[Public-List] also EPIRB and Drouge

[Gordon Laco]

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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