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Guys. A very good video. Viking? The best. Used commercially and approved around the world by all the sailing / governing bodies. As ex services we totally agree with everything Kevin said and are looking forward to the special. We would only add; as previously suggested, the Fastnet coroners findings and those of the RYA/RNLI, need to be read and thought about as they are most relevant to us yachtsmen / Women in relatively small boats. Stepping in to a life raft and cutting it loose from a floating vessel significantly reduces your chance of survival, more people died after abandoning ship than those who stayed with a partially submerged vessels. Its important to remember Archimedes principal keeps a boat afloat even after it has a big hole normally, and that much of our stores, equipment and general fittings are inherently buoyant and can keep a vessels afloat for many hours if not days. Read Tony Bullimore's book.... Sail Safe. Ant & Cid xx
Hey guys, thanks for the useful info. Hopefully people not aware of the Fastnet disaster can use this as reference. Hope you're both doing well. Enjoy the Med and fair winds ⛵🥂👍
Great job on the last two videos, tackling an uncomfortable subject that no one likes to think about! Even just sitting down and having a good, hard, realistic think about different scenarios you may encounter puts you ahead of the majority in terms of preparedness, IMHO. Thanks again for sharing, and making this type of thing top of mind! Fair Winds, N.
The only serious sailing is through you both so great fun to watch it all. For some weird reason, I enjoy the episodes where you are outfitting your boat time after time through maintenance and in case, safety. Great stuff, always fun to watch.
What a great video. Big thanks to Kevin for sharing his knowledge. I hope none of us never need his advice, but it's certainly good to have it in our pockets!
Excellent video. Now I have to go back and see the one I missed while I was on vacation of you guys deploying your old life raft. Sounds like a hoot of a video.
Thanks, another video full of useful notions. Safety on board is a serious matter .... things do not happen only to others. I feel more and more comforted in the hope of pursuing the same lifestyle of yours one day ... Danny
Another fantastic video on a critical topic. I had been looking hard at the Viking for my Hylas 46 and you've now certainly convinced me. Love you guys!
The reason your stabilizer pockets fell off (as well as all the other issues identified) was because of your failure to have the liferaft serviced in line with the manufacturers recommendations. Hopefully you will remember to follow this advise in future as apart from providing comfort in worst case scenarios it protects your investment. As this was kindly donated it would be comforting to know that you will at least treat it with more respect in future even thou it will be a costly business and should be budgeted for. I didn't think you emphasised this quite enough at the time and no I do not run a liferaft servicing business. Sorry to sound slightly negative/finger waggy but thought it worth mentioning. I have followed you for many years and always enjoy your content and wish you all the best for the future. Cheers Bill
Nice Vlog guys......also note your new liferaft has 2 doors. With some experience I know that it is essential to have air going through the raft when conditions allow. Especially when suffering from motion sickness!
Great project. This is really one of those topics that we can't be sufficiently enough prepared for. A pity that such expensive gear has such a limited 'lifespan'. I think that this may well be a factor in people pushing it's viability envelope.
Ideally we should test our new life raft at sea, but we can't afford the repacking costs at the mo. If we can do a sea survival course, that would be good.
Having been a chef for 40 years, this class is all I lack for RYA certification as a Chef/Steward. I have no intention of finding a job. I am looking forward to testing myself as well as the procedures. Thanks for sharing this. Fair Winds Strong Rum.
Congratulations! You got yourselves a top of the shelf raft. Location for storage and deployment depends on the boat. On my sailing vessel the most dangerous place in heavy weather is at the back. Where stern, platform and exhaustpipes comes bashing down. For me, the best place is midship on lee side. And going north, the sea will hold 5 deg. C. Insulated floor is really a life saver. I have been sitting in a raft in icy water. After a couple of hours I was really cold to the bone. Difficult to put on the helicopter harness when we were picked up.
He, he, no. This was early 1980's Norwegian offshore training. In UK they used swimming pools. Where I live, they used Oslofjorden (Norway). And I was due every second year late January. So, one occation: Late January, misty, ice floating around, 8 deg. below freezing. 12 men in one raft. Swam to the raft. Climbed on board. Fog came in and we were sitting waiting for some hours for the Sea King to pick us up due to foggy conditions. And we used Helly Hansen offshore survival suits. So in cold waters, if you climb on board soaking wet, you will be pretty much dead within 10 hours in a raft that is not insulated. So, number 1: Keep dry! 2: Use survival suits. Even UK is quite tempered compared to northern waters. Like Alaska, even in summer. And no inflatable life vests. They may puncture and are too bulky, we mostly used standars sailing vests of premium quality. So on board SV Hulda, Helly Hansen survival suits and sailing vests. Sorry for my bad English, Norwegian...BRHulda
Defer to wiser heads than mine but mounting a life raft with a hydrostatic release in an area where it could possibly foul on your dodger or? I mounted ours just forward of dodger on the hatch hood.
