www.VIKING-yAchTING.coM with lanyard mounted on the top tube near the entrance. For those making extended offshore passages or planning to spend long periods on the ocean, well away from busy shipping lanes, are most likely want to buy one of the SOLAS offshore packs, which will contain extra water, flares, fishing equipment etc. Some manufacturers will pack whatever extras you deem appropriate, within reason, and provided it doesn’t break any regulations or endanger the raft itself. However, most bluewater cruisers will carry one or more ‘grab bags’ for extra kit. Grab baGs s I’ve already mentioned, the kit packs supplied in the rafts are very basic, so you’ll want to buy, or make up a grab bag to supplement this in the event of abandoning to the liferaft. The first thing to decide is what container to pack it all in. There are some commercially available grab bags – some with sealed tops, some not. Personally I prefer to use plastic containers with large openings and sealed, screw-down lids as they provide some physical protection to the contents, keep them dry and clean and allow you to easily open them up to check the contents before each long passage. Furthermore, provided you don’t pack them to the gunwhales with heavy kit, they usually float as well, which could be a real boon in the chaos of abandoning ship. Typical contents of a grab bags are: Handheld GPS with spare batteries, hand-held VHF (preferably the dry-cell battery option type with spare batteries), a 406mHz PLB A or EPIRB (satellite rescue beacons), a satellite phone, spare drogue, high calorie snacks, bottled water, a torch or two (LED type preferably) and batteries, extra parachute flares, a small 1st Aid kit (containing bandages, plasters, antiseptic cream, anti-seasickness tablets, multi-vitamins and painkillers), thermal blankets, notebook and pencil, a proper knife, a multi-tool, fishing gear (hand line and hooks etc), and dinghy repair patches. Personally, when ocean sailing, I also pack two rolls of duck-tape, some plastic cable ties, 10m of light line, several sizes of Zip-loc plastic bags, my Power Monkey solar charger (with connectors for the GPS, phone etc), a spare mobile phone with roaming enabled, a small-scale chart of the area in which I’m sailing and a book – preferably nothing to do with sailing (although a survival manual might prove useful) – and a deck of cards! Finally, it’s a good idea to two-thirds fill a couple of 20-litre plastic jerrycans with fresh water and tie them onto the yacht’s stern rail. These can be cut free and thrown overboard if there’s time. They will then float and can be picked up later from the sea if you don’t have time to load them into the liferaft before cutting free. Painting them with fluorescent paint also makes them more visible and putting your vessel’s name on them is a good idea too, should they drift off and be spotted by a passing ship. MOuNtiNG/stOWaGe icking up a slippery 35kg liferaft canister is no easy task to start with, but getting it to, up and over the rails is almost impossible for someone of a light build. So it’s worth considering how you plan to launch it well in advance and devise some way that it can be done by anyone on board, safely and easily. The most obvious answer is to fit it into a sturdy metal frame specifically designed P oc ean saf ety • pl astim o • se ago • c rewsaver • viking • zodiac • ocean safety • plast 46 Sailing Today December 2011 for your liferaft and mount it outboard of the stern rail so that it ‘falls’ overboard, rather than lifting and throwing. The downside to this type of mounting is that, in the event of a fire, you’ll want to launch it on the windward side, whereas dropping it off the back might allow it to drift downwind. A more common way of stowing it on a sailing yacht is by lashing it down to chocks on the coachroof. Although this might look ideal, you’ll still need to heave it about before launching, unless you’re brave enough to wait for it to float off! Also, the danger of the painter becoming entangled with the rigging and guardrail is greater this way, and besides, you might just want to launch it in advance and keep it tied alongside for peace of mind while you continue to try to save your vessel. It might sound blatently obvious, but please don’t put your liferaft into the bottom of a cockpit locker. You may think no one would be so silly, but I’ve seen it done a frightening number of times – especially with valise-type containers. I’ve even found one under a huge pile of other gear including an inflatable dinghy, outboard, spare fuel jerrycans and the like – imagine trying to move that lot when the spreaders are hitting the waves and your kids are looking to you as their saviour. Please don’t do it! Oh, and one last piece of advice that I’m sure you already know, but is always worth repeating – make sure the painter/trigger line is attached to the boat at all times.
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