Abandon Ship and Liferaft Survival

Prerequisites

This lesson is part of the RYA/MCA Yachtmaster Offshore syllabus. Before you study it you should already have:

• Completed the safety content of RYA Competent Crew and Day Skipper (lifejackets, harnesses, liferaft familiarisation, flares, fire and flooding) and the Coastal Skipper overview of abandoning ship.
• A working knowledge of GMDSS equipment at SRC level: DSC distress alerting, Mayday procedure on VHF Channel 16, EPIRB, PLB and SART operation.
• Ideally, a completed RYA Sea Survival course. It is a requirement for anyone applying for the commercial endorsement on the Yachtmaster Offshore certificate, and every offshore skipper should have done the wet drill in a pool at least once.
• The experience expected of Yachtmaster Offshore candidates: 50 days at sea, 2,500 miles, 5 passages over 60 miles including 2 overnight and 2 as skipper.

You should also be familiar with the Fire and Flooding lessons, since fire, flooding and structural failure are the three events that lead to abandonment, and with the Heavy Weather and Search and Rescue lessons.

Learning Objectives

This lesson covers the Yachtmaster Offshore syllabus topic of emergency situations: abandon ship procedures and survival craft (the decision to abandon; Mayday, DSC and EPIRB; liferaft launch, boarding and immediate actions; ditch bag contents; survival in the raft; SART, flares and rescue by lifeboat, ship or helicopter), together with the skipper's responsibility for crew briefing and equipment readiness. By the end of this lesson you should be able to:

• Decide, using clear criteria, when to stay aboard and when to abandon ship, and explain why abandonment is the last resort (RYA syllabus: decision to abandon).
• Run the abandon-ship sequence as skipper: communicate, prepare, launch, board, clear the vessel and survive (RYA syllabus: abandon ship drill and responsibilities of the skipper).
• Specify the contents and stowage of a grab bag, and dress crew correctly for survival in the water and in the raft (RYA syllabus: ditch bag, immersion suits and lifejackets).
• Describe the types and standards of liferaft, their servicing and stowage, and launch and board a liferaft from the deck or from the water, and explain the painter, weak link, hydrostatic release and sea anchor (RYA syllabus: liferaft deployment and boarding).
• Deploy EPIRB, PLB and SART so that rescuers detect and home in on the raft, and describe how a distress alert is handled by the rescue services (RYA syllabus: GMDSS and SAR coordination).
• Organise life in the raft: immediate actions, water rationing, seasickness, hypothermia, lookouts, signalling and morale (RYA syllabus: survival craft management).
• Prepare for and cooperate with rescue by lifeboat, ship or helicopter.

Why Abandoning Ship Is the Last Resort

The old saying is "only step up into a liferaft". It does not describe a boarding technique. It means you should leave the yacht only when it is so far gone that the raft is the higher, safer platform, in other words when the yacht is sinking beneath you. Even a badly damaged and partly flooded yacht is a far better survival platform than a liferaft. It is bigger and easier for rescuers to see, on radar as well as by eye. It is more stable. It carries food, water, clothing, radios and power, and it gives the crew shelter and something to do.

History bears this out. In the 1979 Fastnet Race several crews abandoned yachts that were later found still afloat, and some of those crew died in or around rafts that capsized or broke up. The 1998 Sydney to Hobart produced similar lessons. A liferaft in a big breaking sea is a very hostile place to be. Abandon ship only when staying aboard is clearly more dangerous than leaving.

The diagram below shows the progression from staying aboard, through assessment and preparation, to abandonment.

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Criteria for Abandoning

Abandon only when one of the following applies and cannot be brought under control:

• Flooding beyond pumping capacity. Water is gaining despite all pumps, buckets and damage control, and the yacht is clearly going down.
• Uncontrollable fire. The fire has spread beyond the extinguishers and is threatening the crew. Remember that GRP burns fiercely and gives off toxic smoke, and that a fire in the engine compartment or galley can reach a gas cylinder or fuel tank very quickly.
• Structural disintegration. The hull or keel structure is failing, for example a keel working loose and water pouring in around the keel bolts, or a major collision that has holed the hull below the waterline.
• Other lethal risks. Grounding on a lee shore in surf where the yacht is breaking up, or an explosion risk, may also justify leaving the yacht for the raft.

Until then, fight for the boat. Keep pumping, plug holes, fight the fire. The skipper should give the order to abandon clearly and deliberately, not leave it to individual panic. What you can do is prepare to abandon while you are still fighting the emergency. Then if the moment comes everything is ready, and if it never comes you have lost nothing.