The dodger is forward of where we plan to mount the liferaft, David. The point of the hydrostatic release is that it kicks in after the boat has sunk. At that point we wouldn't be able to inflate it anyway so it just provides a last chance.
Great video many thanks. ever thought about doing a slow TV (as per Delos latest) 2 hrs of just sailing ,no need to edit, I'm sure lots of peeps would love it.
Very good video! Hope it intrests them how need it! Ther was mutch talking about fresh wather in kanteens! Now ther is waterfilter avliable for outdoo use, even with of salting funktion,sow there must be seriuse ones for liferafts to (if it not is inklude in the base kit ) witch I think it would! BarbroSweden
BTW, you might be interested to know that an excellent resourse on safety at sea is the "Glenans Sailing Manual. This is a comprehensive rewference work used by the famous Glenans Sailing School. I know of no other book with a chapter on maintaining morale in a liferaft!
Ships often have airtight bulkheads, including in the bow. It's also possibly the lighter end of the boat but I imagine ships sink in all manner of ways.
Interesting take on the hydrostatic release, I've always had in the back of my mind what happens if the boat is rolled. Depending on the design, many have an inverted righting moment that can take a bit of time to right themselves. But when they do they can be otherwise fine (with perhaps the exception of the rig loss) with minimal flooding, etc. Would the raft then be released from the vessel? With a possible premature release at 4.8 feet (1.5 meters), I can certainly see the possibility of such an event. Would the raft painter then be long and strong enough to withstand remaining attached to the boat in those conditions (the attachment point to the raft would be the weakest point I suppose)? Would it be possible to retrieve a raft then? Probably impossible with ballast bags full. Certainly gives one pause for thought. We have two friends that experienced being inverted on their boats, both from being pitchpoled (neither was towing warps or a drogue BTW) & one of them remained inverted for quite some time. Both boats lost their rigs but otherwise the vessels were fine (essentially still watertight) and still had their rafts secure on deck. Makes me think whether or not to consider an automatic release or not. Just playing devils advocate. Certainly there are no easy answers.
Definitely not, Mike, and I'm afraid I don't know the answers either. That hydrostatic release certainly seems to make sense though. Better it attempts to release itself underwater than not at all.
In that first minute or so when Jaime's wearting the shades and the Kangol - he looks like he could work as a collector for a loan shark in South London in the late 70's/early 80's.
Actually - on a serious note, I don't claim to be an armchair sailor. I have though about this as an armchair worrier, however. I thought for myself to feel a bit better in a long offshore passage, that I'd want several ditch bags and some water jugs at hand and prepped in an easy to reach location (like in a cockpit locker on top of stuff you didn't need to access on passage). Prioritized by importance - first is the main ditch with torch, survival stuff, radio, a bit of fishing stuff, maybe a water purifier, etc.. Next would be water containers that were pre-filled. Next would be a food ditchbag. It would take a lot of ditching, but I'd feel better with a bit of overkill when out to sea, and it would all be handy to have, and the extras food and stuff could be tossed in a bilge when in port or coastal.
Old sailors use to pour oil on the water to calm seas. Has this been a consideration for your emergency situation ? Spare gallon and flatter sea. Heard about it but never seen it. Good vid
Prankishsquire I do not think the helo swimmer would thank you for making everything so slippery. Best keep the grab bag items as essential - no place for oil.
