropping the crotch strap and letting it swing as she spun Steph around again. Steph had no time to react as Emma’s hand shot between her thighs grabbing the dangling strap and pulling it up to the buckle. Like she had with me Emma had to hold the female end of the buckle in her other hand and pull down to clip in the crotch strap. Finally she finished up by retying and tightening the drawstrings at the top and bottom of Steph’s vest. Emma proceeded to check over her handywork; checking the waist belt and giving Steph’s jacket a couple good tugs upward from the shoulders.

Steph let out an “Ugh” when Emma yanked on her jacket's shoulders and bent over slightly immediately afterward.

“Ok there we go. Seriously Steph I thought you would have your jacket on correctly. You have come boating with my family before”

‘Ya I have but this is a bit tight Emma” Now it was Steph that was pulling at her crotch strap awkwardly and looking embarrassed. Her drink now in the crook of her other arm as she squatted slightly.

Now at this point I had a choice and I’m not really sure why I did what I did. But I had already been through, what I saw as, the worst of it. I had been gawked at by strangers and paraded around in this state. And Steph had shut me down when I made similar complaints.

“Now, Steph, we need to be safe, and you can hardly ask Emma to disobey her parents' wishes the first time out with the boat.”

Steph just looked at me and stared. Emma, not hearing the sarcasm in my voice, made a satisfied noise and jumped into the boat. Now, strangely, enjoying Steph’s situation more than I was put off by my own, I climbed aboard after her. Steph followed rather awkwardly, pulling at her vest and squirming about.

Ready to go

EMMA'S BOAT

Part One

The Lifejacket in Emma’s hand wasn’t something I would think of as normal to wear; at least not when you were eighteen years old, for a young kid sure. Steph had mentioned that Emma could be a little hard to handle before but I hadn’t really hung out with her much, so I was finding her a little hard to read. 

I had moved to the area for university and had shared a major and class with Steph, she was from the area and had been introducing me to others around the town now that the school year was over.  As an overseas student I was staying the summer and not traveling home.  Emma had invited the two of us out to go boating on her parent’s new speed boat, to celebrate the end of the school year and the start of a very promising summer.  This was very exciting to me as I had never been boating before.  There was little to no water back home and the idea of big lakes was exciting.

Steph and I had driven out to meet Emma at her parent’s cottage.  Gravel crunched as we pulled up into the driveway at the cottage. Emma’s car was already parked in front of the building.  I stopped the car and Steph was out and heading down to the dock before I had even finished putting it in park. I followed a few moments later at a more casual pace.

We spotted  Emma down by the boat, it was raised above the water in a lift.  She was digging around in the seat compartments, I saw a couple life jackets under her arm and figured she was making sure we had enough onboard.

The boat looked like it was really something, I didn't know much about boats, but it had a polished wood dash and nice big sunbathing deck at the back.  There was a bench seat across the back, a passenger seat next to the driver seat, and two bigger recliner seats in the very front that were more like lawn chairs. 

As we approached her Emma slipped a life jacket over her shoulders, it was a yellow jacket with three buckles on the front.

“Hey guys!” Emma was waving.

As I arrived at the end of the dock Emma was busy buckling up the life jacket she was wearing.  She clipped all three buckles and actually took a moment to pull the straps, tightening the vest up. She made it surprisingly tight, really yanked on the straps.  They were visibly squeezing the foam of the jacket. 

“Are you guys ready to go? Just keep in mind that we are not breaking ANY of my dad’s rules, I am not losing boat privileges.”

Steph made a face at her “God I am so ready for an entire summer of this, your dad is cool with us drinking on the boat right?”

Emma gave Steph a deadly look.

“I'm kidding! I'm kidding!” Steph looked over at me and rolled her eyes. 

“Ok so here's the deal” Emma bent down retrieving the other life jackets from the ground "My brother took three of the other jackets with him canoeing so these are all we have-- sorry..." 

I wasn't sure what she was apologizing for at first. 

Emma held up the other Life Jackets, one in each hand. 

 

In her left hand was a vibrant yellow jacket. It had a zipper and purple strap around the middle, a bright orange whistle hung from the zipper, at the top it had a large collar with a grab loop, and a long purple strap hung down from the back of it. A buckle was positioned on the front of the vest pointed downward. The long strap clearly passed between the wearer's legs.  It was the sort of life jacket you saw kids wearing.

The other life jacket was nearly identical, it was a slightly more muted yellow with a thick red stripe up the right hand side. The strap around the chest and matching strap for between the wearer's legs were the same yellow, it also had a big collar with a grab loop and a long tie at the base of the zipper. It looks a little larger than the first but both were obviously too small for adults and intended for kids. At least so I thought.

“What do you guys weigh?” Emma was actually examining the labels on the inside of the jacket, I had to assume we were over whatever the printed maximum was.  

“I’m 145” Steph offered up.

I just shrugged “110” 

Emma squinted at the labels and made a grunt of approval. “Ow wow, great these both actually work for either of you, I was a little worried about that” She held the jackets out at arms length for us. 

Steph reached out and took the second of the two; the more muted yellow one with the red stripe and yellow straps. It was the larger vest and she was the bigger of the two of us standing at 5’8” to my scrawny 5’1”. She just laughed as she took the jacket. "Aha great, the kiddy lifejackets, perfect." Sarcasm heavy on her tone. 

I took the other jacket as Emma handed it over, it looked as though it was obviously too small to fit, but I figured we probably just had to have them with us.  I was surprised to see Steph slide her left arm through the jacket and pull it up onto her shoulder. She was reaching around with her right arm trying to get it through the other opening, but the small jacket was making it awkward to reach. 

Emma noticed and jumped in to give her a hand. Taking the too small life jacket in one hand and Steph's arm in her other.  Emma manavered Stephs arm through the opening and pulled the jacket up around her shoulders for her.  With Steph now managing, Emma turned to see if I needed any help.  

