Here’s a savvy saving device: The Toss N’ Save—a 16-metre buoyant heaving line wrapped around a disc that floats—makes water-rescue attempts as simple as throwing a Frisbee.
“Even kids can get it out 25 feet without much effort,” says Teresa Klotz, co-owner of Windabout Enterprises, the company that sells the gadget. (Her husband, Manfred, invented it in 2002, and last year it scored Windabout a Canadian Safe Boating Award for “Best Marine Industry.”)
For a rescuer, the Toss N’ Save is lightweight and takes up little space, even in small boats; for a rescuee, the bright orange disc is “large enough to put an arm through, and buoyant enough so it’ll hold someone afloat,” explains Klotz. And if you toss ’n’ miss? No worries: The rope coils back around the reel in seconds for easy retraction, so additional rescue attempts are a snap.
More info: Windabout