Look at the brand Katadyn there are desalter too, if it is good enoth for the type of use you in seriuse case need I don't know but perhaps something. Katadyn is one of the brands that is used in catastrophic situations. BarbroSweden
Thank you Liz for take your time on a land crabb from the south farming landscape of Sweden ! Still not total out in the blue! But for outedoor use is it total enough with a water bottle in steel and a triangia stove with capacity for boiling wather......Water filter no to mutch extra gadgets take away the simple nature exploring and the beuty! Then you have a filter to put I the grab sack to. Hope you could get a feeling of have put the whole renovation and upp grading to peace so you both can relax in a way! BarbroSweden
@@barbroevanderlindquist4128 the trouble is, sea water contains a lot of salt. Simply boiling it won't help (unless you want to distill it). The simpler Katadyn filter type devices will not remove the salt from the water, so that won't help either. They really need a reverse osmosis device (which means, forcing water at 26 bar through that membrane). These things are not cheap... Btw, trying to cook noodles with sea water doesn't work - for noodles, you put in about a teaspoon of salt, while sea water contains about a cup of salt for the same volume... I did try it without thinking about it first, ended up throwing out the whole potful... you can't imagine the taste... ;-)
realulli - the Katadyn 06 is the smallest reverse osmosis pump they make (in the world?) - it is manual and can make just under 1L desalinated water per hour. It costs around £800, which is a lot of money, but we think it will be a useful device to have on board and take on the liferaft. Liz www.katadyn.com/en/ch/149-8013418-katadyn-survivor-06
Realulli, when I writhing of boiling wather in the context to Katadyn filter I was not then thinking of saltwater I was thinking of not to bad looking wather as a small well , or eany small wather strem or a lake. Ther was non thougt of boiling seawather......so that result must be a way to koncentrat the salt to a solution in the principes of the salinas in tempered climat, but instead of boling, the heat of the sun is used! It was reely not easy to know wat kind of filter from Katadyn I ment as it was saltwater filter that was actually in focus! Ha de, as they say in Norway! BarbroSweden
I think different circumstances require different launch methods. e.g think if you are launching a raft in very bad weather, the stern of the boat will be going up and down like a yo yo. Launching at the stern could well see the boat crash on top of the raft and occupants. If you can heave to , launch on the beam and the lee may well be a little flatter and actually easier to get into. I prefer mounting on the coach roof. It should not be on the push pit and definitely not hidden in a locker!!! Central on the boat also means it can be launched anywhere around the boat i.e if you have an engine fire you may want to launch at the bow. The hydrostatic line is a must . If the boat sinks, the raft will at least launch its self automatically. No point in having a raft without one !!!! Always try to get into the raft and from the boat direct rather then jumping into the water ad climbing in, sounds obvious but people do. Another great informative in the video !!!
How to get into your life raft under emergency conditions. It is most important for this to be successful that you prep first. First unpack your life raft and paint the entry hatch like a bulls eye (more on this in a moment. Make sure you have practiced putting Millie in her life jacket. You should be able to do this in pitch black darkness, when both you and she are wet confused and frightened. I suggest 4 shots of rum. If Millie won't take the rum, give 2 to Liz, because after 4 shots of rum, you my friend will be useless. Millie's life jacket should also be tied to your ditch bags on a long lead so that should any one of the items actually make it into the raft you can then real the other in, like fishing. How you should choose to mound and deploy your life raft is entirely up to you. Just know that no matter how you do it, you will be wrong, and several people will tell you so. However once the life raft is deployed, inflated, Millie has been rounded up and placed in her personnel floatation device and first aid has been provided for you now fresh wounds, now is the time to discuss why I told you to paint the entry to the life raft like a bulls eye. Have you ever played skee ball? It is where you roll or toss a ball through a hoop that is 3 meters or so away. Millie is the ball. You may want to practice first with the ditch bag, that is up to you. After you have tossed Millie, your ditch bag and your other possessions into the ocean it is time for you and Liz to get into the life raft. As a proper English Gentlemen you will of course kindly offer to let Liz get in first while you assist. After Liz tells you that she is not a puppet and you are not a ventriloquist, remove your hand from her backside. When she tells you that she cannot climb in ask her to hang on tight, that you will climb in and pull her up. This will be much easier for you since Liz will be part way up the hatch. You will be able to use her as a ladder and just climb up her into the raft. Then politely offer to assist her in now that you are in. There you have it, everyone is in the life raft. You might want to go back to the start of this and also make sure that Liz does not have any sharp objects because that might be dangerous in a life raft. By the way no matter how much prep work you do for this it will not prepare you for what ever will actually happen. Just remember the 4 shots of rum.
Life rafts are no longer on my boat. I have had 1 once. I figure i have saved more than 15,000.00 over the past 20 years by not having more dedicated life rafts and have sailed 100,000 miles in that 20 years.not all blue water miles I should add i never plan to sail outside the tropics again. Since i have decided this my 3.4 inflatable rib will always be my life raft. I have epirb,sat phone and a garmin inreach. A ditch bag with wetsuit,sun protection ,strobe,vhf,gps, water and survival food. If i have time i will also put outboard and 90 litres of fuel in the rib. I also have figured that at 55 years if my choice of life saving equipment is not going to save my life, well the best years are already lived in my wake. I am confident with my survival choices should i lose the boat . I am single, no kids ,no responsibiltys so what the hell.