What to Do Before Deciding

The skipper's decision rests on an honest assessment of the following:

1. Rate of flooding or fire spread. If you are winning, carry on; if it is steady, keep working and prepare; if the rate is increasing or the fire spreading, prepare to leave.
2. Time remaining. A rough guide is that a yacht can sink in minutes after a keel loss, but may take hours with a slow leak. Estimate it, and keep updating the estimate.
3. Weather and sea state. Launching and boarding a raft in rough seas is dangerous; a yacht that can be kept afloat in a gale is often safer than a raft in the same gale.
4. Rescue time. If help is hours away you must survive; if a lifeboat or a ship is 20 minutes away, it may be better to stay with the yacht and wait.
5. Crew state. Injured, hypothermic or exhausted crew are better protected in the yacht than in a raft.

The Systematic Sequence

Think of four phases:

1. Communicate. DSC distress alert and voice Mayday while you still have power and an antenna, then activate the EPIRB.
2. Prepare. Dress the crew, put on lifejackets, get the grab bag and extra water to the launch point, brief the crew.
3. Execute. Launch the raft, board it, cut or release from the yacht.
4. Survive. Immediate actions in the raft, then routine, rationing, lookouts and signalling until rescue.

Phase 1: Raising the Alarm

Raise the alarm early, before abandonment is certain. The rescue services would much rather stand down a lifeboat than start a search late. If the situation is serious but not yet life-threatening, start with a Pan-Pan and upgrade to Mayday if things get worse.

• Lift the cover and press the DSC distress button for about 5 seconds. If you have time, select the nature of distress first ("sinking", "fire", "abandoning"). The alert carries your MMSI and GPS position.
• Follow up with a voice Mayday on VHF Channel 16. Give the vessel name and call sign, MMSI, position, nature of distress, assistance needed, number of people on board, and other useful information such as "abandoning to liferaft, red hull, white sails".
• Activate the EPIRB. Do not wait for it to float free. A manually activated EPIRB starts transmitting minutes earlier and goes into the raft with you.
• In an Inmarsat or Iridium area you may also send a satellite distress alert. Any satellite phone can be used to call the coastguard directly.
• Beyond VHF range, use MF or HF DSC (Sea Area A2 or A3 equipment) and the corresponding distress frequencies, and tell the rescue coordination centre by satellite phone.

Make the Mayday while the main VHF still works. Fire can quickly burn through cables and smoke can drive you out of the cabin. Flooding shorts out the batteries. The handheld VHF in the grab bag has only about 1 to 5 watts and a short antenna, giving perhaps 3 to 5 miles' range to a ship and more to a coast station or aircraft.

The Mayday Message

A standard Mayday call follows a fixed order. Say it slowly, clearly and once, then repeat as necessary:

If there is no reply, repeat. If a vessel offers help, answer. If a vessel relays your Mayday (a Mayday relay), it is helping you, so cooperate with her questions. Do not cancel the Mayday until you are safe; a rescue service will keep a distress open until it is satisfied that all persons are safe.

EPIRB Deployment

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Image: Marwan Mohamad.jpg), CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.jpg)

The diagram below shows the two ways an EPIRB is activated and how it should be secured in the raft.

Key points:

• A 406 MHz EPIRB is detected by the Cospas-Sarsat satellites and routed through a Mission Control Centre to the responsible rescue coordination centre (the MRCC). A GNSS-equipped EPIRB normally sends a position accurate to about 100 m within minutes. Older units without GNSS rely on Doppler positioning, which takes longer and is less accurate (around 2 to 5 km).
• The 121.5 MHz homing signal lets aircraft and lifeboats home in on the beacon for the final approach.
• A float-free EPIRB in a bracket has a hydrostatic release unit (HRU) that frees it at a depth of roughly 1.5 to 4 m if the yacht sinks. It is a backup only. Take the EPIRB into the raft yourself whenever possible.
• In the raft, tie the EPIRB lanyard to the raft (never to a person who might go overboard). Most EPIRBs work best floating in the water outside the raft or held upright with a clear view of the sky. Do not let them lie under the canopy, which can block the signal.
• Leave it switched on until you are rescued, even if you have seen a ship or aircraft. It is your best homing aid.
• The EPIRB must be registered (in the UK with the UK Beacon Registry) so that the MRCC can identify the vessel and phone your emergency contacts immediately. The registration must be renewed or updated when details change, and the battery and the HRU have expiry dates (typically battery 5 years, HRU 2 years).
• A PLB (personal locator beacon) is smaller and carried by a person; it is not float-free, and some are not rated for the same duration. Carry one per crew member offshore if practical; in the water, a PLB attached to the lifejacket may be the only thing that finds the person.

