The Sea Survival Course
I've done the sea survival course. It was really interesting, a little scary (it's amazing how many ways there are to kill yourself at sea!) and reassuring: survival seems to ultimately depend on will-power and I think I've got that!
We drove down to Plymouth, arriving shortly before 10.45 pm. We checked in to the motel and were in bed by 11.30, although I didn't get to sleep until gone midnight. We were up, dressed and leaving at 7.40am. We thought about stopping somewhere for breakfast but decided to get to Falmouth and worry about food if we had time. Luckily we did have time as we found the place in time, and had breakfast at the marina.
The course was theory in the morning and practical in the afternoon. It was quite intense. We were shown all the things you need to do, both before an emergency and during, including the different ways you can be rescued and how to attract attention in order to be rescued. The practical consisted of learning how inflate liferafts and how to get in them, both from out of the water and in. It's amazing how much water you bring in when you enter from the water - there almost seems to be a higher danger of drowning in the raft than out! We were also shown the different ways of increasing our chances of survival when there were no liferafts around, and how to reach a liferaft if it was out of reach.
The course was really useful and I'm very glad I've had to do it. It's given me a lot to think about. I've realised I need to make a 'grab bag' containing things I'll need if we need to go in the liferafts. Principally, I need a spare pair of glasses because if I lose them then I've got no chance as I'll never see a rescue ship!
The course was the last thing I needed to organise before I organise the flight. I'm going to check that this safety course is sufficient for what I need and then I can start preparing to leave.
We drove down to Plymouth, arriving shortly before 10.45 pm. We checked in to the motel and were in bed by 11.30, although I didn't get to sleep until gone midnight. We were up, dressed and leaving at 7.40am. We thought about stopping somewhere for breakfast but decided to get to Falmouth and worry about food if we had time. Luckily we did have time as we found the place in time, and had breakfast at the marina.
The course was theory in the morning and practical in the afternoon. It was quite intense. We were shown all the things you need to do, both before an emergency and during, including the different ways you can be rescued and how to attract attention in order to be rescued. The practical consisted of learning how inflate liferafts and how to get in them, both from out of the water and in. It's amazing how much water you bring in when you enter from the water - there almost seems to be a higher danger of drowning in the raft than out! We were also shown the different ways of increasing our chances of survival when there were no liferafts around, and how to reach a liferaft if it was out of reach.
The course was really useful and I'm very glad I've had to do it. It's given me a lot to think about. I've realised I need to make a 'grab bag' containing things I'll need if we need to go in the liferafts. Principally, I need a spare pair of glasses because if I lose them then I've got no chance as I'll never see a rescue ship!
The course was the last thing I needed to organise before I organise the flight. I'm going to check that this safety course is sufficient for what I need and then I can start preparing to leave.
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