I was still holding the jaket in my hands, somewhat surprised that Steph was actually putting it on. 

“Do we need to wear them? I’m probably ok without it myself?” It felt a bit strange to contemplate actually wearing what was clearly a child’s life jacket. Even to someone who had never been boating it was obviously a life jacket for a child. 

Emma gave me a surprisingly stern look, “Ya. We one hundred percent need to wear them, it’s the number one rule for my parents with the boat.  Besides the fact that you should definitely always wear it anyway. Would you get in a car without a seatbelt?” 

“Ok fair enough, I guess”

I did have to admit that was a fair point, I wouldn't get in a car and not wear a seatbelt, though a seatbelt was much less bulky and awkward than even a normal life jacket. 

Holding the jacket open it really did look too small, I seriously questioned whether it would fit at all.  

“Here,” Emma walked over, apparently taking my hesitation as a sign that I needed assistance. She took the jacket from me and held it up with the front open for me to slide my arms through. 

Looking at the jacket in her hands it really wasn’t something I would think of as being normal to wear; at least not when you were eighteen years old, for a young kid sure. It was so glaringly juvenile, the vibrant yellow and the bright purple straps made the thing really loud to look at. The hood with it’s grab loop and the long strap hanging from the back of the jacket, which obviously went between your legs, were such giveaways; it was obviously meant for a kid.

Feeling awkward I turned around and, looking over my shoulder, slowly lifted my arms, lining them up with the holes. As I stood there Emma moved in and maneuvered the jacket up over my left arm.  I started to twist around to look over my other shoulder but as I did so I felt Emma grab my right forearm and start pulling on it firmly; bending my elbow and shoulder a bit further back than they wanted to go to get my arm through the other hole in the, obviously too small, jacket.  A moment later I felt her passing my hand, and then my arm, through the opening. As Emma pulled the jacket up over my shoulders and wrapped the front around me; I was stuck by the bulk of it.  A good two inches of foam in the large pads over my chest, and it felt like a couple more inches in a pad across the top of my back just below my shoulders.  The rest of the back had no foam at all, just thin fabric.  

To my surprise, I was able to close the front relatively easily. There was a bit of resistance as I pulled up the zipper, but it did definitely fit. The strap around my waist was another story altogether; it was about two inches short of reaching the buckle.

At this point I was surprised to see Steph pass the long yellow strap between her legs and clip it into place at the front of the life jacket.  Up to this point it hadn't occurred to me that we would bother with the between the leg strap part of the jacket. 

Turning back to my own jacket I let several inches of slack out of the chest strap and managed to get it buckled into place easily enough. Then, in a moment of uncertainty, I twisted around and felt around the back of the jacket until I found the top end of the long strap hanging there. Again I thought about how the jackets were clearly meant for kids, it felt weird to do up a strap between my legs. Steph had done hers up but it just seemed over the top. 

I had the strap hand but was just holding it awkwardly.  I was still uncertain and was leaning toward just letting it hang. Or clipping it into the buckle without passing it between my legs.

Looking over at Steph she was tying off the little string at the base of her jacket. Emma had the boat lowered into the water and was looking about ready to go. 

 

I just shrugged.  It all felt a bit ridiculous but whatever.   Awkwardly, I crouched down slightly and reached around behind me passing the strap through my legs to my other hand. Standing back up I now had the buckle end of the strap in hand.  I found myself looking down at the bright purple clip in my hand; the end of a long strap now passing down between my legs and disappearing from view.  It made a loud snap when I pushed the clip into the waiting buckle on the front of the jacket. 

With my kiddie life jacket now thoroughly secured around me I turned to follow Steph onto the boat that Emma had lowered into the water.  She looked about as absurd as I felt, her lifejacket was glaringly obvious, the first thing you saw when you looked at her, the collar and grab loop in particular. The yellow strap between her legs stood out strongly against her black swimsuit. It really felt odd to me but seemed to be normal enough to Emma and Steph.

As I was about to climb into the boat I was suddenly stopped short.
Emma had grabbed my life jacket as I was walking past. "Hey you, hold up!"
She pulled back on the jacket causing me to stop and take a couple quick steps back before turning to face her.

"You're a bit loose there, like really loose”  

Emma was grabbing the strap going around my chest. Which had just enough slack that the buckle, while done up, was hanging sideways a little.

“Here,"  Emma took hold of the loose end of my jacket’s chest strap in one hand, and grabbed the buckle firmly in her other. Then she proceeded to pull, hard, on the strap, pulling three or four inches of strap through the slider. Then she yanked on it a couple times; to get  maybe another quarter inch through.  I could feel the jacket squeezing in around me. The strap was pressing into the foam, squishing it. 

"And you completely missed the draw string" Emma dropped down, taking a knee in front of me so her head was about level with my stomach, and proceeded to pull tight and double knot the string tie I had missed around my waist. This didn't do all that much but it did cause the material of the jacket to cinch up tight against the small of my back and my stomach.

“Jeez you're as bad as Tim '' (I knew from Steph that Tim was Emma’s eight year old baby brother) I didn't think the comparison was really justified. I thought she was done but then to my surprise she unbuckled the strap that went between my legs letting it fall loose. I now felt really embarrassed for doing it up, assuming she had undone it because it was unnecessary. 

“Ahh I wasn’t going to bother with that one but I wasn’t sure” I tried to make light of having done it up. And started to turn away to get into the boat.

“Wow hold up, No, you have to actually wear the jacket properly”  Emma grabbed my life jacket again and pulled  herself back to her feet stopping me. “Hold on”  She squatted down again behind me as I stopped, confused.

“Wha, sorry I thought-- what are you?”

