Ideal Ditch Bag or Abandon Ship Bag

[Wotname]

I see Nick has posted while I was composing and he has stated the case better .

[MarkJ]

Originally Posted by s/v Jedi

Mark: no one was ever hurt by preparing for a possible scenario. Nick.

Hi Nick and Wotname (I do know your name.. just forgotten it atm!)


This is probably the wrong thread for this discussion... but I clearly remember (but can't find) the judgement of an English coronial enquiry that dealt with the weird psychological position that people get into as their yacht appears to founder... they suddenly think its a good idea to get into the life raft. Its something akin to making an action that’s meant to be the safest course when a rational person would know otherwise.

At the least, it made interesting reading


Also this sort of stuff:

Well-documented yachting disasters have raised serious questions about the value of life rafts in really bad sea conditions. Seven lives were lost during the storm that hit the Fastnet Race off England in 1979 in incidents “directly attributed to the failure of the life raft,” according to the official board of inquiry. In a sobering footnote, the board added: “The yachts these seven people abandoned were subsequently found afloat and towed to harbor.” Nineteen years later, when a fierce storm fell on the fleet in the Sydney–Hobart Race of 1998, the life rafts performed no better.

Life Rafts: Information from Answers.com

But I, of course, agree with you both on preperation and planning and practice

Mark

[Wotname]

Yep, gotta agree with you Mark.

I think the trick is mental drills, actual drills etc so that rational thought remains present in a crisis.

So if thinking and making a ditch bag helps in this regard, then it is a good thing; however if the reasoning behind the ditch bag is a "get out of jail and collect $200" card, then it is a bad option.

OTT, good luck with Saturday's departure, I look forward to hearing from you in Indonesia and all points west.

[sestina]

Off the top of my head, Sestina's crash box contains:

RORC flare pack, plus some old ones.
Watermaker
A litre or two of mineral water
Epirb
CD - makes a good heliograph
Head torch
Cyalume sticks
Laser pointer
Foil blanket
VHF
GPS
Spare batteries
Passports and ship's registration docs
Money
House and car keys
Kendal Mint Cake, As eaten on the the top of Mt Everest

Lastly in the same locker are a couple of ex North Sea helicopter survival suits. The idea being, they give something for the off watch crew to quickly don should the worst happen.

[chala]

http://www.cruisersforum.com/forums/...hor-22705.html
post 3
1st bag (waterproof), all extra flares, 2 thermal blankets, 2L water, handheld gps, binoculars, 2 toilet rolls (the wifes idea), fishing line and lures, survival handbook (if nothing else it would be something to read), 2 tins heinz baked beans, 2 tins ham. There was no significance to the amount of food, it was all we could fit in, if we had to abandon to the liferaft I doubt we would of lived long enough to of eaten it anyway.
2nd bag (large laundry bag) clothes, 4L water, 4 tins baked beans, 2 tins ham. 4 books.
Fortunatley we didn’t need the 1st bag but it was handy to be able to take the 2nd bag on to the Pan Voyager.

In our pockets we carried handheld vhf, compass, passports.

[gs41escapade]

What would be really interesting is comments from anyone who has actually had to ditch. What did you actually use, and what did you really wish you had?

[neelie]

Iridium phone, Visa card and and a silk cravat.

[gs41escapade]

Sounds more like a Blind Date Ditch Bag :-)

[neelie]

Which reminds me I forgot the aftershave. You'll never accuse me of being unprepared.

[Bash]

Originally Posted by gs41escapade

What would be really interesting is comments from anyone who has actually had to ditch. What did you actually use, and what did you really wish you had?

...I was once evacuated from a boat via helicopter. They don't let you bring a ditch bag when that happens. Just your log book and ship's papers.

[MarkJ]

Originally Posted by chala

4 books. .

Are you CRAZY?
You won't have time to read books! You will be writing your own Dramatic Survival Account and getting the Press Releases ready!

Also you need time to rehearse your answers...: "Yes, Oprah, can I compliment you on your Bling?" But DO NOT jump on the couch!!!!!!





Mark

[neelie]

Never mind the books - its the inevitable outcome of numerous cans of Baked Beans being consumed inside a life raft which has caught my attention.

[CarlF]

To second a couple of things.

Nick's suggestion of Celox clotting agent. This now comes in a gauze roll that can be just packed into a wound to stop serious bleeding. Every boat should carry it.

Include a knife. No, two knives. Yacht designer Angus Primrose who designed Gipsy Moth IV among others died off the Carolinas moving a Moody 33 of his design from the Annapolis boat show to Ft. Lauderdale in the '80s.

The story I've been told is that Angus made it from the sinking boat into a liferaft with his girlfriend crew but then found the liferaft painter was fouled around a winch. Like all good sailors he normally carried a knife - for some reason he didn't have it. He went back on board to clear the line but was then washed over the side. His girlfriend was picked up 4 days later in the liferaft by a US Navy submarine tender and told the story of his loss.

Carl

[Waterborn]

I thought of an interesting suggestion for a D.B. (sorry, more abreviations for the forum) was a piece(s) of reflective tape. I sell/make signs for a living and the reflectivity on some of the new highway construction signs are unbelievably bright. And you don't have to reflect the light directly at the source for effectiveness. I would imagine that a small handheld mirror would be tough to hold still in a liferaft in a sea that would promote this situation against a moving helicopter.
I put one in my ditch bag.

PS: I also carry rain gear and a first aid kit, but hope I don't need either.

[Cyrus Safdari]

Thanks for the info all. I don't think I'm any more likely to ditch a boat just because I have a well prepared ditch bag. I have read the stories of boats remaining afloat after the "survivors" ditched, only to get into deeper trouble. GIven the choice between having too much stuff, and not enough stuff, I'll take too much stuff!

However, if I had to pare down the ditch bag, I would limit it to two things: signaling/communications stuff, and water.