Warm me up

All we can say is you dont want to be stuck in a situation like we simulated today. 4C water is really cold. Let alone when youve an ex army guy pushing you through the moves - overturning the liferaft, towing and hauling the rest of the crew into a liferaft after having been in the water for over an hour. This was nothing like doing a sea survival course indoors like is done at home. It made it all very very real down to realistically debating what to do with dead people in the liferaft and drinking urine for hydration.
Fi

‘COLD? COLD?.. IT WAS BLOODY FREEZING!”
9th February 2010. 2000 Local Time: Position: East Cowes, Isle of Wight.
The reported water temperature at the beginning of our exercise today was 5.8 deg C.
Not an unusual temperature around NW Europe at this time if the year, and maybe a few
degrees colder than SW Ireland. What was unusual was that 9 people were splashing
around in an enclosed area at the mouth of the Medina River flowing through Cowes.
Red Ensign insists on it being realistic.... and it was. It is estimated that the
average person, ‘WITHOUT’ the proper survival gear, has something between 2 and 3
minutes of immersion time in these waters before they become unconscious.
We were well kitted out, with everything but the face covered. We were sealed at the
neck and wrists and the suits even included integral waterproof booties. And we wore
gloves and hats. We gave up after 90 minutes. We all wanted out. No one was willing
to continue in the water anymore.
It was an interesting lesson.
In the Caribbean it would have been warm enough to swim around for half the day but
here... falling in to briny has a completely different set of consequences.
So ... what did we learn?
1: Plan and expect it to happen. It might but expect it not and be prepared.
Be suitably equipped and practised in the procedures used, up to and including
using a Life Raft.
2: Don’t leave your boat until the last possible moment.
The Liferaft is a last resort but try to transfer to the liferaft while still
dry.... if at all possible.
3: Liferafts contain the minimum legal requirements!........
Have your own ‘grab bag’... put whatever you want into it. You can argue about
sharing what you have later and it might just spice up the party!
Sitting in the raft looking around at the faces peering out from the hats and
suits it was obvious that despite the joking and laughing not one person in the raft
ever wanted to be there for real.
Cold..... Was it cold? Not at all... Ha ha...
We lasted 90 minutes, only about 40 of that actually in the water, the rest of the time
was in the raft, and I repeat what I said above.... WE ALL WANTED OUT!
Tomorrow, we start Fire Training..... They schedule it like that in case we need further thawing out!
Angeus