For those of you wondering what on earth is a "ditch bag" and why we are writing a post about it, I would refer to the survival story of Maurice and Marilyn Baily whom with their family survived at sea in a life raft for 117 days http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maurice_and_Maralyn_Bailey. Their story of survival was heroic and possibly as a result of their extensive training and preparation of a ditch bag. While I hope that we never have to board a life raft, its worthwhile to spend some time putting together that container of supplies which would, at the very least, give us peace of mind our chances of survival and rescue would be improved. I refer to the RYA (Royal Yachting Association) sea survival handbook for the items we chose to include, plus some additional extras for our feline crew members.
Contents
- Ditch bag x2 - must have positive flotation and be waterproof with easy to carry handles
- Portable EPIRB x1 - Emergency Position Indicating Radio Beacon This is to send out a signal to satellite that we are in trouble and need rescue
- Handheld VHF (with extra batteries) x1 - To communicate with vessels on within the horizon that might have their VHF turned on
- Selection of flares
- Waterproof LED flashlight (extra batteries) x1 - to make light signals at night
- Signal mirror x1 - send light signals during the day to ships or helicopters
- Portable watermaker x1 - make fresh water from seawater to stay hydrated
- 3 weeks of food - high energy bars that have all the vitamins/minerals..Ill pick the chocolate ones of course
- Extra pair of prescription glasses and sun glasses
- Survival books (RYA manual)
- First aid kit and medicine
- Sunscreen and lip balm
- Spare cell phone with working sim card
- Boat papers, passports, credit cards, cash, driving license, house keys, boat keys, car keys, insurance papers, cat passports, vaccination recoords important documents on thumb drive in a dry bag
- Duct tape x1 roll - just ask the Mythbusters how long you can survive on an island with just a roll of duct tape. Dont want to be without it.
- Lighter in waterproof bag - fire = warmth = cooked dinner on deserted island
- scissors - to cut packages easily, kept with medical kit
- Empty water bottles - storage of watermaker water and rainwater
- Small fishing kit - to catch some sushi while in our life raft to go nicely with the chocolate energy bars
- Toothbrush and feminine products
- Tin opener for food tins from galley
- rearming kits for life vests
- resealable polyethylene bags to keep things dry
- Large plastic bin liners
- Cutting board to cut any caught fish and extra galley food
- Inflatable cushions to use for pillows and back support
- kitchen knife and sharpener
- Food tins from galley
- Handheld compass to read bearings from the raft
- handheld GPS to relay coordinates to rescuers
- Dinghy or liferaft pump
- Sailing or leather gloves
- Spare warm dry cloths in dry bags
- Swim goggles
- Thermal underwear in dry bag with cloths
- paper and pen in sealed bag
- sea sickness pills
- chemical heat packs
- Cat toenail clippers to prevent clawing up inflatable boat
- Supply of pet napkins to clean them up
- 3 weeks supply of wet cat food in sealed packets
- Towels/sponges to dry things out
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