Matt, that is sort of what I envisioned you doing. And I have thought about this kind of scenario -- needing to be able to swim, but not wanting to abandon the life jacket. So I have thought about the possibility of having a long string with me that I can attach to the life jacket and trail it behind me while I swim?

It seems to me that not enough effort has gone into life jacket designs. We have the permanent-flotation jackets and the inflatables. We need a hybrid -- something that is not bulky and is comfortable to sail in, but will keep you afloat and keep your face out of the water if you get knocked unconscious, and that is easy to swim in as is, but that also has manually inflatable compartments if it is not possible to swim to safety.

Is there such a thing?

P.S. Whoops, I see Flounder beat me to it with the idea about trailing it with a string.