“Just let me fix this strap”

I felt her pulling on the strap hanging from the back of the jacket.

Then she was beside me and passing the long strap back through my legs to the front. I was confused as to what she had done but as she pulled the strap up towards the buckle I felt it come up tight against me, even before she got it snapped in place. She had shortened it; where before it had clipped in and hung loose below me, now it felt like it would be too short to reach the buckle. Emma did however manage to get it buckled, taking the waiting femail end of the buckle in one hand and the clip in her other, pulling it up firmly and snapping into place.  The crotch strap was pulling tightly up into me. It felt like I had a wedgie.  She couldn't be serious.  

Emma pulled herself up by my life jacket again and once standing gave it a good shake to make sure it was tight. 

It was a strange sensation to say the least. 

"There ya go, that's better"  she gave me a big smile and a shove toward the boat.  The strap between my legs was definitely giving me a wedgie, I hadn’t realized I’d been bending over as she did it up but as I half stumbled toward the boat I straightened up and the strap got even tighter, I pulled at it but there was no obvious way to loosen it.  

“Ok this is too tight, Emma hold on, how do I loosen it?” 

Emma walked past rolling her eyes and climbed into the boat.  It was Steph that spoke up.

“Oh quit being a baby about it, it’s just a life jacket.  It isn’t fair to ask Emma to risk getting in trouble.”

That seemed unfair, I wasn’t suggesting taking the jacket off. 

“Are you coming or not?” Emma was at the steering wheel. 

Not wanting to make a big fuss, I reluctantly stopped fidgeting with the strap and followed, moving the two steps to the edge of the dock and climbing awkwardly down into the boat.

Enjoying Consequences

PAIGE'S MISCHIEF : LIFE JACKET VIDEO

Chapter One, Part Four

Paige stood on the edge of the dock, tightly strapped into the, slightly too small, CrewSaver SuperSafe Life Jacket.  The jacket was incredibly secure, it was bulky, with large foam panels on the chest, heavy duty straps and buckles. It had an extremely bulky collar, it was thick enough that it rose from her shoulders right up to her chin.  Unlike the other lifejackets which had collars that flopped down over her upper back this one wrapped tightly around her head, coming forward past her chin.  The jacket was noticeably too small, so the collar was tight around her; as a result Paige could not easily rotate her head to look left and right.  She had to lift her chin up to get it  over the thick foam collar which left her looking up at the sky with her neck stretched and her chin resting on the foam.  To avoid this she had to turn her whole torso left and right to look around more than a few degrees.  

The dock was deserted, it had been a beautiful day but clouds had rolled in and it was cooling off now without the sun. The jacket was very warm though and she was thankful for its insulation.

The jacket did not come down particularly far over her torso, it covered only her chest and upper back, leaving her stomach and lower back out in the open, covered only by the thin one piece swimsuit she had borrowed for the day.  The bulkiness of the jacket on her upper body and around her head made her feel somewhat top heavy and awkward.  Most of the jacket’s floatation was in the thick panels over her chest and the thick collar around her neck and behind her head.  The Jacket came up over her shoulders and connected to a thin but dense foam panel that made up the back of the jacket and wrapped around the sides under her arms. 

The life jacket also had an integrated harness: It consisted of a heavy duty black fabric strap that went around the base of the jacket, wrapping around roughly the middle of Paige’s torso.  In the front it passed over the lifejackets flotation and was secured with a metal buckle. As it wrapped around to the back it passed through a heavy fabric tunnel on the outside of the jacket’s dense flotation panel.

In the front there were four fabric loops around this strap: two hung downwards ending in buckles.  The other two ran upward, turning into straps like the one around her torso, disappearing into the fabric of the jacket and running up and over each shoulder.  They were visible again on the back of the jacket, where they connected in a V just beneath the lifejacket's thick collar, in the small of her back.  At the junction of this V was a heavy metal D ring to secure a teather.  A third thicker strap came down from the bottom of the V making a Y.  This strap ran vertically all the way down the back of the jacket; disappearing briefly under the heavy fabric tunnel of the horizontal strap around her torso. On the other side of the horizontal strap it emerged again, now as two slightly thinner straps, that traveled beyond the bottom of the jacket down the length of her lower back, passing under and between her legs, and then coming back up in the front where they were clipped securely into the buckles that hung from the front. The result was a tight web of heavy duty straps, wrapped around her torso and the jacket’s bulky flotation. It was an extremely snug and safe feeling being strapped into it.   The harness also had a fabric loop in the front to lift someone from the water, in the back the vertical strap that made up the bottom of the Y served the same purpose before it met the horizontal strap and changed into the two crotch straps.

On top of all the foam and straps the jacket had two large air bladders on the front, these were currently inflated and made the jacket even more bulky.  they bulged out from the front of the jacket over Paige’s chest and blocked some of her downward visibility.

Paige twisted around in the jacket, enjoying the bulky, secure, comfort.  She pulled absently at the ends of the straps running down from the waist belt.  Everything was very tight and secure. There was no one around and she stepped up to the edge of the dock looking down at the water below.  There was a bit of wind now and the water was no longer still, small waves were breaking against the dock. Paige was a strong swimmer tho and was hardly concerned about it anyway while strapped into such a ridiculously over the top lifejacket. 

Twisting at the waist to look around at the empty docks one last time Paige turned back to the water and stepped confidently out into open space.

It was about a five foot drop to the surface. With the weather cooling off the water was significantly warmer than the surrounding air.  The warmth of the water was the first sensation Paige had as her feet first broke the surface of the water, her legs and torso charging quickly after.  A split second later, just as she felt she was fully entering the water, she felt the lifejacket start to take over, pulling aggressively upward against her momentum and trying to tip her back.  She had just enough speed from the fall to be totally underwater for a brief moment, not even long enough to get her bearings, before the jacket yanked her to the surface. Blinking the water from her eyes Paige found herself on her back: her torso in the warm water just below the surface; her legs outstretched, hanging down below her slightly; the lifejacket tight around her upper body; the collar holding her head, a cross between a pillow and a neck brace.  

