Survival at Sea !

The question we most frequently get from people sounds something like this:  "But aren’t you afraid ?"

My answer to this is: Hell Yeah ! Most absolutely !  I think if I was not afraid of setting out into the ocean people should be worried !!!  I have read a few books written by women who talk about this subject and the common theme that keeps coming up is that they were afraid mostly because they did not feel that they were prepared for an emergency. That, if the worst happened, they would not know what to do !  I am glad to say that I feel the same way. It's the same with anything, if you head out into the mountains, if you decide to learn how to fly, or if you decide that you want to become a bullfighter !  One needs to face the facts and ask themselves: what is out there and what do I need to learn to protect myself ?

(This was sent to me recenlty, and although I still AM affraid of storms the sentiment is a good one I think)

You can’t imagine my ELATION when I found out that there was going to be a course offered on safety at sea and in my very own home town too !  

During two days of the course I sat in complete and absolute fascination as our excellent instructor taught us everything about life rafts, flares, the design of lifejackets, survival techniques, the medical aspects of survival at sea, weather, search and rescue techniques, storm tactics and so much more! 

I have to say that we were in very capable hands. Our instructor; Captain Eric Hill  from Maritime Helicopter Tactics, and Canadian Forces Maritime Warfare Centre, has a great deal of experience in marine rescue. Not only a rescuer,but also as the offshore training skipper for the Royal Canadian Navy, he holds a commercial endorsement for sailing vessels to 200 t and is a qualified RYA/CYA radar, diesel, and commercial Yachtmaster instructor. As Canada’s only Yachtmaster Instructor, he is an endorsed ISAF Sea Survival instructor for offshore racing and is a qualified Advanced Medical First Responder. So there, how’s that for credentials ?!? What was really great about this course was that Eric had many personal stories and experiences to share which made everything so much easier to relate to.  

But my favorite and best part of ALL was that we had plenty of hands on practice!   We got to jump in the pool, fully dressed in our foul weather gear to swim a few length  and experience putting on lifejackets (PFDs) and inflating them while in the water. We then got to practice getting into the life raft from the water, still fully dressed in what was now some very heavy clothe. I swear I gained 20 pounds in water alone!  

It may sound easy, but I assure you that it was NOT! Nevertheless, I am happy to say that I made it into the raft, before getting too exhausted !  Then the life raft was flipped over (did you know that as many as 50% of life rafts are deployed upside down?) and we each took turns to “right” it (flip it over). 

The next day, we all got a chance to set off a flare in the parking lot of the college where the course was given. It was quite a sight to see, 6-8 of us at a time, holding our flares up high, this even garnered the attention of a couple of the security guards from the college who come to investigate !  Flares can be quite dangerous as you can imagine and Eric gave us all some great safety tips such as; "It can take a couple of seconds after pulling the tab before your flare sets off, what ever you do, DO NOT TURN THE FLARE AND LOOK AT IT !”

This is the visual that comes to mind when I heard captain Eric say: What ever you do, DO NOT TURN THE FLARE AND LOOK AT IT !”

Funny enough, it DID take my flare a few seconds before it went “Bang”, and it was all I could do to keep my self control to NOT look at it ! We heard more than a few stories of panicked sailors who had never set off flares before, and in an emergency, with shaky fingers, dropped them on deck or worse, in the life raft !  

MC holding up a flare in Survival at Sea training, Calgary

The class all holding our flares

I came out of the course absolutely electric with energy and eager to share all that I had learned with my captain and crew. I can tell you that on Amelie there will ALWAYS be a safety briefing before any departure and EVERYONE, including the kids, will know how to : start the engine drive the boat, set off a flare safely, use the radio, put on and inflate their own life jackets ! (Did you know that self inflating life jackets do not always self inflate? You didn’t ?  Then.. You are welcome my friend).

Now this from the RYA (Royal Yachting Association):

“Cruising is one of the safest leisure sporting activities, and 99.9% of those afloat will never use their life raft. However, if you are part of the unlucky 0.1% your chances of survival will be greatly increased if you understand how to use the equipment and how to help yourself. It is a well-proven fact that, in the event of an emergency at sea, people with training are more likely to survive.”

Mark and I have a firm belief that in this, and all ventures in life, one must be self sufficient and self reliant and this course just helps me feel even better about how we are getting prepared. I hope that we will never be in that 0.1 % but if we ever are another thing I learned in this course is to “NEVER TO ATTACH ANYTHING FROM THE HELICOPTER TO THE BOAT” as our instructor liked to repeat. Haha ! I got another funny cartoon visual from that one! People can really loose their minds in an emergency I guess ! 

Anyways, for the sailors out there if you are looking for where to book this excellent course here is the website:

                                          www.seasurvival.ca