How the Rescue Services Respond

When an alert is received, the MRCC acts in stages:

1. Alert (from the DSC, EPIRB or satellite phone).
2. Confirmation: the MRCC tries to call you by VHF or satellite, and phones the contacts in the beacon registration to check for a false alert. If you do not answer, they must assume the alert is real.
3. Assets tasked: lifeboat, coastguard helicopter or aircraft, nearby merchant ships (through broadcast Mayday relay).
4. Search if the position is uncertain: the area is calculated from the last known position, the drift of the raft (wind, current and tide), and the time elapsed. This is why the sea anchor and the datum matter.
5. Rescue and recovery to a safe port, with medical care.

Remember the false-alert rule: if you set off an alert in error, call the MRCC straight away and cancel it. Never just switch the beacon off.

Phase 2: Preparation

Liferaft Types, Standards and Stowage

A yacht liferaft is normally an ISO 9650-1 raft (or a SOLAS A or B pack raft, more costly and more robust). The ISO standard defines two groups and several pack types:

• Group A (offshore): for use beyond coastal waters; designed to survive in rougher seas and cold water, with insulated floor and ballast.
• Group B (coastal): lighter-duty rafts for use within coastal waters.
• Pack types: for example a "less than 24 hours" pack (fewer items) and a "more than 24 hours" pack (more rations and water, extra flares).

For offshore sailing use an ISO 9650-1 Group A raft with a pack suitable for the passage, or a SOLAS-standard raft. Capacity must be enough for everyone on board, including a margin for the raft's likely loss in use (some skippers carry two rafts, each able to take everyone, on long ocean passages).

Stowage is as important as the raft itself:

• Canister raft in a cradle on deck or in a stern locker, with a hydrostatic release (HRU), is the standard offshore arrangement. It can be launched quickly and floats free if the yacht sinks.
• Valise raft (soft bag) stowed in a locker is lighter and cheaper but slower to launch and more difficult to carry, so it suits coastal use.
• The raft must be stowed where it can be launched in seconds, on the side of the yacht where it will not be blocked by rigging, and where it is not subject to heavy loading or damage. It should be secured with a lashing and HRU as the manufacturer states, and the painter must be led to a strong point.

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Image: VynedJ, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons. Resized to 1280 px wide; otherwise unmodified.

The picture shows a canister raft in its cradle with the painter led out ready to be made fast, and the instruction panels on the outside. Look for these on your own raft: the painter, the lashing and the HRU.

Servicing: a liferaft must be serviced by an approved service station at the interval stated by the manufacturer, usually every 12 months for ISO rafts (some are allowed three years). The service replaces the gas cylinder test, inspects the tubes and the equipment, and renews pyrotechnics and consumables. An out-of-date raft may not inflate or may leak. The service label and the date should be checked before every offshore passage.

The Grab Bag

The liferaft's emergency pack (SOLAS A, SOLAS B or ISO 9650 equivalent) is minimal. Leisure rafts packed to ISO 9650 Group A with a "less than 24 hours" pack may contain only a few flares, a bailer, sponges, a repair kit, a knife and a torch. That is why you add a grab bag. The diagram shows typical contents.

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A practical offshore grab bag contains:

Rules of thumb: the bag must float with everything in it, should be brightly coloured, carry a lanyard and clip, and live by the companionway where it can be grabbed in seconds. Check batteries, flare expiry dates and water before every offshore passage. Allocate the bag to a named crew member at the safety briefing. Beyond the grab bag, extra water in partly filled containers (so they float) can be thrown over and tied to the raft as you leave.

Dressing for Survival

Cold water kills in stages. Cold shock (gasping, hyperventilation, risk of inhaling water) comes in the first one to three minutes. Swimming failure follows over the next 10 to 30 minutes as the muscles in the arms and legs cool. Hypothermia only sets in after about 30 minutes or more. So the aim is to get into the raft dry if at all possible, and to be dressed so that you survive the water if you cannot.

The table gives approximate survival times for a person in the water in a lifejacket without insulation. They are a rough guide only: build, clothing, fitness and the sea state all matter.