Paige squirmed a bit in the jacket.  It was wrapped around her securely and there was no conceivable way she could slip out.  The flotation was wrapped tightly around her upper torso: wrapping over her shoulders and around under her armpits; secured in the front with a metal buckle and heavy zipper.  The harness of heavy duty straps wrapped around on the outside of the foam, providing another layer of security, and passed between her legs, stopping her from sliding out, keeping her firmly inside the jacket.  

It was so comforting, Paige just floated there enjoying it for a while.  It reminded her of one time in school when the teacher had them meditate, she felt like she was falling and yet supported and held.  Between the collar, behind her head and around her neck, and the inflated airbags, over her chest, her head felt swaddled in floatation.  With the waves gently rising and falling she felt like she was a baby being rocked, like she could drift off to sleep in the warm water. 

She was pulled from her reverie by the sound of voices and footsteps above her.  Paige's eyes shot open, suddenly aware that she was floating around relaxing while strapped into a children's life jacket in a public place. She tried to turn and look behind her, restricted by the bulk of the Life Jacket it took her a moment as she had to her body a hundred and eighty degrees.  The voices were getting fainter now, a pair walking down the dock she had just jumped off. They had not stopped moving or talking so it was an easy conclusion that she had not been noticed but she suddenly felt very exposed. 

The dock was supported by large wooden poles and was a good five feet above the water here.  Along the side it had horizontal boards right down to the water line.  Paige forced herself onto her stomach and made a couple strokes toward the dock, swimming in the jacket was cumbersome at best but the waves helped propel her the short distance. A brief moment later Paige took hold of one of the horizontal boards and used it to push herself underwater, a surprisingly difficult task, and kicked to push herself under.  The jacket popped her back up so fast she barely made it under, nearly bumping her head on the board as she came back up.  Now under the walkway and hidden from sight by the casual passerby Paige felt more at ease.  Beneath the dock it was a somewhat dark and gloomy maze of wooden boards and supports.  The water was still warm and it rose and fell with the waves, which were continuing to pick up, such that Paige found herself in a somewhat interesting world of shifting water and wooden poles. 

The dock went along parallel to shore; on her left was open water beyond the wall of horizontal boards, on her right was a concrete retaining wall that she didn't know was there but made sense with the water deep enough for boats.  Having never been under the dock before Paige was unsure about the depth of the water under there, waiting until the water fell between waves she pushed herself down from a nearby support beam and reached with one foot as deep as she could to see if it was reachable.  Her toes found nothing but cold water as the next wave passed under the dock and the Life Jacket firmly pulled her back upward.  Knowing that the water was still too deep to reach the bottom somehow made the jacket more cozy.  

Glancing around Paige was a little lost for what to do, the jacket was super comfy and she loved being in it in the water but she was getting a little bored of just twisting around and squirming in the water. 

The dock went along the shore almost all the way back to the shop.  Looking at the maze of poles Paige decided to start working her way in that direction, it was something to do at least and she couldn't stay all night afterall.  

Swimming under the dock was tricky, it was almost like an obstacle course with the jumbled wooden beams and the rising and falling water.  After a few minutes Paige realised it was easier, and more fun, not to actually swim but to use the posts, pushing off of them to travel from one to the next. The waves were constantly pushing her toward the retaining wall on her right so she had to keep moving left to compensate as well. She was intentionally timing her jumps from post to post to coincide with the waves coming under, it made progress more difficult but it was fun to fight against the lifejacket as it caught the wave and tried to pull her off to the right.  She could kick and stroke as hard as she could, but without fail the buoyancy of the jacket would get carried away by the wave, dragging her with it. It felt like a giant grabbing her and pulling her back. She was having a lot of fun now. 

As the dock neared the end of the marina area close to the shop she had taken the lifejacket from, it sloped down to eventually meet the beach.  Paige realized she was making significant progress as the ceiling was getting much lower.  Wondering about the depth of the water again Paige repeated her experiment from earlier waiting for a gap between waves and pushing down on a support post to get her toe as deep as she could, this time using both hands and managing to get her face underwater.  Still nothing but cold water, too deep to reach the bottom, this time it surprised her as she couldnt be too far from the beach.  She was happily surprised she had failed to reach the bottom, it made the jacket feel more important, like she needed it or couldn’t escape it’s flotation.  Paige took a break from her obstacle course progress and just squirmed around in the jacket a little again.  It was fun to pretend to try and get out, or to actually try to get out but without undoing any of the buckles or straps.  Pulling on the shoulders and squirming around in a futile escape attempt without any leverage in the deep water was exhilarating. The jacket still picking her up and dropping her in the waves, she closed her eyes again, enjoying the jacket immensely and floating free in an open space, just out of reach of any support beams.  After a moment of distracted squirming the waves shoved her into the retaining wall. It wasn't a particularly hard hit and it was cushioned by the Life Jacket but the sudden introduction of something solid startled her.  She had been enjoying the sensation of floating freely in open water.  Paige rotated onto her back, laying her head on the collar and letting the jacket hold her, she put her feet on the wall and pushed off hard, sailing back out into the open space and going meditative again, wriggling around and enjoying the jacket some more.  Again though after just a moment she was pushed into the wall. Paige repeated this once more becoming more frustrated with the tight quarters under the dock.  She considered heading back out to open water but knew she couldn't relax out where she could be seen. Annoyed Piage looked around for a solution with no expectation of actually finding one.  What she needed was something to hold her off the wall, a rope or something she could tie to the jacket, she didn't have a rope.  There was the lifting strap on the lifejacket tho… Twisting Paige turned to face the nearest post and awkwardly swam over to it, the lifting strap was not long enough to wrap around the post, let alone tie off.   Besides, if she tied it off there would be a post right in front of her.  Annoyed but already trying to think of more solutions Paige resumed working her way slowly along the dock, the ceiling kept getting lower, making her think she was nearing the beach, but every time she tried to reach the bottom it was too deep to touch with her toes.

