Safety at Sea: Abandon Ship Bag Essentials

Safety at Sea: Abandon Ship Bag Essentials

by Noel Swanson

<strong>Let's face it: Boats sometimes sink.</strong> Yes, it can even happen to YOUR boat - despite your vast experience, excellent skills, chart plotter, backup GPS, radar, AIS, fire extinguishers and all the other systems, procedures and equipment you have put into place to avoid that ultimate disaster. The fact is that you might run into a half submerged container in the middle of the night. Or your engine might catch fire. Or your rig might be blown overboard in a storm - and then puncture your hull.

Of course, catamarans are much less likely to actually sink than a monohull. Mainly because they don't carry around a huge lump of lead in the form of a keel. But, even so, it is wise to be prepared in case the ultimate disaster does strike.

<b>What do you need to survive if your boat does sink?</b>

First, lets be clear about the goal. There are two:

1. You need to stay alive until the rescue services can find you.

2. The rescuers need to find you as soon as possible.

Clearly the amount and type of equipment you need for survival depends in large upon how soon you will be rescued. With that in mind, lets look at what equipment you need:

Most important is, of course a <strong>liferaft</strong>. Without one of those you aren't going to stay alive for too long in the deep blue ocean! We personally have a Viking RescYou. Whatever type you get, do get it regularly serviced and make sure you see it activated so you know how it works and what comes with it.

Next, you need an <strong>abandon ship bag</strong>. This is a handy, floating waterproof bag that contains the essential items you will want onboard your life raft. Often called a grab-bag, ditch bag, ditch kit or flee bag for obvious reasons.

Now, here's the key. The bag must be waterproof. You are about to jump off your boat into the ocean! probably in the middle of a raging storm. You do NOT want all your gear to get soaked.

Essential too that the bag, with its contents, actually floats. Again, test it out, so you don't have a nasty surprise watching your essential supplies descend to the depths just when you need them most.

I personally use the type of <strong><a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000YODFL8?ie=UTF8&tag=smokirevie-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=B000YODFL8">dry bags</a></strong> used for kayaking and rafting. They're cheap, rugged, and work well.

Finally, the bag must be stored where it can be easily reached. Remember, the chances are that you will need it in a hurry, in the middle of the night, in the middle of a storm, with your boat either on fire, full of water, or upside down. You don't have time to be digging deep into your under-bed storage locker.



Noel and Ceu are cruising around the Caribbean in his 42ft Robertson and Caine sailing catamaran. For details and a checklist of all the equipment you need for your <a href="http://lifepart2.info/equipment/abandon-ship-bag-essentials">abandon ship bag</a> visit his blog: <a href="http://lifepart2.info">Catamaran Sailing Cancun</a>

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