The UK sea temperature is under 10 degrees C for half the year, and seldom above 17 degrees C. In the water, the HELP position (Heat Escape Lessening Posture: knees drawn up, arms folded across the lifejacket) conserves heat when alone, and a huddle with others reduces heat loss further. Do not swim unless a vessel, raft or shore is very close, because swimming speeds up cooling.

• Put on as many warm layers as you can, plus a hat, gloves and foul-weather gear. Wool and fleece still insulate when wet. Clothing traps water next to the body, which slows cooling and does not drag you down.
• Wear an immersion suit or drysuit if the yacht carries them. A drysuit needs insulating layers underneath. An insulated immersion suit has the insulation built in. Practise putting it on before the passage. SOLAS suits are designed to be donned in two minutes, and in practice it can take much longer in a pitching yacht.
• The lifejacket goes on over the top of everything, crotch straps done up, spray hood ready, light working.

The diagram below shows why the lifejacket must be the outer functional layer. A lifejacket under a jacket cannot inflate properly and may not turn you face up.

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The only thing that may go over a lifejacket is a loose shell that cannot restrict inflation. In practice, on a yacht the foul-weather jacket goes underneath the lifejacket and harness. The sequence for putting on an immersion suit is shown below. Learn it before you need it.

The Crew Briefing

At the start of every passage the skipper should show everyone where the raft, grab bag, EPIRB, flares and immersion suits are, and how the raft is launched. When abandonment is imminent, give a short, calm briefing: who launches the raft, who brings the grab bag and water, who looks after any injured person, and the order of boarding. Give everyone a specific job. Then take seasickness tablets if there is time, because almost everyone is sick in a raft.

A typical abandon-ship briefing, spoken in the cockpit with the crew gathered:

"We are abandoning ship. Everyone has a lifejacket on, warm clothes and a hat. Anna and Ben, you launch the raft to leeward. Chris, get the grab bag and the water. Dave, take the EPIRB and the handheld VHF. Eve, you look after Frank, who has the hurt arm. We board in this order: Ben, Anna, Frank, Eve, Dave, Chris. I board last. Stay together and do exactly what I say."

Phase 3: Launching and Boarding

Launching the Raft

The sequence below is the standard launch drill for a canister raft on deck or in a cockpit locker.

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1. Check the painter is made fast to a strong point on the yacht. This is the most important check. If it is not tied on, the raft will inflate and blow away.
2. Release the lashings or the hydrostatic release and carry the canister to the leeward side (two people for most rafts, which weigh 25 to 45 kg).
3. Check the water is clear of people and debris, then throw the canister over.
4. Pull the painter. It may be 6 to 10 m long before the gas fires. A firm jerk then fires the CO2 cylinder and the raft inflates in about 30 seconds (longer in cold weather).
5. Bring the raft alongside by the painter and hold it there. If it has inflated upside down it must be righted (see below).
6. Board (see below).
7. Cut the painter only when everyone is aboard and you are committed. The raft knife is stowed in a pocket near the painter attachment point.
8. Paddle clear of the yacht and stream the drogue (sea anchor).

Why leeward? The raft is in the yacht's lee and sheltered while you board, and you are not climbing over the windward rail in the full force of the wind and sea. The danger is that the yacht drifts down onto the raft. A rig floating alongside, a sinking hull or burning fuel on the water can destroy the raft or the people in it. So board quickly and get clear once everyone is aboard. Keep a careful watch on the mast and rigging if dismasted.

Exception: fire. If the yacht is on fire, flames and smoke blow to leeward. Launch the raft on the windward side, upwind of the fire, if you can do so safely (turn the yacht so the fire is downwind). Otherwise a raft launched to leeward is in the smoke and burning debris, and the tubes may melt.

A hydrostatic release unit allows the raft to float free if the yacht sinks before you can launch it. The HRU fires at about 1.5 to 4 m depth, the canister floats up, the painter pulls tight and fires the gas, and a weak link in the painter breaks so that the raft is not dragged down with the yacht. The raft then floats on the surface for you to swim to.

