The Catamaran Adventures of Noel and Ceu
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Abandon-Ship Bag Essentials

Let’s face it: Boats sometimes sink. Yes, it can even happen to YOUR boat – despite your vast experience, excellent skills, chart plotter, backup GPS, radar, AIS, fire extinguishers and all the other systems, procedures and equipment you have put into place to avoid that ultimate disaster. The fact is that you might run into a half submerged container in the middle of the night. Or your engine might catch fire. Or your rig might be blown overboard in a storm – and then puncture your hull.

Admittedly a catamaran is far less likely to sink than a monohull, mainly because it isn’t dragging around 5 tons of lead bolted to it’s keel, but even so, it is prudent to be prepared for the worst, to have a backup plan to all the other backup plans.

So, if your boat where to sink, what would you need to survive?

First, lets be clear about the goal. There are two:

1. You need to survive until you are rescued or are able to rescue yourself (e.g. you drift ashore).

2. You need to be rescued as quickly as possible.

Clearly the amount and type of equipment you need for survival depends in large upon how soon you will be rescued. With that in mind, lets look at what equipment you need:

First, you need a liferaft. If you don’t have one of those you are going to be swimming for a long time! We have a Viking RescYou. Make sure you get it serviced regularly. Make sure it is stowed where you can get to it. And make sure you know how to operate it. When you are buying one, or getting yours serviced, have a good look at one that has been deployed so you can see exactly what is in it.

Second, you need an abandon ship bag. Also known as a grab-bag, ditch bag, ditch kit or flee bag, this is a handy floating waterproof bag that is pre-loaded with some essential survival equipment.

Now, here’s the key. The bag must be waterproof. You are about to jump off your boat into the ocean! probably in the middle of a raging storm. You do NOT want all your gear to get soaked.

It must also float. Normally they will, simply by virtue of the trapped air inside – but TEST it once you have packed it. And it must have a lanyard. That way you can clip it to your liferaft and then you have one less thing to think about and one less thing to lose.

We use one of my kayaking dry bags for this purpose. These are tube-like rubberised bags that are sealed by rolling up the mouth of the bag. Even nicer if you get the see-through ones, so you can see what’s inside, or else a bright red or orange one so you can find it. You can also buy custom made ditch bags but these are more expensive and usually aren’t even fully waterproof.

Finally, the bag must be stored where it can be easily reached. Remember, the chances are that you will need it in a hurry, in the middle of the night, in the middle of a storm, with your boat either on fire, full of water, or upside down. You don’t have time to be digging deep into your under-bed storage locker.

Ok, now lets get to the equipment:

To Get Rescued

  • An EPIRB (Emergency Position Indicating Radio Beacon). This is the single most important item. Make sure you test it, and make sure it stays dry until you actually need it. Get one of the modern ones that has GPS included. These will transmit your exact location to a hundred meters, instead of the older doppler version which were accurate to only a few miles. Again, imagine a raging storm with white caps, streaming froth and lashing rain. How easy will it be for that helicopter to find you if they have to search several square miles looking for you?
  • Flares. The helicopter is near-by. Or there is a ship passing close by. But how will they see you? Carry both parachute flares for long distance signalling and red hand flares for close by. Orange smoke can also work well in the daytime in calmer weather. Make sure the flares are meet your country’s regulations and the SOLAS specifications. Make sure also that you know how to fire them – remember to fire them off downwind so that you don’t get a face full of burning magnesium.
  • Signal Mirror. Simple and effective. No expiry date. No batteries to wear out.
  • VHF Radio. These days it is probably worth getting a DSC handheld radio since many commercial vessels no longer maintain a watch on channel 16. That way, when you see a tanker passing by, you can send out a DSC mayday which will ring an alarm and wake them up, whereas a simple voice mayday may get missed.
  • Maybe a SART (Search and Rescue Transponder). This helps ships with radar to home in on you and find you quickly. Probably less necessary if you have a GPS EPIRB since that already gives your location to a few meters. For more info on rescue electronics this is a very informative article: EPIRBS, SARTS and other rescue systems.

To Survive Until You Are Rescued

  • Water. You won’t survive long without it. Most liferafts come with some packaged water. Take more if you can, though it is heavy. If you have time, fill up some plastic bottles before you abandon ship.
  • Watermaker. Bottles of water are convenient, but they soon run out. A hand pumped reverse osmosis watermaker is the second most important item. With this to turn sea water into drinking water, you can survive days, weeks, or even months.
  • Food. Again, most liferafts come with pre-packaged emergency rations. The USCG approved ones are designed to not increase your thirst and last a long time. Dried food also works, but of course you then need a good water supply (ie your watermaker!).
  • Fishing kit. When your food runs out you are going to have to fend for yourself. Pack some fishing gear with strong line and hopefully you can catch some nice tuna for sushi! A spear gun might also be useful.
  • A cutting board and life-raft knife.

Medical supplies.

  • If you need prescription medicines, but them in the bag. And replace them when they expire.
  • Take your prescription glasses and sunglasses.
  • Sea sickness pills, bands,  or gum.
  • Pack sunscreen and lip protection and vaseline (for salt induced rash).
  • a first aid kit and feminine hygiene pads for the women which can double up as absorbent dressings.

Comfort & Miscellaneous items

  • A toothbrush is small, and makes life much more comfortable.
  • Pencil and paper – get a ‘Rite in the Rain’ notepad which resists water (but is not totally waterproof).
  • Cyalume Lightsticks from your local hardware store will let you see at night, and can also be used for signalling.
  • Personal Toilet paper in a zip sealed plastic bag
  • Duplicate credit cards and $100.00 cash
  • Photo copy of passports (in a sealed zip-loc bag)
  • extra zip-log bags
  • spare clothes (use synthetic quick-drying materials)
  • waterproof watch
  • handheld compass

Finally, don’t forget to throw in a survival manual and read it before you pack it into the abandon ship bag!

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