How to survive on the high seas

2024 Author: Malcolm Clapton | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 03:44

How to get water, what to eat, if you didn't manage to catch fish, where to swim and how not to go crazy in extreme conditions - everything you need to know about saving life on the water.

How long can you hold out on the high seas?

In fact, it takes a long time. One of the most striking incidents occurred in the 18th century with Captain William Bligh and his crew. After the mutiny aboard the Bounty, the captain and his loyal men were landed on a wooden longboat only seven meters long, leaving them with a minimum supply of food and fresh water.

The sailors stayed in the ocean for 47 days. They even made it to the European colony, having covered a distance of 6,700 kilometers, without a compass and a map, choosing the direction with the help of a sextant.

This year, nine members of the Discovery Channel's Mutiny are retracing their route on the same vessel and equipment. So it is real to hold out on the water, you can see for yourself - watch the show at 22.00 on Tuesdays.

What is most important for survival?

Oddly enough, the key to survival is not food or water, but peace of mind. Traveler and physician Alain Bombard was convinced that people die at sea not because of the weather and difficult conditions, but because of depression and fear that make them make mistakes. He confirmed his theory by crossing the ocean in a lifeboat without food and water supplies. Such a journey was very difficult for him, but in an extreme situation, for example, after a shipwreck, there is no task to swim across the ocean - you need to wait for help.

Survival depends on behavior on the high seas: because of panic, people make mistakes and make wrong decisions, too much fuss and move, and energy must be conserved. The bad thing has already happened - you are on the high seas. There is no time to suffer, you have to get out.

How to save energy?

In the sea or ocean, when we are too active, we lose too much of the strength needed to survive. If you find yourself in the water, then you need to move as little as possible and try to find a floating object that you will catch on to. Much depends on the temperature of the water, but you will have to look for a means of swimming even in warm seas.

If you are on a raft, dinghy or something that floats on the surface of the water, try to get warm and dry, and also look around. Pick up whatever you can pick up. Any item is useful on the high seas.

How to get fresh water?

The most obvious but unreliable source of fresh water is rainfall. Try to prepare any container where you collect rainwater: cans, shoes, floating plastic, thick leaves, bags, bags.

Another way to find a drink is to make a distiller. It needs two containers (large and small), as well as waterproof material: a piece of polyethylene, a bag. Fill a large container with salt water, put an empty small container in it. Pull a bag or other material over the edges of a large container and place a small weight in the center. The water will evaporate and settle on the film. The drops will roll to the center where the load lies and fall into an empty container. This will add some fresh water.

Condensation may form on your boat by itself. Collect it too, even if you have to lick the boat.

Do not forget that algae and fish also contain fresh water, so if you manage to catch food, you will get some of the liquid with food.

How to get food?

Oddly enough, with food in the ocean, everything is more or less normal. Pan Lian, a Chinese sailor, found himself on the high seas after a battle during World War II and lived on a liferaft for 133 days. He was even able to make a supply of food, because he constantly earned food for himself, making fishing rods from scrap materials.

Try to figure out what to make your fishing tackle from. Any ropes, threads pulled out of clothes, jewelry, pins, lids from cans will do. For the first fishing, a thread can become the bait, then it will turn out to use the remains of already caught fish.

Even if no fish is caught, plankton and algae can maintain strength.

To collect them, you need to take any piece of cloth (from clothes), form a "net" out of it and catch small inhabitants of the ocean with it. It tastes, of course, so-so, but you don't have to choose to survive. But algae helps prevent the development of scurvy.

In general, you need to eat everything that comes across (if only it looks fresh and non-toxic): turtles, shrimps, birds. Birds in desert areas are sometimes not afraid of people, and they can be caught with bait and a rope noose.

You need to catch fish as soon as you are at sea, even if you are on a liferaft and you have the prescribed three-day ration. No one can say for sure when the rescuers will find you and how long the ration will have to be stretched. Take action immediately.

How to protect yourself from dangers?

It is theoretically impossible to prepare for many of the hazards at sea, but a few things to keep in mind:

• If a storm is approaching, then for the stability of the raft, all heavy things must be shifted to the center. The same applies to people - move to the middle of the boat so that the waves do not overturn it.
• Try to protect your head and skin from ultraviolet radiation. In the open sea, when there is little drinking water, sunburn is more difficult to endure. Bright light bounces off the ocean's surface, and the glare can be very damaging to your eyes, so take care of your eyes and don't look at the water all the time.
• When fishing, do not tie the line and ropes to your arms or legs. Large fish can pull the hook with such force that it will not do without injury.
• Be careful not to pull out too large fish. They can tip the boat.
• Do not handle fish with needles and spines. They can be not only sharp, but also poisonous.

How to find land?

In fact, if you are shipwrecked, it is better not to move anywhere and, if possible, stay in place, although it is difficult in the ocean. Rescue operations will take place primarily in the area of the accident.

If you know a thing or two about navigation, it is a good idea to take a return course and return to the ground the same way you were going.

When there are no navigation devices at hand, and you do not understand anything in the starry sky and do not know how to keep a course, you can find the earth by accident or by indirect signs: clouds gather over the land, during thunderstorms lightning strikes there, as you approach the coast, birds appear more often … In some areas, they can be seen quite far in the open sea, but on land, of course, there are many more of them.

How not to go crazy on the high seas?

Getting to land requires a clear head and self-confidence, but they are the hardest to maintain. The rules followed by single travelers will help:

• Install and observe the regime, at least some. If you are not alone, assign shifts and assign responsibilities. The need to get up on watch and do your part of the work will help you to get yourself together and not fall into despair.
• Keep a diary or journal if you can write it down. It helps organize your thoughts and plan your plans.
• Work. Catch fish, collect algae, look out for the ground, come up with new ways to use old objects. Do everything so as not to have time to regret your position.
• Try to move as much as possible. Swim if the weather permits and you are confident you can return to the raft or boat.

Remember that you can survive even in the most difficult conditions. The nine people on Mutiny show this by example. They set out on the route of Captain William Bligh to prove that people are tougher than we used to think.

Watch Mutiny on the Discovery Channel starting November 28th every Tuesday at 10:00 pm.