Boarding

• From the deck if possible. Getting in dry is far better for long-term survival. Hold the raft close alongside, and step or lower yourself in rather than jumping. Jumping onto the canopy can injure people already inside or damage the arch tubes.
• Heaviest crew in first, so they can ballast the raft and help the others. Pass in the grab bag and water once the first two are aboard.
• From the water. Use the boarding ladder or ramp. Grab the handles, kick your legs up to the surface behind you, and pull yourself in head first and face down, one person at a time. Those already inside help by grabbing the lifejacket shoulders and leaning back. Help an injured person in with two people and keep their weight low.
• Lifejackets. A fully inflated lifejacket makes it hard to climb into a raft. Once inside you may partially deflate it for comfort, but keep it on throughout.
• Do not jump from a height wearing an inflated lifejacket. This is a concern for ships rather than yachts, but if you must jump, cross your arms over the lifejacket and keep your feet together.
• A dinghy can be used as well as the raft, to carry more people, a casualty or extra supplies: tow it behind the raft on a long line. It must not replace the raft, because it has no canopy and little stability in a seaway.

Righting a Capsized Raft

If the raft inflates upside down, one person swims round to the side with the gas cylinder (usually marked "right here"), climbs onto the bottom, grabs the righting strap, stands on the cylinder and leans back so the raft flips over on top of them. They then swim out from under the raft, hand over hand along the edge. Practise this on a sea survival course; you do not want your first attempt to be the real thing.

When the Raft Does Not Inflate

A raft may fail to inflate (a cold-soaked cylinder, a tangled painter, or a faulty valve). If it will not fire, check that the whole length of the painter has been pulled out, then give it a further firm tug. If it still does not inflate, there is a hand pump with which the raft can be inflated by hand: this is slow, so start early and use as many hands as possible. If the raft is unusable, the dinghy and the lifejackets become the survival craft, which is why the dinghy must be inspected, equipped and kept ready on any offshore passage.

Phase 4: Survival in the Raft

Immediate Actions

Sea survival courses teach a short list of immediate actions, roughly in this order:

1. Cut the painter (when everyone is aboard and you are committed), using the knife provided.
2. Stream the drogue (sea anchor). It slows the drift away from the datum, so rescuers search the right area. It also turns the raft so the entrance faces away from the weather and makes capsize much less likely.
3. Close the entrances to keep out spray and wind.
4. Maintain the raft: bail out the water, sponge it dry, inflate the floor, check for leaks and damage, and top up the tubes using the pump.

Then attend to first aid, hand out seasickness tablets, set up the lookout rota and organise the signalling equipment. Check where everyone's lifejacket and personal light is. Count the crew and make sure everyone is accounted for. Use the datum (the last known position) and the drift to estimate where rescuers will search, and tell them with the radio if you can.

If the yacht is not sinking quickly, it may be better to stay attached to her by the painter until the last moment, or to stay close in the raft, because she is easier to find than the raft. The painter has a weak link (a deliberately weak section) that breaks if the yacht sinks, so the raft is not dragged down. Cut it yourself only if the yacht threatens the raft (for example a burning or sinking hull, wreckage or a rig alongside).

Raft Features to Know

An ISO or SOLAS offshore raft has several features that increase survival, and you should know what yours has:

• Double tubes and a double-skin canopy for insulation and a second chance if one is punctured.
• Insulated floor, inflated by pump, which stops heat loss to the sea.
• Ballast or stability pockets under the raft that fill with water and prevent capsize.
• Drogue (sea anchor) and a canopy light operated by a seawater battery.
• Boarding ramp or ladder and handrails inside and outside.
• Repair kit (bungs and clamps for holes) and bellows or pump.
• Canopy catchment for rainwater.

SART and Detection

The SART (search and rescue radar transponder) turns your raft into something a ship's radar will see clearly. The diagram shows how it appears on the rescue vessel's radar.

• The SART responds to 9 GHz (X-band, 3 cm) radar only. It does not respond to S-band (10 cm) radar.
• When a radar pulse interrogates it, it sends a sweep response that appears on the ship's display as a line of 12 dots radiating outward along the bearing of the SART. The nearest dot marks the SART's position. As the ship closes to within about a mile, the dots become arcs and then concentric circles.
• Height is everything. A SART held 1 m above the sea is detected by a typical ship's radar at about 5 miles. Mount it on its pole or the raft canopy as high as possible. Lying on the raft floor, it may be detected at only one or two miles. An aircraft at 3,000 ft can detect it at a much greater range, perhaps 30 miles.
• Switch it on and leave it in standby, where it saves battery, which lasts at least 96 hours on standby plus 8 hours of transmission. The indicator light or beeper tells you when it is being interrogated, a strong clue that a ship is nearby.
• An AIS-SART transmits its GNSS position and appears on AIS displays and chart plotters within about 5 to 10 miles. Many small craft now carry AIS-SARTs or PLBs with AIS.