After a few minutes of working her way from post to post Paige was back to just enjoying the jacket, squirming from time to time and fighting the waves. The roof was low enough now that she could put her palm flat against it when the waves picked her up, she still couldn’t touch it in the gaps between the waves. 

Paige had her toe down again searching for the bottom in the, still cold, deep water. Every time she tested the depth and found that she couldn't touch the bottom she found herself squirming in the jacket for a few minutes.  This time, as she squirmed about enjoying herself, a particularly big wave came through, leaving only a couple feet of space between the water and the ceiling, it picked her up, her head almost brushing the ceiling.  As it did she noticed a broken horizontal beam: It ran about a foot below the ceiling; from the retaining wall on the right to the wall of horizontal boards and open water on the left; connecting several of the vertical posts. But it was snapped off halfway between two of those posts, the rest of the beam was missing save a small piece hanging from the last beam on the left.  As the wave dropped her back down she leaned back to look back up at it again, it was about three feet above her now and it looked like the grab loop on the front of her jacket might just fit over it.  Excited by the idea Paige treaded water in place waiting for the next wave to experiment with hooking the jacket onto the beam.  

The next wave wasn't nearly as big as the one before, but as it picked her up she reached up and got a hold of the beam easily enough. Pulling herself up high enough to get the loop to the level of the beam was another story tho.  She had a hold of the beam so the lifejacket wasn’t supporting her weight anymore, but her arms were fully stretched out. She could pull herself up a bit if she really tried but not high enough to get the grap loop, in the middle of her chest, up to the beam. And she definitely couldn't do it while keeping a hand free to actually put the loop over the end of the beam.  She hung from the beam as the waves fell away down to her waist, then rose back up to chest level several times. None of them quite big enough to really lift her, though they did take a little weight when they rose. After hanging there for a few minutes another big wave finally came through.  This one coming up to her chin and lifting her by the lifejacket.  It was all she needed.  Keeping hold of the beam with one hand to get herself lined up, and taking hold of the loop with her other, The wave lifted her right up the ceiling and she slid the loop cleanly over the beam.  Letting go she allowed the wave to carry her off to the right, the loop sliding over the beam. No sooner was it over than the wave fell away, dropping her. Paige started to fall with the wave and was caught short in mid air by the, now hanging, lifejacket.  She was left suspended above the surface as the water fell back down to her waist.  In the open air the jacket, now harness, took much more of her weight.  She couldn't squirm nearly as much as she could in the water, also in part due to the beam that was right in her face.  She had hung in the air in the jacket before, briefly, when Tim had hauled her out of the water by this same strap, but that had been for just a moment.  The integrated harness had her hanging in the same position the jacket would hold her in the water, her torso at about forty five degrees with her legs hanging below her. It was much harder to move around than it was in the water. The straps between her legs were giving her a wedgie, she tried to pull herself up a bit, first by the shoulders of the jacket which amazingly were still tight over her shoulders, then by the beam, she was getting to be pretty tired out tho and after a moment of hanging by her arms she just slumped into the jacket/harness and hung there, squirming a bit uncomfortably from time to time.  

She couldn't decide if she liked it or not. The water wasn’t lifting and dropping her anymore, the waves rose up to her chest, but not high enough to lift the jacket, and then dropped down to her waist.  Paige squirmed around some more trying to get comfortable, then took a deep breath and went limp, relaxing, letting her arms hang by her sides, leaning her head back and closing her eyes, trying to relax.  It wasn’t uncomfortable but it was kinda boring. She was just deciding that she had enough when she was startled by another big wave in her face, this one came up to her chin again, lifting the lifejacket, and Paige, up so her weight was off the loop and she was floating again. She was immediately aware of how much better the jacket was in the water and was thoroughly enjoying the relief from hanging in the air as she suddenly slammed into a wooden pole.  The wave had carried her toward the retaining wall, the grab loop sliding freely along the broken beam, she had been pushed right down the beam all the way to the next vertical post.  As the wave fell away again, the grab loop went taught once more over the beam, the water dropped back to her waist and she hung, suspended in the air once again.  Now a good distance down the beam, far from the gap she had slipped the loop over. 

Twisting to look left down the beam she had slid down Paige immediately felt some concern, It wasn’t all that far but moving while hanging in the jacket was difficult. 

“Shit” She thought to herself clutching the beam with her arms and kicking in the water with her feet to keep herself oriented. Letting go of the beam she fell into the harness again, it was definitely less comfortable than being in the water, she couldn't rotate her torso while hanging from the loop, which meant she couldn't really look around without doing a pull up.  The straps between her legs were much tighter hanging in the jacket than floating in it, grabbing the shoulder of the jacket she tried shifting and squirming a little. There wasn't any give.  Paige briefly considered just taking the jacket off, but that would leave it hanging from the beam above her and she wasn’t really sure how easily she could then retrieve it while swimming.  It would be at the limit of what she could reach from the water.  Plus the idea of swimming instead of floating in the water was really undesirable at this point, especially with how tired she was getting and how rough the water was getting. 

Taking a breath and resolving to try and make some progress Paige took hold of the beam with both hands and pulled herself up, the slack came off the loop but now what?  She couldn’t hang on with one hand and couldn't make the strap move with her hands otherwise occupied.  She tried to push it with her face but wasn't able to maneuver well enough.  Letting go she fell back down into the harness again and immediately struggled rather aggressively. Hanging in the jacket was starting to grow on her a little. 