Each to their own, Kevin. I imagine many coastal cruisers do so with out of date life rafts in the belief that they will not need them. One of the reasons we covered our dinghy orange was in case we were lost at sea in it. But offshore? We're gonna stick to caution.
@@followtheboat since youre going to cold climates have you thought about using wetsuits as part of youre cold weather strategys? Dry suites for alaska?
A lot of the improvements to life rafts ( stabilizer bags, righting ropes etc) and the sea survival and safety courses, came about as a result of the coroners findings from the tragic losses in the 1998 Sydney to Hobart yacht race. czcams.com/video/wgsp_kHicu8/video.html czcams.com/video/Z5554FxUXwg/video.html Multiple GPS units operating in close proximity will interfere with each other usually resulting in none of them getting a fix, this gives an emergency signal with no position. If you had multiple EPIRBS in a raft I would cycle through a few of them one at a time just in case one of them was not working.
When you were in the raft did it seem to be made well? Or was it something that would fall apart or tear easily? I'd be worried of it sinking to be honest.
I'm not sure how robust any of them are, and they'd certainly be prone to puncturing, which is why the better ones have several chambers. In an emergency you've got no choice. Liz though.
Piece of advise, hopefully you'll never ever use. When rescue arrives, if a pararescueman or rescue swimmer, do exactly what they say, they will take control of your movements and will assess what your confusion does not notice. It happens quick but NOT like the movies.
Strikes me that there seem to be a lot of armchair sailors out there. Also, having given further thought to the swimming pool episode, and at the risk of seeming rude, you need to work on your upper-body strength; adrenaline only goes so far in an emergency.
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Are you happy with your liferaft? Tell us your liferaft tales...
Please LIKE, SHARE and COMMENT below! 👍
Thank you for covering a topic that nobody really wants to talk about.
👍
Thanks for all your tips and information. Bill Percell
what a pleasure to watch your videos
Cheers, Gus 👍
Guys. A very good video. Viking? The best. Used commercially and approved around the world by all the sailing / governing bodies. As ex services we totally agree with everything Kevin said and are looking forward to the special. We would only add; as previously suggested, the Fastnet coroners findings and those of the RYA/RNLI, need to be read and thought about as they are most relevant to us yachtsmen / Women in relatively small boats. Stepping in to a life raft and cutting it loose from a floating vessel significantly reduces your chance of survival, more people died after abandoning ship than those who stayed with a partially submerged vessels. Its important to remember Archimedes principal keeps a boat afloat even after it has a big hole normally, and that much of our stores, equipment and general fittings are inherently buoyant and can keep a vessels afloat for many hours if not days. Read Tony Bullimore's book.... Sail Safe. Ant & Cid xx
Hey guys, thanks for the useful info. Hopefully people not aware of the Fastnet disaster can use this as reference. Hope you're both doing well. Enjoy the Med and fair winds ⛵🥂👍
Thank you for real hard facts. It helps greatly in making a decision :D
Great job on the last two videos, tackling an uncomfortable subject that no one likes to think about! Even just sitting down and having a good, hard, realistic think about different scenarios you may encounter puts you ahead of the majority in terms of preparedness, IMHO. Thanks again for sharing, and making this type of thing top of mind! Fair Winds, N.
Thanks for the positive feedback, Nicole 👍
Excellant information, you guys will never know how much we appreciate the information you two share with us. Stay safe. Love your videos. Thank you.
As long as we receive lovely comments like yours, we'll know, thank you! 👍😊Liz
The only serious sailing is through you both so great fun to watch it all. For some weird reason, I enjoy the episodes where you are outfitting your boat time after time through maintenance and in case, safety. Great stuff, always fun to watch.
👌⛵
What a great video. Big thanks to Kevin for sharing his knowledge. I hope none of us never need his advice, but it's certainly good to have it in our pockets!
Glad you like the video! Watch out for the whole interview with Kev coming soon. 👌 Liz
Thank you for the great information from you and your friend the helicopter pilot ! Much appreciated ! Cheers .
Our pleasure, Robert.
Lots of very important tips that may save someones life someday. Great video, thanks for posting!!
Thanks for commenting, glad you like our video! Liz
Thanks to Kev. What a good guide.
The full interview will be coming soon. 👌Liz
Excellent video. Now I have to go back and see the one I missed while I was on vacation of you guys deploying your old life raft. Sounds like a hoot of a video.