Signalling

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Image: Christopher Doyle, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

• Parachute flares rise about 300 m and burn for 40 seconds. They can be seen 25 to 30 miles at night in good visibility, less in daylight. Fire them only when a vessel or aircraft is likely to see them, and fire two about a minute apart so a watchkeeper has time to confirm the first.
• Handheld red flares burn for about 60 seconds and pinpoint the raft to a vessel within about 3 miles. Hold them downwind and outside the raft, because the dross burns holes in the tubes.
• Orange smoke works in daylight and shows a helicopter the wind direction.
• Mirror, whistle, torch and retroreflective tape need no power and work for weeks. A signal mirror can be seen for 10 miles or more in bright sun, and a whistle carries when the voice does not.
• Flares have an expiry date, normally 42 months from manufacture; replace them in time.
• Do not fire a flare in a way that endangers the raft: never fire a rocket flare with the raft canopy overhead, and hold a handheld flare out to leeward.

Hypothermia and Seasickness

Seasickness is the first enemy. It dehydrates you and destroys morale and the will to live. Take tablets before boarding if possible and keep taking them. Keep the floor dry, inflate it to insulate from the cold sea, huddle together and keep wet clothing on because it still insulates. Wring out wet clothing and put it back on. Raise the feet periodically and exercise fingers and toes to reduce the risk of immersion foot.

Signs of hypothermia: shivering (a good sign, because the body is still trying), then clumsiness, slurred speech, confusion and drowsiness, and finally the cessation of shivering, which is a danger sign. Treat by sheltering, insulating from below, covering the head, replacing wet outer layers with dry ones if available, and sharing body heat. Warm sweet drinks help if the person can swallow. Do not rub the limbs. Heat and cold exposure both matter: in the tropics, sun, heat and dehydration are the danger, and shade and a wet shirt help.

Water and Food

You can survive weeks without food but only a few days without water. Rules commonly taught on sea survival courses:

• Day one: no water unless injured, so the body adjusts to conservation (urine output reduces). The exception is anyone injured, very seasick or already dehydrated. Some current guidance gives more flexibility than this traditional rule, and states that water should not be withheld from sick or injured crew; follow the rule taught on your course, and use your judgement.
• From day two: about 0.5 litre per person per day, taken in small sips throughout the day.
• Never drink seawater or urine. Seawater accelerates dehydration and leads to delirium and death.
• Collect rainwater with the canopy and its catchment tube. Rinse salt off first.
• Eat only if you have water. Proteins in particular need water to digest. Carbohydrate rations are best.
• Where a watermaker (emergency hand-pump type) is in the ditch bag, use it: it will produce small amounts of fresh water from seawater and extend survival.

Worked example: four crew with 10 litres of water in total. Day one, none (apart from one injured person who gets 0.25 litres). From day two, 4 x 0.5 = 2 litres per day. The 9.75 litres remaining lasts 9.75 / 2 = about 4.9 days, so the water lasts until the end of day 6. That is enough time, because in UK and European waters, with a registered EPIRB, rescue normally arrives within hours. Mid-ocean it may take days, which is why ocean-going yachts carry more water and a watermaker.

Routine and Morale

The skipper remains in charge in the raft. Set up a lookout rota, an hour on and three off for example, with the lookout responsible for bailing, checking the drogue and tubes, and watching for ships, aircraft and rain. Give everyone jobs. Keep a log of events, rations and positions. Talk about rescue as a certainty. Psychological survival is as important as physical survival: people die in rafts because they give up.

Practical ways to keep morale up: keep the raft tidy and dry; keep a regular routine; share jobs fairly; give frequent, calm updates; keep people talking, singing or playing word games; and handle fear and grief openly. Watch for signs that someone is withdrawing, and give that person a job. Do not allow arguments to run. If someone dies, follow the skipper's judgement about the body (it is usually best to keep the body in the raft if rescue is expected soon; consult the rescue coordination centre on the radio).

