subject: Sailing and Abandoning Ship [print this page] Sailing and Abandoning Ship
Between the two of us, we've been on boats that have run aground, blown out sails, been towed to safety, fouled a prop, been holed, been dismasted, and sunk (in shallow water Peter's cellphone was the only casualty). But neither of us has ever had to activate an EPIRB or abandon ship into a life raft. Hopefully, you can say the same thing after thousands of miles have passed under your keel. But, remembering the Boy Scouts' line, it doesn't hurt to be prepared.
EPIRB stands for Emergency Position Indicating Radio Beacon. Marine stores sell these incredible devices, which are directly responsible for saving hundreds of sailors' lives. When activated in an emergency, an EPIRB emits a distress signal on a frequency that's monitored by satellites and airplanes which makes finding you much easier for rescuers! Check with your marine store to see whether you need to register your EPIRB.
You can't abandon ship into a life raft if you don't have one. They're big and bulky, but carrying one when sailing significant distances out of sight of land is wise. Obviously, we're talking about keelboats; no one should sail a dinghy out of sight of land. Make sure the raft is rated for the number of people you have on board and has been recently inspected. If not, or if you're unsure, check with your local marine store to find a company that specializes in inspecting and "refreshing" your life raft.
An old adage says, "Don't abandon ship into a life raft until you have to step up to get into the raft."
This saying highlights an important fact. The situation has to be pretty darn desperate before you exchange your big sailboat for a glorified air mattress with K rations. Don't take this the wrong way we believe in life rafts; the modern ones are marvelous pieces of technology. But still, things have to be pretty bad before you're safer in a life raft than aboard your boat.
A modern life raft is packed into a hard plastic case and is very heavy to lift. Therefore, you want to be sure that the raft is up on deck in a very accessible spot (and tied down securely) if abandoning ship is in the cards. Peter did inflate and get inside a life raft once, for a TV show, and he remembers a few things about that experience worth relating:
You can find a cartoon-style description of how to deploy and inflate the life raft on a life raft's case.
Tie the life raft's bow line (which is apparent outside the case) securely to the boat before throwing the raft into the water and inflating.
The K rations taste kind of like vanilla wafer cookies and the water comes in cans.
For a great true story about this subject, check out Steve Callahan's best seller, Adrift.
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