Oh it was fun...and a REAL eye-opener! Liz x
That was a great video. Full of useful and important information. Well done !
Charts, Brad 👍
Looking very professional and ship shape guys! I would just add a extra floating / waterproof Walkie Talkie.
Yes, we had one, Fredrick, but the battery was terrible. Icom as well. It's on our immediate shopping list.
Thanks, another video full of useful notions. Safety on board is a serious matter .... things do not happen only to others. I feel more and more comforted in the hope of pursuing the same lifestyle of yours one day ...
Danny
Cheers, Danny 👍
All good stuff, you now need to focus on never needing to abandon ship.😉
I think we focus on this, albeit subconsciously, every time we go to sea, Norman.
Sailing followtheboat Yeah I know you do.👍 You are very methodical in all that you do.
Love you guys .hope to be cruising full time my self soon. Thank you for all your boat up grades.
We hope you get to be full time cruising some day too! Liz
Another fantastic video on a critical topic. I had been looking hard at the Viking for my Hylas 46 and you've now certainly convinced me. Love you guys!
Cheers! It's so hard to know which is the right one, but this seemed to tick all the boxes. 👌 Liz
The reason your stabilizer pockets fell off (as well as all the other issues identified) was because of your failure to have the liferaft serviced in line with the manufacturers recommendations. Hopefully you will remember to follow this advise in future as apart from providing comfort in worst case scenarios it protects your investment. As this was kindly donated it would be comforting to know that you will at least treat it with more respect in future even thou it will be a costly business and should be budgeted for. I didn't think you emphasised this quite enough at the time and no I do not run a liferaft servicing business. Sorry to sound slightly negative/finger waggy but thought it worth mentioning. I have followed you for many years and always enjoy your content and wish you all the best for the future. Cheers Bill
You're right, but I thought we said we hadn't serviced it since 2010... things will be very different with the new one. I promise. Liz
Nice Vlog guys......also note your new liferaft has 2 doors. With some experience I know that it is essential to have air going through the raft when conditions allow. Especially when suffering from motion sickness!
Yeah, good point! It was claustrophobic in last week's episode with that one door.
Great project. This is really one of those topics that we can't be sufficiently enough prepared for. A pity that such expensive gear has such a limited 'lifespan'. I think that this may well be a factor in people pushing it's viability envelope.
Well said. A liferaft is one of those expensive purchases one hope never to use, essential as it is.
Great video. Hope you never have to use the Viking but good to have it just in case.
👍
I want to see you guy's getting in this one while it is floating away from the ship. Getting in is my worry. Good Luck always.....
Ideally we should test our new life raft at sea, but we can't afford the repacking costs at the mo. If we can do a sea survival course, that would be good.
Having been a chef for 40 years, this class is all I lack for RYA certification as a Chef/Steward. I have no intention of finding a job. I am looking forward to testing myself as well as the procedures. Thanks for sharing this. Fair Winds Strong Rum.
Enjoy the test, hope you pass with flying colours! Liz
Congratulations! You got yourselves a top of the shelf raft. Location for storage and deployment depends on the boat. On my sailing vessel the most dangerous place in heavy weather is at the back. Where stern, platform and exhaustpipes comes bashing down. For me, the best place is midship on lee side. And going north, the sea will hold 5 deg. C. Insulated floor is really a life saver. I have been sitting in a raft in icy water. After a couple of hours I was really cold to the bone. Difficult to put on the helicopter harness when we were picked up.
Was this a real rescue, HH? Sounds nasty!
He, he, no. This was early 1980's Norwegian offshore training. In UK they used swimming pools. Where I live, they used Oslofjorden (Norway). And I was due every second year late January. So, one occation: Late January, misty, ice floating around, 8 deg. below freezing. 12 men in one raft. Swam to the raft. Climbed on board. Fog came in and we were sitting waiting for some hours for the Sea King to pick us up due to foggy conditions. And we used Helly Hansen offshore survival suits. So in cold waters, if you climb on board soaking wet, you will be pretty much dead within 10 hours in a raft that is not insulated. So, number 1: Keep dry! 2: Use survival suits. Even UK is quite tempered compared to northern waters. Like Alaska, even in summer. And no inflatable life vests. They may puncture and are too bulky, we mostly used standars sailing vests of premium quality. So on board SV Hulda, Helly Hansen survival suits and sailing vests. Sorry for my bad English, Norwegian...BRHulda
Defer to wiser heads than mine but mounting a life raft with a hydrostatic release in an area where it could possibly foul on your dodger or?