Rescue

• When a lifeboat or ship comes alongside, do not stand up or rush to one side. Follow the instructions of the rescuers and do not leave the raft until told to.
• Rescue by a merchant ship: the ship will usually manoeuvre to give you a lee and lower a pilot ladder or net. Move to the lee side of the ship, and be careful of the ship's side and propeller. Board one at a time, helping the weak.
• Lifeboat: the lifeboat crew will bring the lifeboat alongside, or to windward of the raft so that it drifts down on to the boat, and will take people off one at a time.
• Helicopter rescue: the winchman takes charge. Do not touch the winch wire until it has touched the sea or raft to discharge static. Do not secure the wire to the raft. Take the drogue in if instructed, to stop the raft swinging in the downdraught.
• Lift hypothermic survivors horizontally if possible (two strops or a stretcher) to reduce the risk of collapse after rescue.
• Once ashore, ask for a medical check, even if you feel well, for hypothermia and secondary drowning. Update the coastguard, and cancel the beacon through them.

Worked Example

Scenario. You are skipper of a 12 m yacht with five crew, 25 miles south-west of the Isles of Scilly at night, heading for Spain. Wind south-west Force 5, sea temperature 13 degrees C. A crew member reports water above the cabin sole. You find the hull cracked near a keel bolt and water coming in faster than the electric bilge pump can cope.

Step 1: Fight the problem and prepare at the same time. Set the crew to the manual pump and buckets. Try to stem the leak with softwood bungs and cloth. Start the engine-driven pump if fitted. At the same time send a DSC distress alert ("flooding") and a Mayday on Channel 16, giving position, 6 POB, "taking on water, may abandon to liferaft". Falmouth Coastguard acknowledges.

Step 2: Assess. After 15 minutes water is still rising and the keel is visibly moving. That meets the criteria for structural failure and flooding beyond pumping capacity. Prepare to abandon: everyone dresses warmly with lifejackets and crotch straps on. One person takes the grab bag and the extra water to the cockpit. Activate the EPIRB manually and tie its lanyard to the grab bag.

Step 3: Update the coastguard. "Abandoning to liferaft now, 6 persons, EPIRB and SART activated". Take the handheld VHF.

Step 4: Launch. Two crew check the painter is made fast, carry the raft to the leeward (north-east) side, throw it and pull the painter to fire it. The raft inflates the right way up.

Step 5: Board. The heaviest crew member boards first from the deck, followed by the grab bag and water, then the rest. The skipper boards last after a final check below.

Step 6: Clear. Cut the painter, paddle clear of the yacht and rigging, stream the drogue. Close the doors, bail, inflate the floor. Mount the SART on its pole, keep the EPIRB secured and transmitting, hand out seasickness tablets.

Step 7: Survive. Set a lookout rota. The handheld VHF is used every 30 minutes to listen on Channel 16. About 90 minutes later the Coastguard helicopter arrives. The lookout fires a handheld red flare downwind when the helicopter is approaching, and the crew follow the winchman's directions.

Worked example: abandonment because of fire

You are 15 miles off the coast in a Force 4 wind when the engine compartment catches fire. The fire extinguisher system fails to put it out and the saloon is filling with smoke. The skipper decides to abandon while the crew can still reach the raft.

1. Mayday goes out from the cockpit handset and the DSC. The skipper turns the yacht so the wind is on the bow, which keeps the smoke and the flames blowing aft.
2. The crew close the hatches and shut off the gas and the fuel (if safe to do so), take the grab bag and the EPIRB, and launch the raft on the windward side of the yacht, upwind of the fire.
3. With the raft alongside on the painter, the crew board in order: injured crew first, then the others, with the skipper last.
4. The painter is cut, the raft paddles upwind and clear (the wind drives it away from the burning hull), the drogue is streamed once clear, and the crew check for burns and smoke inhalation.
5. The lookouts watch the yacht for fire and the risk of fuel on the water, while the EPIRB transmits and the SART is raised. A lifeboat arrives in 45 minutes.

Common Mistakes

• Abandoning too early. A yacht that is still floating is better than any raft. Fight the boat and prepare at the same time.
• Painter not secured. The raft inflates and blows away. Check it before every passage and again before throwing.
• Mayday sent too late. The radio is lost to flooding or fire. Send the alert early. It can always be cancelled.
• Grab bag stowed deep in a locker, or unchecked with flat batteries and out-of-date flares. Stow it by the companionway and check it every passage.
• EPIRB left in its bracket to float free, so it is several miles away from the raft and transmits late. Take it with you.
• Jumping onto the raft canopy, damaging the arch tubes and injuring people. Step or lower yourself in.
• Cutting the painter before everyone is in, or staying tied to a burning or sinking yacht for too long.
• Not streaming the drogue, so the raft drifts fast from the datum and is much more likely to capsize.
• Drinking water on day one without need, or drinking seawater.
• Leaving the SART lying on the raft floor, reducing its detection range drastically.
• Out-of-date raft or flares. A raft not serviced to date may not inflate; flares more than 42 months old may not fire.
• Wearing the lifejacket under other clothes, so that it cannot inflate properly.
• Launching the raft to leeward of a fire, so that smoke and debris engulf it.
• Forgetting to cancel an alert or to tell the coastguard that you are safe.

