We knew if we did fall through the ice, the boat would stay afloat and we could hang on to it.

You cannot sink someone else's end of the boat and still keep your own afloat.

It doesn't take much to fall off a boat and drown.

It's all we can do to stay afloat. We're not going to be building anything for a long time.

I was telling him to keep kicking his feet to stay afloat.

The CAW, given the context, has done very well. The boat is afloat and upright after going through the rapids. They wanted to protect their members.