[Public-List] also EPIRB and Drouge

Sun Feb 5 01:33:46 PST 2012

Hi Gord,
Outrageous! This is a story that should be circulated widely. 
John

On 2012-02-05, at 2:33 AM, Gordon Laco wrote:

> 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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> 
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