PREP Ditch Kit - What to Bring if the BOAT SINKS!

O

Old Gray Mare

TB Fanatic
So... you're 2000 miles from land and the boat is sinking. You and your crew may have to depend on what's in the ditch kit for an extended period of time. Hey sometimes even the best and most expensive electronics fail even if they do work the nearest container ship or fishing vessel may be days away.

These guys are not credit card captains. Their boat is not a dock queen. They are long distance sailors regularly taking on ocean crossings and rough seas.

To skip the intro start at about the one minute mark.

What's in your ditch kit?

Fair use.

Delos Ditch Kit - What to Bring if the BOAT SINKS! Cruiser University - SV Delos Safety series


Sailing SV Delos


FREE Safety Downloads and more - http://svdelos.com/safety
What's in our DITCH KIT!? In this video we go through upgrading our offshore Ditch Kit. Everything we would want to bring with us in a worse case scenario - Delos sinks and we would need to survive on the open ocean in our life raft. Better to be safe than sorry. Let us know what's in your ditch kit!

For a detailed list of all the items please visit
https://svdelos.com/safety for links and resources mentioned in this video.
Much Love ~ The Delos Crew



We’re completely crowd-funded and not beholden to the pressures of advertisers or corporate sponsors. We get to try out and review products without bias, and continue to spread warmth and positivity. All contributions go directly to support sailing, video editing, and of course a few cold ones to smooth the editing process. Thank you for keeping our videos free and available for everyone! Seriously, you rock

link to source:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EAC1fwwlaBg

run time 13:54
 
Texican

Texican

Live Free & Die Free.... God Freedom Country....
The single most important thing about sailing is not to get out of sight of land....

Problem solved....

Texican...

PS: Had the opportunity to take the DW to Paris and she flatly stated that she was not going to fly over an ocean where she could not walk out if the plane went down.... Same for being on a cruse....
 
Doc1

Doc1

Has No Life - Lives on TB
Here's a minor tip for anyone working on the water. Back when I spent a lot of time at sea, I used to always carry a medium-sized plastic garbage bag in my back pocket. There were two reasons for this: First, it could serve as an improvised flotation device if your work vest was blown off or if you had to remove it to perform some function and wound up in the water and secondly, once inflated, it provided a much larger target than only a man's head and shoulders for searchers to spot.

A real danger for anyone working on deck (even on a pleasure craft) - especially at night - is the possibility of going overboard and not having anyone realize that you were missing for hours. I was very much aware of this when doing simple things like stepping out on deck for a cigarette or going to grab a tool. Lots of guys - and I've been guilty of this myself - don't don their work vest to do such things. An ocean-going vessel could steam for hours before anyone noticed that a crewman was missing. On a small vessel, especially at night, it could be that everyone who was off watch was in their racks trying to grab some sleep and the only person awake might be the helmsman in the wheelhouse. On a large vessel, there are frequently just too many hands on board to keep track of everyone, every second of the day.

The sea can be beguiling at night when everything is quiet and a man is off watch. There can be a canopy of stars, the rhythmic motion of the vessel and a little time for quiet contemplation. Then, suddenly, a misstep and you find yourself in the water, with your ship moving inexorably away. Countless guys have been lost this way.

Be careful.

Best
Doc
 
B

Ben Sunday

Deceased
Doc1 said:
Here's a minor tip for anyone working on the water. Back when I spent a lot of time at sea, I used to always carry a medium-sized plastic garbage bag in my back pocket. There were two reasons for this: First, it could serve as an improvised flotation device if your work vest was blown off or if you had to remove it to perform some function and wound up in the water and secondly, once inflated, it provided a much larger target than only a man's head and shoulders for searchers to spot.

A real danger for anyone working on deck (even on a pleasure craft) - especially at night - is the possibility of going overboard and not having anyone realize that you were missing for hours. I was very much aware of this when doing simple things like stepping out on deck for a cigarette or going to grab a tool. Lots of guys - and I've been guilty of this myself - don't don their work vest to do such things. An ocean-going vessel could steam for hours before anyone noticed that a crewman was missing. On a small vessel, especially at night, it could be that everyone who was off watch was in their racks trying to grab some sleep and the only person awake might be the helmsman in the wheelhouse. On a large vessel, there are frequently just too many hands on board to keep track of everyone, every second of the day.

The sea can be beguiling at night when everything is quiet and a man is off watch. There can be a canopy of stars, the rhythmic motion of the vessel and a little time for quiet contemplation. Then, suddenly, a misstep and you find yourself in the water, with your ship moving inexorably away. Countless guys have been lost this way.

