Abandoning Ship


When the yacht herself is in dire danger and all else has failed, the time may come when the only remaining possibility seems to be to abandon ship. However, it is well established that if she is still afloat in open water and not terminally burning, her crew is generally better off staying with her than climbing into a liferaft. Things may be desperate on board, but many lives have been lost by abandoning ship too soon. A good rule is only to step off when the boat sinks under you.


The options for the business of abandoning ship are listed below, but whichever you adopt, do all in your power to ensure that the rescue services know about your plight and where you are to be found. Broadcast a MAYDAY before leaving the ship, make every effort to wait for a response, and begin the informed use of your distress flares.


Options for abandoning • Scramble ashore This can be a useful choice close to the coast, but it is a judgement call that depends on conditions and the nature of the terrain. Under the right circumstances it is far better to power a sinking boat up a beach and scramble ashore in life jackets than it is to launch a raft a few miles to seaward. Piling her onto a rocky plateau with an onshore gale blowing is going to be folly, but grounding on a shelving foreshore with an offshore wind may be the most seamanlike action. • Take to the dinghy A fair-weather option for craft


with no liferaft. If the ship’s boat is an inflatable normally stowed below, it makes sense to keep it semi-inflated on deck during offshore passages just in case.


• Liferaft For full details on abandoning to a liferaft, consult a specialist manual. However, in the absence of further assistance, the following guidelines may help.


Boarding • Kit up all the crew in appropriate foul-weather gear and life jackets. If harnesses are available, use them.


• Make sure the raft’s painter is secured to the boat. • Launch the raft to leeward – you may be surprised at how heavy it is – pull the painter and keep on pulling until the raft inflates.


• Try to bring the raft close enough to board it ‘dry’. In any event, whether swimming or scrambling, the strongest, fittest person climbs in first to assist weaker shipmates.


• If it is necessary to enter the water, clip onto the painter so as not to be washed away.


On board the raft - ‘Cut, stream, secure’ • With all hands settled evenly around the perimeter of the raft to encourage stability, cut the painter. Most rafts have a dedicated knife in a pocket near the access point for this job. All sailors should carry a personal knife, so if the raft’s knife cannot be found there will be no problem. Beware of puncturing the raft with non-specialised blades.


• Next, stream the drogue that is part of the liferaft pack.


122 | MANUAL OF SEAMANSHIP


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