Hey dude, glad you're recovering and well enough to post. I mostly lurk at periscope depth here but have surfaced to reply.
I have missed your thoughtful and erudite contributions (of which this is of course yet another) to the Prune and was horrified to hear of your accident. Hope you're well.
Thank you for reminding us of the pertinent need to wear life jackets. I wear one whenever I can over water and am distinctly uncomfortable when unable. I am always surprised by the blasé attitude of most pilots I encounter who don't regard our local short water crossing as worthy of a life preserver... It may be short but it's bloody cold!
One point you implied that may be worth explicitly mentioning is that the life jacket should be MANUALLY inflatable. There is a recent horror story of a poor chap whose automatic life jacket inflated and trapped him in the cockpit when he ditched and flipped close to the shore - fortunately IIRC he was pulled out by passers by but the alternative doesn't near thinking about.
Anyway Pilot DAR, thank you again, good luck and plenty of revs.
EDIT: Yes, look here -
http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-kent-40880291