I mounted ours just forward of dodger on the hatch hood.
The dodger is forward of where we plan to mount the liferaft, David. The point of the hydrostatic release is that it kicks in after the boat has sunk. At that point we wouldn't be able to inflate it anyway so it just provides a last chance.
@@followtheboat I mounted a small axe and a sharp knife just inside the companion way along with a SS knife always on my person.
Where did the sailors who had to resort to their life rafts mount the latter?
Boundbywatter youtube channel did a teardown of the Hammer H20 HRU. A fairly simple design. Lots of good information, thanks for another great video!
Thanks for commenting, glad you enjoyed it! Will check out the link.👌Liz
Nice, now you can get that bottle of champagne
🥂
Great video many thanks. ever thought about doing a slow TV (as per Delos latest) 2 hrs of just sailing ,no need to edit, I'm sure lots of peeps would love it.
We've talked about it quite often... when the time is right we promise to make a slow tv vid. 👌 Liz
Very good video! Hope it intrests them how need it! Ther was mutch talking about fresh wather in kanteens! Now ther is waterfilter avliable for outdoo use, even with of salting funktion,sow there must be seriuse ones for liferafts to (if it not is inklude in the base kit ) witch I think it would! BarbroSweden
There's a very good hand held device for this which is easy to operate. It's not cheap though!
Super informative! My bit part particularly! ;-) Are handheld watermakers included in the raft kit or ditch bags? Cheers guys!
Thanks for the contribution, Al! 👌 Liz
A sailboat sinks stern first. That's where the heavy engine is.
Ours is in the middle...
BTW, you might be interested to know that an excellent resourse on safety at sea is the "Glenans Sailing Manual. This is a comprehensive rewference work used by the famous Glenans Sailing School. I know of no other book with a chapter on maintaining morale in a liferaft!
Thanks for the recommend, Tony 👌
In most of the vids of sinking ships/boats I've seen, the bow has been the last part to submerge.
Ships often have airtight bulkheads, including in the bow. It's also possibly the lighter end of the boat but I imagine ships sink in all manner of ways.
Interesting take on the hydrostatic release, I've always had in the back of my mind what happens if the boat is rolled. Depending on the design, many have an inverted righting moment that can take a bit of time to right themselves. But when they do they can be otherwise fine (with perhaps the exception of the rig loss) with minimal flooding, etc. Would the raft then be released from the vessel? With a possible premature release at 4.8 feet (1.5 meters), I can certainly see the possibility of such an event. Would the raft painter then be long and strong enough to withstand remaining attached to the boat in those conditions (the attachment point to the raft would be the weakest point I suppose)? Would it be possible to retrieve a raft then? Probably impossible with ballast bags full. Certainly gives one pause for thought. We have two friends that experienced being inverted on their boats, both from being pitchpoled (neither was towing warps or a drogue BTW) & one of them remained inverted for quite some time. Both boats lost their rigs but otherwise the vessels were fine (essentially still watertight) and still had their rafts secure on deck. Makes me think whether or not to consider an automatic release or not. Just playing devils advocate. Certainly there are no easy answers.
Definitely not, Mike, and I'm afraid I don't know the answers either. That hydrostatic release certainly seems to make sense though. Better it attempts to release itself underwater than not at all.
In that first minute or so when Jaime's wearting the shades and the Kangol - he looks like he could work as a collector for a loan shark in South London in the late 70's/early 80's.
Actually - on a serious note, I don't claim to be an armchair sailor. I have though about this as an armchair worrier, however. I thought for myself to feel a bit better in a long offshore passage, that I'd want several ditch bags and some water jugs at hand and prepped in an easy to reach location (like in a cockpit locker on top of stuff you didn't need to access on passage). Prioritized by importance - first is the main ditch with torch, survival stuff, radio, a bit of fishing stuff, maybe a water purifier, etc.. Next would be water containers that were pre-filled. Next would be a food ditchbag. It would take a lot of ditching, but I'd feel better with a bit of overkill when out to sea, and it would all be handy to have, and the extras food and stuff could be tossed in a bilge when in port or coastal.
Thats how I made me moolah, guv 😉
The comment climbing up onto the raft is used in training to impress upon the crew not abandoning ship until you are actually sinking.
Indeed 👍
Old sailors use to pour oil on the water to calm seas. Has this been a consideration for your emergency situation ? Spare gallon and flatter sea. Heard about it but never seen it. Good vid
A pint of castor oil poured into the water as the helicopter is preparing a rope or a man, might really help facilitate the rescue.