After hanging limp for a moment to rest Paige reached up again and took hold of the beam pulling herself up as high as she could this time.  With some squirming and exertion she managed to get her forearms over the beam. So she was almost hugging it rather than holding onto it.  This was easier to maintain and got her face right up against the beam.  The loop was slack in front of her now but she definitely couldn’t move well enough to push it with her face. Actually between the beam and the collar she could barely move her head at all, she was stuck l;ooking almost straight up, just able to see the strap on the top of the beam.

Squirming rather aggressively Paige managed to get the strap to move down the beam a little.  She was twisting back and forth, walking her forearms along the beam a little with each twist, pulling the strap along a few inches at a time.  It was working slowly. 

Paige was genuinely exerting herself doing this, she was breathing heavily and very focused.  She had to twist aggressively to make the strap move inches at a time.  Then she had to make a little hop to walk one forearm then the other down the beam a little.

As she worked her way slowly along the water was still rising and falling up from her waist to chest.  Paige was getting exhausted and frustrated, she just wanted to be free of the beam, the water was warm and inviting, it was easy to squirm around it, relaxing.  

Tired out and about halfway to the gap Paige let go of the beam and hung in the harness taking a break. She couldn't help squirming a little and mostly just hung limp and relaxed, her eyes closed.  She was really thirsty and tired but she was also enjoying the sensation of hanging in the jacket now.  It was much more restrictive than floating and there was something enjoyable about that.  If it wasn't for the fact that she was dreading the effort of escaping from the beam she thought it could actually be enjoyable. Unconsciously she took hold of the shoulder straps of the jacket and twisted around gently.  Enjoying the extra restrictive situation.  She was just thinking that all that was missing was the sensation of being pulled along that the waves provided when, as if on cue, the next big wave came surging through and picked her up.  There was just a second of blissful enjoyment before Paige realised she was being pulled back along, her eyes snapped open and she grabbed the beam, stopping herself in the midst of the wave.  It surprised her how strongly the wave pulled on her as she clutched the beam.  For the brief moment that it lasted it was nice to be floating again. As the wave fell away Paige kept hold of the beam sparing herself another pull up.  Hanging by her arms again she resumed her slow progress back to the broken end of the beam. 

Moments later a now exhausted Paige found herself back at the end of the broken beam, with just a few inches to go.  Hesitating at the edge Paige let go of the beam, letting the harness take her weight one last time.  Holding onto the front of the jacket with her arms and thoroughly enjoying the sensation of hanging in the harness.  Looking down she could have sworn she was somehow much higher than she had been when she managed to get up there.  The three or four foot drop somehow looked like at least 5 or 6 feet. After a few moments, a little halfheartedly, Paige reached up grabbing the beam and taking her weight off the jacket, she leaned forward trying to slide the loop of the lifejacket off the end of the beam but the splintered end kept catching the strap.  After a few failed attempts Paige was starting to become frustrated again. Putting one hand on the end of the bean and using the other to take most of her weight off the strap she pulled hard; it worked, the strap slid free of the beam and suddenly Paige was free falling down to the surface. Despite freeing herself intentionally the sudden fall shocked her and as she hit the water she was in pure panic mode. The life jacket's impressive flotation stopped her even going completely beneath the surface, after a second or two of panicked falling and splashing Paige found herself bobbing in the water once again, supported by the lifejacket. 

Despite being tired out by this point Paige was still really enjoying the lifejacket, It was like knowing she had to get up in the morning but not wanting to leave a warm and cozy bed. Reluctantly she made her way down the sport remaining section of the dock. Letting the jacket take her weight again and casually drifting from pole to pole. She wondered what it would be like to sleep in the jacket, floating out in the open sea, or perhaps a warm pool. The idea was appealing, it was such a cosy sensation being strapped into the vest. At the end of the dock at last Paige had to use her arms again to push herself underwater against the floatation of the vest.  Kicking to get under the wall and back out into the open. As she cleared the dock the jacket yanked her back onto the surface without a moment's hesitation. Blinking water from her eyes Paige was relieved to see the beach was empty.  Though that was quickly followed by regret that she would have to remove the vest.  Despite wanting to prolong her swim she made her way to the beach quickly concerned that someone might come along. Moments later she was standing on the sandy ground removing the vest. As she returned the jacket to the shed and went to get changed she again began to attack the problem of how to purchase a vest for herself.  oOr get into one again;.  tThere was always a chance Tim would ask her to do more videos, it probably depended on how the first ones went over.  Maybe there was something to be done there.  Regardless Paige was pretty confident she could come up with something. 

Protracted Events

PAIGE'S MISCHIEF : LIFE JACKET VIDEO
Chapter One, Part Three

The life jacket in Tim’s hands definitely looked too small for Paige. Tim had used the phrase ‘squeeze her in’ and if it was even possible that had to be the correct wording. That said the obvious sizing issue was in the back of Paige’s mind. The front of it was occupied by thoughts of what it would be like to be strapped into the bulky looking life jacket. It was very different from the others; and it intrigued her. It was bulky and yellow. The waist belt had a buckle like the inflatable; Two metal parts that passed through each other, not a normal clip. The collar was huge and thick, it didn't look like she would be able to turn her head with it around her neck. There were large pieces of velcro on the front; their function not immediately obvious. It had two long straps hanging from it, to go between your legs and stop you from sliding out the bottom.

Paige wanted to try it on, she wanted to try it on badly. But she was already embarrassed about how much she had enjoyed wearing the others. And she was nervous that her little swim had already seemed odd. There was no way she could ask to try it on without it seeming weird. And yet there was nothing she wanted more than to do just that. She figured she had about a half hour left in her Doing a video instead of sweeping up the shop ought to seem normal enough.