Summary

• Step up into the liferaft: abandon only when the yacht is lost (flooding beyond pumping, uncontrollable fire, structural failure). Prepare early while fighting the problem.
• Communicate first: DSC distress, voice Mayday on Channel 16, manually activate the EPIRB. Cancel only when safe.
• Know your raft: ISO 9650-1 Group A or SOLAS, canister in a cradle with HRU, serviced to date.
• Dress warmly, lifejacket outermost, grab bag and extra water ready, crew briefed with specific jobs.
• Launch to leeward (windward of a fire) with the painter made fast, board dry from the deck if possible, heaviest first. Cut the painter only when everyone is aboard.
• Immediate actions: cut, stream, close, maintain. Then first aid, seasickness tablets and lookouts.
• SART as high as possible; EPIRB on and secured until rescue; flares only when someone can see them.
• Water: follow the rationing rule taught (traditionally none on day one, then 0.5 litre per person per day); never seawater; collect rain.
• Leadership, routine and morale keep people alive.

Check Your Understanding

1. What does "only step up into a liferaft" mean?

Answer: You leave the yacht only when it is sinking beneath you, so that the raft is literally the higher platform. The yacht, even damaged, is a better survival platform than the raft, so abandonment is the last resort.

2. Give the three main criteria for abandoning ship.

Answer: Flooding that cannot be controlled by pumping and damage control, a fire that cannot be extinguished, and structural failure of the hull or keel such that the yacht will sink or break up.

3. Why should you activate the EPIRB manually and take it into the raft, rather than relying on the hydrostatic release?

Answer: Manual activation starts the alert earlier, and the beacon stays with the survivors so that the position transmitted and the 121.5 MHz homing signal lead rescuers to the raft. A float-free EPIRB only releases when the yacht sinks and may end up well away from the raft.

4. What is the most important check before throwing the liferaft overboard, and why?

Answer: That the painter is made fast to a strong point on the yacht. Otherwise the raft inflates and blows away and cannot be recovered.

5. List the four immediate actions on entering the liferaft.

Answer: Cut the painter (when all are aboard), stream the drogue, close the entrances, and maintain the raft (bail, dry, inflate the floor, check for leaks and damage).

6. How should a SART be deployed in the raft and why?

Answer: Switched on and mounted as high as possible on its pole or the canopy. It responds only to X-band radar and the detection range depends mainly on height: about 5 miles at 1 m above the sea, much less if it lies on the floor.

7. A raft has four people and 8 litres of water. Using the standard rationing rule, how long does the water last if nobody is injured?

Answer: No water on day one. From day two, 4 x 0.5 = 2 litres per day, so 8 litres lasts 4 days: days two to five. The water runs out at the end of day five.

8. Why is the lifejacket worn outside all the other layers?

Answer: So that it can inflate fully and turn the wearer face up. A lifejacket worn under a jacket or other clothing is constrained, gives poor buoyancy and may not self-right the wearer.

9. Why launch the raft on the leeward side and what is the hazard of doing so?

Answer: The raft is sheltered in the yacht's lee and the crew board out of the full wind and sea. The hazard is that the yacht drifts down onto the raft, so board quickly, clear any rigging and get away once everyone is in.

10. When would you launch the raft on the windward side instead?

Answer: When the yacht is on fire. Flames, smoke and burning debris blow to leeward, so the raft is launched upwind of the fire, with the yacht turned if possible to keep the fire downwind, and the raft is then paddled clear upwind.

11. List the stages of cold-water immersion and the approximate time of each.

Answer: Cold shock in the first one to three minutes (gasping, hyperventilation, risk of inhaling water); swimming failure over the next 10 to 30 minutes as muscles in the arms and legs cool; and hypothermia from about 30 minutes onwards. This is why you try to board the raft dry and wear warm clothing and a lifejacket.

12. You have accidentally activated the EPIRB. What should you do?

Answer: Do not simply switch it off. Call the MRCC (or Coastguard) at once by VHF or telephone, give the vessel name, the beacon identity and that it is a false alert, and then follow their instructions to cancel it. The rescue services must otherwise treat it as a real distress.