Good thinking! 👌Liz
Yes, we've heard about it, don't see why some oil couldn't go into the grab bag...Liz
Prankishsquire I do not think the helo swimmer would thank you for making everything so slippery. Best keep the grab bag items as essential - no place for oil.
Look at the brand Katadyn there are desalter too, if it is good enoth for the type of use you in seriuse case need I don't know but perhaps something. Katadyn is one of the brands that is used in catastrophic situations. BarbroSweden
Yes we're buying a Katadyn 06 manual desalinator when we have the cash. 👌 Liz
Thank you Liz for take your time on a land crabb from the south farming landscape of Sweden ! Still not total out in the blue! But for outedoor use is it total enough with a water bottle in steel and a triangia stove with capacity for boiling wather......Water filter no to mutch extra gadgets take away the simple nature exploring and the beuty! Then you have a filter to put I the grab sack to. Hope you could get a feeling of have put the whole renovation and upp grading to peace so you both can relax in a way! BarbroSweden
@@barbroevanderlindquist4128 the trouble is, sea water contains a lot of salt. Simply boiling it won't help (unless you want to distill it). The simpler Katadyn filter type devices will not remove the salt from the water, so that won't help either. They really need a reverse osmosis device (which means, forcing water at 26 bar through that membrane).
These things are not cheap...
Btw, trying to cook noodles with sea water doesn't work - for noodles, you put in about a teaspoon of salt, while sea water contains about a cup of salt for the same volume... I did try it without thinking about it first, ended up throwing out the whole potful... you can't imagine the taste... ;-)
realulli - the Katadyn 06 is the smallest reverse osmosis pump they make (in the world?) - it is manual and can make just under 1L desalinated water per hour. It costs around £800, which is a lot of money, but we think it will be a useful device to have on board and take on the liferaft. Liz
www.katadyn.com/en/ch/149-8013418-katadyn-survivor-06
Realulli, when I writhing of boiling wather in the context to Katadyn filter I was not then thinking of saltwater I was thinking of not to bad looking wather as a small well , or eany small wather strem or a lake. Ther was non thougt of boiling seawather......so that result must be a way to koncentrat the salt to a solution in the principes of the salinas in tempered climat,
but instead of boling, the heat of the sun is used! It was reely not easy to know wat kind of filter from Katadyn I ment as it was saltwater filter that was actually in focus! Ha de, as they say in Norway! BarbroSweden
When are you going to show the new dodger? a profile of the entire boat,maby drone footage.
It's in the can! Very soooooon... Liz
I think different circumstances require different launch methods. e.g think if you are launching a raft in very bad weather, the stern of the boat will be going up and down like a yo yo. Launching at the stern could well see the boat crash on top of the raft and occupants. If you can heave to , launch on the beam and the lee may well be a little flatter and actually easier to get into. I prefer mounting on the coach roof. It should not be on the push pit and definitely not hidden in a locker!!! Central on the boat also means it can be launched anywhere around the boat i.e if you have an engine fire you may want to launch at the bow. The hydrostatic line is a must . If the boat sinks, the raft will at least launch its self automatically. No point in having a raft without one !!!! Always try to get into the raft and from the boat direct rather then jumping into the water ad climbing in, sounds obvious but people do. Another great informative in the video !!!
Thanks for those thoughts, Helen. Some good for thought there.
Any chance to sail by the Japanese island of Iwo Jima?
It'll be a while before we reach Japan, so no decisions on route yet. It's probably too far of the plan, but let's see! 👌 Liz
How to get into your life raft under emergency conditions. It is most important for this to be successful that you prep first. First unpack your life raft and paint the entry hatch like a bulls eye (more on this in a moment. Make sure you have practiced putting Millie in her life jacket. You should be able to do this in pitch black darkness, when both you and she are wet confused and frightened. I suggest 4 shots of rum. If Millie won't take the rum, give 2 to Liz, because after 4 shots of rum, you my friend will be useless. Millie's life jacket should also be tied to your ditch bags on a long lead so that should any one of the items actually make it into the raft you can then real the other in, like fishing. How you should choose to mound and deploy your life raft is entirely up to you. Just know that no matter how you do it, you will be wrong, and several people will tell you so. However once the life raft is deployed, inflated, Millie has been rounded up and placed in her personnel floatation device and first aid has been provided for you now fresh wounds, now is the time to discuss why I told you to paint the entry to the life raft like a bulls eye. Have you ever played skee ball? It is where you roll or toss a ball through a hoop that is 3 meters or so away. Millie is the ball. You may want to practice first with the ditch bag, that is up to you. After you have tossed Millie, your ditch bag and your other possessions into the ocean it is time for you and Liz to get into the life raft. As a proper English Gentlemen you will of course kindly offer to let Liz get in first while you assist. After Liz tells you that she is not a puppet and you are not a ventriloquist, remove your hand from her backside. When she tells you that she cannot climb in ask her to hang on tight, that you will climb in and pull her up. This will be much easier for you since Liz will be part way up the hatch. You will be able to use her as a ladder and just climb up her into the raft. Then politely offer to assist her in now that you are in. There you have it, everyone is in the life raft. You might want to go back to the start of this and also make sure that Liz does not have any sharp objects because that might be dangerous in a life raft. By the way no matter how much prep work you do for this it will not prepare you for what ever will actually happen. Just remember the 4 shots of rum.
