[Public-List] also EPIRB and Drouge

Gordon Laco mainstay at csolve.net
Wed Feb 15 09:11:12 PST 2012 

Thanks Bob - 

The company that reneged on the deal was Switlik.... Not terribly impressive
and to suggest that five days is an unrealistically long test is naïve in
the extreme.  I was troubled that they lacked such confidence in their
product.

G



On 15/02/12 12:04 PM, "Bob Crinion" <bob at crinion.ca> wrote:

> Hey Gord,
> 
> That is a good yarn!
> 
> Cheers,
> -bob
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: public-list-bounces at lists.alberg30.org
> [mailto:public-list-bounces at lists.alberg30.org] On Behalf Of Gordon Laco
> Sent: February-04-12 10:34 PM
> To: Alberg 30 Public List -- open to all
> Subject: Re: [Public-List] also EPIRB and Drouge
> 
> Hello friends - 
> 
> A few years ago when I did a gig leading the support crew for the TV
> show called 'Survivorman' in the episode which involved the show's star
> being cast adrift for a week, we approached 'a major manufacturer of
> liferafts to use one of their four man outfits.  The 'major
> manufacturer' early on eagerly agreed, but at the last minute recanted
> and refused to send us a raft, even if we paid full retail for one.
> They said the issue was the length of the test - five days which they
> thought was unfairly long.
> 
> By the time they came clean and told us they were not in fact sending
> the liferaft (we went through several weeks of excuses during which they
> blamed the airline, shipping companies, customs, etc) the film crew and
> I were already in Belize and filming was about to start in a matter of
> days.
> Thinking swiftly, I suggested to the show's star and producer that we
> should
> lease a raft from a yacht in port, there were several in port.   I
> reckoned
> that aside from getting us a raft, this would increase the veracity of
> the episode by use of a 'real' raft of a real yacht which was intending
> to use it in an emergency. Les Stroud of Suvivorman is, I am proud to
> say, very serious about the integrity of his episodes.
> 
> We obtained two rafts, the deal being that at the end of the week we'd
> pay
> for the repack of the one we used.   The first was off a yacht in a
> circumnavigation and over three years past it's repack date.  It had
> been in
> it's canister on the yacht's coach roof for several years.   We set up
> the
> cameras, chucked it into the drink and pulled the lanyard.  Out it
> popped, it inflated, then fell to pieces.  The glue had totally perished
> and it ended up as sheets of hypalon randomly floating or sinking.  You
> should have seen the face of the guy who owned it and for whom it was
> his parachute.  He graciously thanked us for exploding his false sense
> of security and ordered a new raft on his own.  I won't name the maker
> because this raft had been abused and I wouldn't want to infer any blame
> on the manufacturer.
> 
> The second raft was a Plastimo, also from a yacht on a long voyage, and
> also with a stale repack date but in this case less than two years.  It
> had also been stored on deck in a hard canister.
> 
> Into the drink it went, we yanked the lanyard as the cameras rolled, and
> it inflated properly.  It was this raft Stroud used for his week adrift
> (while I stooged to windward in a chartered ketch standing ready to take
> action if things turned really bad for him.)
> 
> This raft was fairly good and survived the test, but had four problems.
> First, the zipper in the canopy was very fragile and I broke it while
> exiting - which meant that Les couldn't properly close it all week. We
> still
> talk so I reckon that's a testament to his powers of forgiveness.   Not
> being able to close the canopy caused him fairly severe hardship.
> 
> The second issue was that there was a leak in the floor of the raft that
> he couldn't find.  This meant that he had to bail water out every half
> hour or so or he'd rapidly find himself waist deep in a water.
> 
> The third issue was that there was several minute air leaks in the
> tubes...
> In addition to the bailing Les had to pump constantly.  When he fell
> asleep he'd wake up 'standing' in a half collapsed raft full of
> seawater.
> 
> The fourth issue had to do with the raft's survival kit.  Everything
> advertised was there....but for some reason there was twice as much food
> as expected...but the extra food was IN PLACE OF THE WATER.  There was
> no drinking water.  Imagine that.
> 
> What saved Stroud was this:  we outfitted him with all the gear I
> reckoned a sailor with normal forethought might have in a fast abandon
> ship situation.
> He had a jug of fresh water in a 'crash bag' of gear that I modeled
> after the one I used to carry when I did a yacht delivery at sea when I
> was younger.  (contents:  gallon of water, flashlight, Swiss army knife,
> fishing kit, old foul weather jacket, mirror, rope)  We also allowed him
> an old 10'
> Zodiac inflatable dink with a wooden transom and floorboards I bought
> for a few hundred bucks from a friend in our sailing club in Midland.
> The old beat up Zodiac performed flawlessly.
> 
> Les fell into a routine of sleeping in the open dinghy at night, but had
> to get out of the sun during the day so he went into the life raft where
> he had to pump and bail all day.  It was hard work, and not so nice at
> night when
> the weather was rough which it was twice in the week.   There was a
> squall
> on night and for a while I thought we'd lost him - not a pleasant few
> hours for either of us during which we searched looking for his strobe
> while saying on the VHF 'do you see us/me?' alternatively to each other.
> 
> So, what was the first life raft maker's issue?  As I said at the top,
> after finally admitting they wouldn't lend or even sell us a four man
> raft, they said they didn't like the fact that the survival test was
> going to be five
> days long and on television.   Their vice president told us that no
> sailor
> should expect to be adrift that long, given modern electronic signaling
> devices.  That of course is utterly preposterous -  I've spoken with
> various of their people at marine trade shows several times since the
> shooting of that episode; the employees I spoke to were horrified and
> apologetic - and I think those reactions are entirely appropriate.
> 
> When we finally picked Stroud up, his hands and feet were swollen and
> white
> like big padded mitts.   He was exhausted - he said this was from the
> constant jostling.  He said the stress of being in a constantly jiggling
> soft world was terrible and that the week adrift was one of the most
> difficult experiences he'd undergone.  I took in this information
> silently - for me the five days was at that moment a fresh memory of
> sailing around in a magnificently outfitted and provisioned 54' ketch
> with two companions and a cook.  I kept my mouth shut.
> 
> Gord #426 Surprise
> 
> 
> On 04/02/12 2:33 PM, "brooks.glenn at comcast.net"
> <brooks.glenn at comcast.net>
> wrote:
> 
>> Now that I think about, am looking for a cat I EPIRB and a Jordan
>> Series Drouge also
>> 
>> 
>> Thanks! 
>> 
>> 
>> GlennP
>> 
>> ----- Original Message -----
>> From: "brooks glenn" <brooks.glenn at comcast.net>
>> To: "Alberg 30 Public List -- open to all"
>> <public-list at lists.alberg30.org>
>> Sent: Saturday, February 4, 2012 11:28:28 AM
>> Subject: life raft needed
>> 
>> 
>> Hi all,
>> 
>> 
>> Am looking for a used canister life raft to put aboard dolce this
>> spring in preparation for the Single Handed Transpac. Anybody have a
>> lead on a recently
>> (2005 or newer) manufactured Winslow or Givens?
>> 
>> 
>> Also anybody have an opinion about the Switlik ocean service raft
>> compared to the others??
>> 
>> 
>> Thanks very much
>> 
>> 
>> Glenn P
>> 
>> 
>> S/V Dolce
>> 
>> 
>> (Someday i will remember my sail number :>)
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