One of the Coastie's mottos is "you have to go, but you don't have to come back" - I'd feel bad if anything happened to a CG crew while trying to pull my stupid butt out of the water for something I could have prevented. It also costs money to fly, and yes they budget for going out to get people, but every time extra is more spent.

I think sometimes we get cavalier about doing things just because we believe there's a rescue just a radio call away. I think there should be more overall pride in not needing to call for help.

In all of this the risky part to me is that it was an offshore blow, meaning that you're guaranteed to blown away from shore in a wreck.