Be careful.

Best
Doc
Click to expand...

Excellent comments. Thanks.

It can be dangerous to assume that all is well and that safety is on your side. That applies, of course, to many fields of activity.

In this case:

The ocean it is so big and cold and deep...and my life raft it is so small.

ETA: In this day and age of security in transportation, I have my doubts about getting a Ditch Kit on a ship as a passenger. Same idea with attempting to board a plane with your parachute and flare gun or like minded goodies in any public transportation.

just sayin.
 
D

Dozdoats

On TB every waking moment
A bugout bag for your boat - who knew?

https://www.thegpsstore.com/The-GPS-Store-Ultimate-ACR-EPIRB-Ditch-Bag-Bundle-P4675.aspx

The GPS Store Ultimate ACR EPIRB Ditch Bag Bundle
Save Time and Money with a pre-packaged bundle from The GPS Store. Our Ultimate EPIRB Ditch Bag Bundle provides you with some of the safety equipment we would recommend in one convenient bundle for offshore and ocean navigation. Includes ACR2831 EPIRB, Standard Horizon HX890 Handheld VHF, ACR Strobe Light, Pelican Flashlight and ACR RapiDitch Express Bag.
XS3000 MAN#: XS3000 ID#: 4675


(Rating 87)
Our Price: $679.95
Availability: In Stock
Shipping:
FREE Ground Shipping!
Condition: Brand New
 
P

Publius

TB Fanatic
They do make self inflating life rafts in various sizes and all you need to do is pull it out of it's case where it's kept on deck and toss it into the water and dive after it and it will inflate when it hits the water.
I have yet to see one of these that was not a bright orange color.

There are SOS transmitters that activates after it gets wet you tie these to the raft and put the raft back in it's case and it sends out a signal thats picked up by satellite and the coast guard who monitor these things can get a fix on it's location and send help anywhere around the world, these devices are not big and work for a number of hours once activated, it's surprising small for what it does.

Most hand held VHF radios only have a max output of 4 to 5 watts and it will sound quite small like your really far far away and this is because of it built in mic and also due to it's small antenna may only reach out 10 miles but thats better than nothing. Most full sized VHS radios that works off a car battery have a 25 watt output and a much bigger antenna and can reach out up to 20 to 25 miles and thats it, so only another boat or ship thats with in range will hear you on VHF CH-16 and your not going have this kind of radio in a life raft.
 
Satanta

Satanta

Stone Cold Crazy
_______________
My Brain because obviously if I am 2k Miles away from land some Dumbass has taken over my body and left the Brain somewhere on shore.
 
Dennis Olson

Dennis Olson

Chief Curmudgeon
_______________
Not many folks on this board going to find themselves “2000 miles from land and the boat sinks.”

Geez....
 
P

Publius

TB Fanatic
Dennis Olson said:
Not many folks on this board going to find themselves “2000 miles from land and the boat sinks.”

Geez....
Click to expand...



No but I would like to be living at sea but my wife gets sea sick sitting on the dock watching the ripples on the water going by.
 
Last edited:
Dosadi

Dosadi

Brown Coat
Judging by all the horrible boating accidents resulting in lost weapons, I would suggest quality flotation for anything ya want to not loose. LOL
 
Macgyver

Macgyver

Has No Life - Lives on TB
Last cruise I was on I noticed several ptz flir camera's on the stern. Thought that was interesting.
 
D

Dozdoats

On TB every waking moment
Yeah, but Whaler buys enough publicity:D There were a couple of makers of foam boats before Whaler whose names escape me, the marina we used to fish out of used old ones to support their floating dock.
 
L

Luddite

Veteran Member
Dozdoats said:
ptz flir camera's

Docking? Anti-piracy?
Click to expand...

I would say yes to both. Would add liability prevention too. When fred the drunk from podunk falls over the rail after 10 drinks and a midnight buffet, they can see him in the wake.

I have been highly impressed with the capabilities of these cameras. Witnessed a system of 4 or 5 cameras recording ANY movement. A camera can pick up a opossum or a raccoon and track it until it "hands" off to another camera. All is automated, no touch by an operator.
This would be a low security environment. High liability environments make corporations cough up the cash too.
 
Wise Owl

Wise Owl

Deceased
No way I would be that far out on "any" boat. I don't even go out on lakes to fish anymore. I think being on a boat anywhere on water would make a great target to shoot at. No thanks, I will stay on land where I can at least find something solid to hide behind.......
 
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