A great lesson, well written with humour! Thanks for those pointers, Mark.
Are you two watching RAN as they are currently exploring Alaska?
Sure! We keep in touch with Ran. Lovely people.
Life rafts are no longer on my boat. I have had 1 once. I figure i have saved more than 15,000.00 over the past 20 years by not having more dedicated life rafts and have sailed 100,000 miles in that 20 years.not all blue water miles
I should add i never plan to sail outside the tropics again.
Since i have decided this my 3.4 inflatable rib will always be my life raft. I have epirb,sat phone and a garmin inreach.
A ditch bag with wetsuit,sun protection ,strobe,vhf,gps, water and survival food.
If i have time i will also put outboard and 90 litres of fuel in the rib.
I also have figured that at 55 years if my choice of life saving equipment is not going to save my life, well the best years are already lived in my wake. I am confident with my survival choices should i lose the boat . I am single, no kids ,no responsibiltys so what the hell.
Each to their own, Kevin. I imagine many coastal cruisers do so with out of date life rafts in the belief that they will not need them. One of the reasons we covered our dinghy orange was in case we were lost at sea in it. But offshore? We're gonna stick to caution.
@@followtheboat since youre going to cold climates have you thought about using wetsuits as part of youre cold weather strategys? Dry suites for alaska?
A lot of the improvements to life rafts ( stabilizer bags, righting ropes etc) and the sea survival and safety courses, came about as a result of the coroners findings from the tragic losses in the 1998 Sydney to Hobart yacht race. czcams.com/video/wgsp_kHicu8/video.html czcams.com/video/Z5554FxUXwg/video.html
Multiple GPS units operating in close proximity will interfere with each other usually resulting in none of them getting a fix, this gives an emergency signal with no position. If you had multiple EPIRBS in a raft I would cycle through a few of them one at a time just in case one of them was not working.
Just as Kev says 15:10 👍
Yes, but he doesn't explain what or why, the same GPS antenna rule also applies to chart plotters and hand held gps devices.
Nice bit of kit. Hopefully you never get to test ti for real.
Hope so, Desmond!
Winnipeg jets?
It's an early Canadian Air force design, I believe, Russ.
Yes and used by the Winnipeg Jets en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Winnipeg_Jets
My Canucks just lost to them tonight
When you were in the raft did it seem to be made well? Or was it something that would fall apart or tear easily? I'd be worried of it sinking to be honest.
I'm not sure how robust any of them are, and they'd certainly be prone to puncturing, which is why the better ones have several chambers. In an emergency you've got no choice. Liz though.
Does it come with a blow up doll?
No... but you coulf put one in the grab bag...
awwww no milly! :(
We'll make a point of including her next week, Trent 😸
thanks Liz! i always look forward to my Millie fix each week! as well as seeing everything you are all up too! James
Watch our Instagram page for more Millie! 😼
Pfffft you guys don’t need that thing!
Here's hoping!
Piece of advise, hopefully you'll never ever use. When rescue arrives, if a pararescueman or rescue swimmer, do exactly what they say, they will take control of your movements and will assess what your confusion does not notice. It happens quick but NOT like the movies.
Happy to let someone else take the lead if it means a successful rescue.
Yes! A chopper hovering above you sucks out about 90% of your brain power 😈
Strikes me that there seem to be a lot of armchair sailors out there. Also, having given further thought to the swimming pool episode, and at the risk of seeming rude, you need to work on your upper-body strength; adrenaline only goes so far in an emergency.
Agreed. And agreed! 😁 Liz