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Vic Smith

On Thu, 05 Mar 2009 23:32:09 -0500, wrote:

I am a lot better prepared than those boys and I seldom go past the
gulf road bridge.

That's the worst part of it - how unprepared they were.
Looked like the boat even had radar, if that's a dome on the T-top.
Maybe had a real good VHF aboard too.
But when they flipped the were basically defenseless.
Not even a light. The survivor said there was a chopper overhead the
first night.

I have 2 boxes on board with a good amount of survival gear in each
(duplicated)
If nothing else the boxes are something to hang onto. They are double
wall plastic and float quite well. If I was serious about them being a
real "ditch" thing I would shoot the cavity full of foam. They are
really just where I store my gear, 2 extra seats and where my dog
rides to keep watch. I keep 4 vests in each one (2 in each have
strobes and whistles), a fire extinguisher, first aid kit, flashlights
and lots of bottled water, jackets, towels, flares and line.
The boxes are tied in but easy to free.
That is in addition to my mini-survival kit I have in and on my
console. Another fire extinguisher, a boy scout compass, Leatherman,
more flares, another floating flashlight, a real good horn that you
just blow and a couple lighters (Castaway would have been an hour
shorter if Tom Hanks had a lighter).
It would be fairly easy to sling a "hammock" between those boxes, rig
some shade with the beach towels (I picked the most garish colors) and
wait for the Coasties

All this and I don't go anywhere. If I really went offshore in the
winter I would have survival suits and at least one EPIRB.

Oh Did I say "a lot of water"?

I was impressed by the North Atlantic during my hitch in the Coast
Guard and I have a lot of respect for cold water.
You can get away with a lot more in 85 degree water than when it is 68
or less (the temperature that will kill a manatee)
Basically if you can keep yourself hydrated and keep your head above
water you can live for days and not be in too much trouble if the fish
don't eat you.

After some thought I've reached a couple conclusions.
First of course, don't EVER get your boat in water too big for it.
Second, if you're going offshore, it's just good sense to have a life
raft. Some will call it overkill on a small boat and I won't argue.
But for me seeing that slick hull barely afloat and 3 guys dead in
"relatively" warm water says a raft isn't overkill.
Sure, the best ones are expensive, and are a bit bulky and heavy.
But offshore is offshore, and life is life.
I just believe in redundancy where safety is concerned, and preparing
for conditions.
And any boat that's offshore-capable has capacity for a raft.
Of course the ditch bag, EPIRB, etc, is critical, but if you think
life raft first that naturally brings up ditch bag issues like
contents and availability.
Anyway, that's how I approach it in my thinking.
Another important thing is how fast it all goes bad.
One minute all is pretty "normal," and the next second you're in the
drink. Waves don't even have to be big to tip a smallish boat if a
heavy passenger load gets it unbalanced.
Bigger boats like Wayne's probably can't behave like this unless taken
to conditions Wayne won't go to.
Reminds me of a trip Chuck reported on in his trawler that he was a
bit uncomfortable with, but that's another story.
Life raft stowage and deployment for this smaller type boat needs some
serious thought. You don't want it auto-inflating under the boat.
No suitable superstructure to attach it to I think.
The Everglades boat looked a bit top-heavy anyway, and rafts look to
be about 60-100 lbs, depending.
It was reported that one guy swam under the boat to retrieve vests,
and for this type boat that's probably how you would retrieve the
life raft canister/bag and ditch bag if it flipped suddenly.
Those should be firmly secured but easily released by a swimmer.
Just musing here, but when I get my boat I'll be giving safety more
thought than anything else - except for my tackle box maybe (-:.
BTW, I found this site to be pretty interesting.
http://www.equipped.org/home.htm

--Vic