She had to make this sound casual.

Paige glanced at her watch, realized she wasn't wearing one, and then went for it anyway.

“What time is it?”

Kyle answered “Twenty after four, you were done twenty minutes ago.”

“Keeping you overtime,” Tim joked. He hung the jacket back up and flopped down into a nearby chair.

That didn't work but she was committed now.

“Actually I have to wait around for my ride another half hour anyway” She paused trying to seem casual. “I actually have time to shoot one more video if you wanted me to-- You know while you have me here.”

There was what felt like an unnaturally long pause, Paige was just starting to think she had made a big mistake.

It was Kyle to the rescue. He shrugged. “I could shoot one more now if you want, easy while I have the camera here”

“Yea okay” Paige had not meant to respond again, that was weird, but it seemed no one took any notice of her overeager voice.

Tim, fortunately, was more than happy to keep the ball rolling. “Hey why not?”

A Moment later Tim was following Kyle out of the shop with the life jacket in hand. Glancing back at the wall behind her Paige caught herself wondering how she could go about buying a jacket for herself without it seeming strange. Tim seemed comfortable enough to make nothing of it, but how on earth would she explain to her parents. Tim was already out the door so turning away from the wall Paige hurried to catch up. Jogging after them down the boardwalk, in her borrowed swimsuit and bare feet, she was struck by how unrestricted and exposed she felt without a life jacket on, the knowledge that that would soon change made her stomach and knees feel funny. The contrast between jogging along like this and wearing the bulky vests was extreme.

Paige hardly caught up with Tim and Kyle before they were ready to go. She came to a stop on the dock again next to Tim. Trying to get another look at the jacket in Tim’s hands she was caught off guard when he suddenly started talking to the rolling camera.

"Hey everybody! Tim from Nova Sailing and Yacht Club here with Paige again to teach you all about the different PFDs and Life Jackets available on the market and in our shop down Marian road!”

Paige quickly composed herself trying not to look awkward in front of the camera

“Today we have an offshore model that is great for children or teens out on sea voyages."

Tim held up the bulky yellow life jacket; with it’s large collar and dual leg straps hanging down.

"This is the Crewsaver Supersafe. We have models that fit infants to teens. This model supports teens up to 110lbs or 50kg for you metric users. So it’s actually a bit small for Paige here, but being such a fantastic vest I actually have high expectations for it. Let's see if we can squeeze Paige in, and get an idea of how it performs in the water."

Tim held out the life jacket and Paige, feeling numb, slid her left arm though the hole. Turning her back to Tim as she did, he brought the jacket up over her shoulders, holding out the right hand side for her other arm. Still dripping wet Paige reached behind her sliding her right arm through the jacket. As the jacket wrapped around her she was struck by how soft the material was on her bare skin. Moving around her Tim then zipped the two halves together. The vest was definitely at it’s limit. Tim didn’t exactly yank on the zipper; but Paige could feel the extra force he had to exert; holding the bottom of the vest with one hand and pulling up hard on the heavy duty zipper to seal the two halves together. As he pulled the zipper up the soft fabric and squishy foam of the jacket conformed around her torso. Growing tight and secure around her, it was like a cocoon or a weighted blanket. It was extremely tight, Paige loved the feeling.

Tim then passed the smaller metal rectangle through the larger metal rectangle securing the waist strap. He went around to Paige’s left side and pulled the slack out of it. The waist belt squished in the foam of the life jacket tho it was already so tight Paige could hardly feel the difference she could see how the waist belt squished in the foam. Tim then knelt down and reached between her legs grabbing the crotch straps that hung loose from the back of her life jacket. Passing them through to the front he buckled the left leg strap. Still knelt down holding the other Tim went on a brief aside.

“Crotch straps can be found on many of the lifejacket models we carry here, they offer far greater safety for kids and teenagers than models lacking them by ensuring that the life jacket doesn't ride up over the wearers mouth and nose.”

Tim proceeded to buckle in the right hand crotch strap. He then took each strap in turn: pulling on the loose end firmly, taking out all the slack, and snuggling them up. The straps came up tight against Paige and while she failed to resist the urge to react as they did so she did manage to keep her shifting to a minimum in front of the camera.

Tim was getting to his feet again "There we go! Now let's talk about some extra features this model has."

Paige felt constricted in the vest. But not at all uncomfortable. The straps were tight but like the other vests it was more comforting than anything else. Probably the most restriction to her movement was around her neck where the collar was behind her head. She didn't try moving too much on camera but it definitely felt like it would limit her movement. She was pretty sure she wouldn’t be able to look much left or right without turning at the waist.

"As we just saw this model has a zipper, waist belt and two crotch straps keeping it snug and secure on Paige. It has reflective strips and a whistle to get people's attention. On the back here-”

Tim turned Paige by the shoulders; As she shuffled to turn around she took the opportunity to test her head movement. The collar was so thick it blocked her chin, she could lift her chin over the foam collar but this would leave her looking up at the sky, she was correct that looking directly to her left or right required turning at the waist, that was somehow exciting to her. Her back to the camera now; Tim continued.

“-there is a D-ring that can be connected to a jackline. That's right. This life jacket also has an integrated harness to keep those you love from falling overboard. Or it keeps those you hate where you want them."

Tim then took a hold of the D-ring and lightly jerked Paige around. It was an unexpected sensation and contributed to feeling even more restricted. Tim spun her around again a bit faster and more forcefully this time; keeping a hand on the jacket's waist belt. Paige nearly lost her balance managing only to stumble slightly.

"Back to the front there; is also a front lifting strap to get them out of the water.”

Tim gave this a pull as well but only half heartedly.

“Finally, there is this tube here that when inflated creates even more flotation for the user. Paige, why don't you demonstrate it for us."

