Liferaft
A liferaft is life insurance. We therefore purchased a high-quality solution that was not cheap. Who wants to switch to a life raft that doesn't have enough space? When the time comes, you have to be able to say to yourself that you have thought of everything. Also spare clothing and a double floor.
We have a Viking RescYou PRO UKSL for six people. To be honest, it's just big enough for 2-3 people. It is packaged in a plastic container mounted on a steel frame at the rear. It can be pushed overboard with its own weight without any effort. To inflate it, the ripcord is pulled strongly, a gas pressure cartridge fills the two separate air chambers, the canopy stands up, the lower floats stabilize the life raft, and the light is automatically switched on. It stands up on its own and has a double floor as well as food and water for at least 24 hours. This at least is the claim from the renowned Danish manufacturer.
As part of the ARC, we were allowed to try out climbing on an identical liferaft in the swimming pool. It was exciting to see what a liferaft feels like when eight of you are sitting in it, body next to body, sweating when the hatch is closed. You definitely prefer the boat as long as it is afloat.
Grab Bag Contents
The liferaft already has primitive but important rescue equipment, which primarily enables alerting other ships and communication. Simple things like a hand mirror to flares.
We have added the content as follows:
additional rockets and signaling devices,
a satellite Iridium 9555 with a working SIM card with backup battery,
a VHF radio for shorter distances with spare batteries and a spare rechargeable battery,
emergency food rations, extra water,
a radar reflector,
a Katatdyn desalination device to produce fresh water by hand,
Various items such as reading material, brandy, chocolate, glucose, diving goggles, laser flashlight, hand fishing rod, wet wipes, seasickness medication, first aid, sunscreen, toothbrush/paste, sunglasses, glasses, credit card and passport copies (sealed), binoculars, sippy cup , etc.
Everything is in three neon-colored, waterproof bags, within easy reach when you get out and can be taken into the life raft immediately.
We check the contents of the grab bags for functionality and completeness at regular intervals and in any case before every longer journey. Lists help us with this; we then just have to go through them and check off the individual points.
EPIRB (Emergency Position Indicating Radio Beacon)
SERENDIPITY IV has two emergency radio beacons (EPIRB), one of which is attached to the outside of the arch and triggers itself upon contact with water, a second one which is already in the aforementioned grab bag (McMurdo Smartfind AIS emergency radio beacon, which transmits via channel 406 as well as the frequency 121.5 MHz (homing) used by rescue teams and shows the liferaft's position).
In the event of contact with water or by manual triggering, the EPIRB sends an emergency signal (distress message) with position information to geostationary or polar orbiting satellites. Identification takes place via the programmed MMSI and other information that the user enters on the registration page.
Once you have transferred to the liferaft, the EPIRB is carried on a line in the water, on the one hand to activate the water contact switch and on the other hand to have a clear view of the sky for the signal.
The crew usually has no knowledge of whether the signal was sent and received by the MRCC (Maritime Rescue Coordination Center), however, there are already models that have this function, the so-called Return Link Service. It is advisable to have a satellite phone with you that has an active SIM card and just needs to be switched on. We believe that oral communication reduces stress (compared to communication via devices that can only be used for texting). Redundancy is the top priority.
PLB (Personal Locator Beacon)
A Personal Locator Beacon (PLB) is an emergency beacon that constantly registers the position of a crew member who has fallen into the water and automatically triggers an alarm via satellite. The underlying system is basically identical to an EPIRB, with the difference that the latter is assigned to the yacht, while a PLB is registered to the person.
We have in each of our life jackets:
an ocean SIGNAL rescueME PLB1 for sending an emergency message via satellite to the Maritime Rescue Coordination Centers (MRCC)
an easy-ONE-DSC from Weatherdoc, range approx. 7 nautical miles (approx. 16 km). It sends a distress signal to surrounding AIS-equipped boats. An emergency message with location also appears on the plotter (screen) of your boat and a siren alerts the boat's crew.
Our rules
For us as a sailing couple, the only way to believe in rescue is not just the gadgets mentioned above, but also rules that must be strictly obeyed by on passages. We don't want to imagine to come to the cockpit at the beginning of your watch at 2 a.m. and there's no one left outside. At a speed of 6 knots and a three-hour watch cycle, the sailed distance to the person who fell overboard could be approximately 33 km. A search against the wind without knowing the position of the MOB is very likely to fail.
Rule No. 1: When leaving the cabin, the lifejacket and lifeline are correctly installed and tethered to the ship.
Rule No. 2: No person leaves the cockpit without their partner in the cockpit looking out for them.
Rule No. 3: We reef early and only the two of us together.
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