Tim took the tube out of its holder and presented it to her. It was a little orange tube with a cap. Paige figured out how to remove the cap and with some trepidation blew into the tube. As she did, the velcro panels on the front of the jacket; the ones she had wondered about earlier came apart and an air bladder suddenly expanded in front of her, surprised Paige stopped blowing for a moment. When Tim didn't take away the tube she leaned in and gave it another full breath. The air bladder expanded outward and got bigger around her neck.

“This can be useful if you are wearing rain gear or cold weather gear. Or if your only model is a bit too old for the jacket" Tim joked, but the direct remark on how she was strapped into a life jacket for a younger kid or teen made Paige feel uncomfortable, she subconsciously shrank into the jacket. Thankful for it's comforting embrace.

"Let's see how it performs in the water."

Turning, Paige walked to the edge while putting the cap back on the tube and tucking it back in.

Paige did a sloppy belly flop into the water. She crashed into the surface hard. But with so much flotation her face hardly made contact with the water. Staying limp she immediately felt the jacket do it’s thing: in moments her body had pivoted on her waist, her legs passing underher, flipping her onto her back; her head coming to rest on the collar; her face looking up at the sky.

"See how quickly it turned her on to her back with her face high above the water. That is a great improvement over the previous model and would definitely keep your mouth high and out of the water even in choppy offshore conditions."

This vest was overall the bulkiest by far. It really did keep her head high and out of the water. Since it was enclosed, it also kept her warm. Paige tried to rotate onto her stomach to swim around a little for the camera, and just to see how it felt if she was being honest. The jacket differed from the others in that it didn't try to roll her sideways to get her onto her back. Rather it tried to tip her back, with her legs passing under her. The unexpected result was that; unlike the other jackets that just just exerted a rolling force, this one pushed up on her shoulders and pulled down on her behind. As Paige forced herself onto her stomach she noticed the thick foam and inflated bladder pushing her head and chest upward; she had to actively fight against it to stay on her stomach. She also felt the crotch straps trying to pull her lower body under her. Fighting against this jacket was a much more active endeavor than the others. It was really trying to flip her back over. After a few moments squirming against it Paige gave up; going limp and allowing those straps to pull her body around her. She sank into the jacket, trusting the snug straps between her legs to stop her from sliding out. Feeling safe and comfortable with the thick foam wrapped around her torso. As she fell onto her back the overly thick collar caught her head before it hit the water, arresting her movement. Her legs bobbed up a bit from the momentum, her toes just brushing the surface, before the weight of her legs sank back down. Her body settled at a 45 degree angle. The foam and air bladder holding her securely on the surface, the straps tightly secured around her keeping her safely inside the jacket.

“As you can see even though Paige is over the weight limit of this jacket, and should not wear it as a safety device when out at sea, it has still performed perfectly.”

The jacket was bliss, Paige felt like she was being swaddled, it was hard to make herself do anything other than just give in and float there. It was funny that the being strapped into the life jacket made her feel so much like she was sinking. She was fighting to keep her eyes open as she slowly kicked her legs, maneuvering back over to the ladder.

“Just swim up over here Paige”

Opening her eyes ‘when had she closed those?’ Paige saw Tim kneeling on the dock a short ways down from the ladder, Kyle was beside him with the camera. Unsure what he wanted but happy to stay in the water a bit longer she twisted steering roughly towards them. It was impossible to see what was behind her directly. she had to twist about to get her bearings as she made her way over. Hitting the side of the dock a bit too soon she turned to follow it down to Tim. Swimming along the side of the dock on her back with her head stuck looking straight up her visibility was very limited so she was surprised when Tim’s voice suddenly sounded as though it was directly overhead.

“Ok here we go” He came into view a second later, kneeling on the dock above her, one arm hanging down. As she drifted to a stop directly beneath him Tim reached down grabbing the loop on the front of Paige’s life jacket. Showing surprising strength, Tim hauled her straight up out of the water.

The sudden lift took her completely by surprise, even as Tim had grabbed the loop on her chest Paige had not fully realized what he was doing. The two straps between her legs kept the jacket from riding up at all as she was pulled up out of the water and carried through the air.

For a brief moment Paige felt as though she was flying. At least in the water she had some agency, pushing against water she could turn and maneuver herself. The startled and half hearted flopping movements her arms and legs made as she was pulled up through the air did nothing. Tho her verbal cry of shock certainly carried to the camera's microphone.

A moment later Paige felt herself plopped down on the hard wooden surface of the dock. Water pouring out of the jacket.

She was surprisingly tired out and the wet jacket was as heavy as it was bulky so getting up out of the prone position she found herself in seemed very undesirable. Besides, the jacket was still quite warm and the collar was making a fantastic pillow. Though the straps between her legs were a bit tight with her legs stretched straight out.

Tim was talking about the lifting strap and integrated harness but Paige was not listening. He must have wrapped up because a moment later he was holding out a hand to help Paige up.

“Well how was that one?”

More water poured from the jacket as Paige got begrudgingly to her feet.

“Super comfy, hard to swim in though” She was careful to avoid showing too much enthusiasm.

Yea it’s definitely not really meant for swimming, if you fell out of a sail boat you would have a tether, thus the integrated harness.

“Still really nice. Actually I wouldn't mind trying to swim back in this one as well. Just to compare... “

Tim seemed not to care “Sure if you have the time, you’re off the clock now. Just hang it up to dry somewhere when you are done. I’ll put it away when I do rounds later. Have to go fix a boat right now.

“Sure thing” Paige had no idea how she was managing to sound casual about this still.

Tim made off with Kyle, and Paige turned back to the water. The jacket was still dripping like crazy but what water it still held was warm. She couldn't believe how comfy it was. She had to get herself one of these. For now tho she had the jacket to herself, a closed dock, and as much time as she wanted.