Progress Day

Grab Bag (see list of contents below)

I have been asked by one of our readers about grab bags and what we have in them. Grab Bags are bags we prepare in advance in case we have to abandon ship into our life raft. The life raft is secured on deck in a bracket and is in front of the cockpit. Our life raft is an 8-man life raft and basically when activated it will inflate into a large round rubber ring with a floor and a roof. It is designed to keep us safe and has provisions in it for over 24 hours. The aim would be if we do have to abandon ship that we would send an emergency message before we leave the boat. The problem with this is that this will give the location of the boat but not the life raft especially if we float away from it. We therefore agree that we will take certain things with us. This includes the grab bags and the EPIRB, Iridium Go, Mobile Phone and handheld GPS device and if we have time the chart, our last position etc. I give the job of launching the life raft to 2 of the biggest crew and then allocate the other items to others so that in an emergency they know what they have to do.

The life raft is launched either by throwing it into the water or by a hydrostatic release device. The painter (rope which holds it to the boat) is tied on to the boat so that it does not float away. The aim is that it is inflated and hopefully we can step into the life raft from the boat and not have to jump into the water and swim for the life raft. I can tell you from experience from a Sea Survival course that swimming with an inflated lifejacket is difficult (you almost have to swim on your back) and getting into a life raft is difficult too and you have to haul yourself in. It is hot and sweaty in a life raft and you do not want to have to get into it unless you have to.       

The grab bags we take help us survive and give us additional things we may need that are not in life raft equipment. These are generic grab bags. We also have a dry bag (waterproof) in the grab bag and in this we include all our passports, credit cards, cash etc and other valuables. The grab bags (2) are kept in the starboard (right) lazarette (locker) at the back of the deck – so easy access. The EPIRB is an emergency beacon on a bracket near the companion steps so that if we take this with us then we can activate it in the life raft and the emergency services know where we are even if we float away from Stormbird. The Iridium Go and phone mean that we can make calls from the phone via a satellite system. Falmouth Coastguard is a good number to call (programmed into my phone) as they often coordinate rescue missions worldwide.  The handheld GPS device means that we can understand our position as it is mobile.

Today

We motored overnight with little wind and the French boat passed behind us presumably toward Martinique. The stars and moon were beautiful and there was no traffic. Robbie and I had the red eye slot and passed the time away talking about the monarchy and families in general. It is amazing how time can fly.  The day started as a lovely warm sunny day and the temperature is such that you do not need to even think of needing a jumper at night. The sea was blue and calm and there were no white horses due to lack of wind. Hopefully the wind will come in about midday to early evening.

Robbie cooked porridge again and we were visited briefly by a pod of dolphins but we were clearly not interesting enough for them to stay long. The 8.00am watch gets on with the daily checks of the boat and the internal cleaning which takes some time.  The wind just seemed to refuse to come and so we had a nice lunch whilst the devil in the bilge (engine) powered us along mile after mile. I had been watching Predict Wind carefully and it looked like we might get some more wind in the evening. It was only giving us a range from 5 -10kts and not really consistent enough. We had lunch and once we cleared away I suggest trying to fly the Bluebird again as we had only flown it once.  We all got ready and up she went. It is a large red, white and blue sail and we experimented with it. We put the tack line (rope holding it down to the front of the boat) in and out and then the sheet (rope holding the sail toward the back of the boat) in and out and we realised that it is best if the tack in is quite hard in and the sheet out depending in the angle of the wind. The wind strength gradually began to harden and we were sailing along quite nicely at about 6-6.5kts in quite light winds (9-12kts). It was therefore a lovely quiet afternoon without the engine and we were about 800 nmiles from Barbados. We could almost smell it but we have a few days to go. The cloud structures were changing and there was a lot more Sargasso weed.

We checked the weather again and it was anticipated that the wind may increase to 18 + kts overnight. As we had not flown Bluebird in that wind we decided to take her down before dark. Therefore about 15 minutes before sunset we released the tack line, eased the sheet and the snuffer brought down the sock over the sail. Bluebird was soon secured to the deck and we put up the genoa and mainsail and were soon sailing nicely between 6-7kts. It had been a lovely afternoon sail after what seemed days on engine. We now hope that the wind will blow us all the way to Barbados and the forecast suggests it will.

The sunset was magnificent with a yellow sort of start moving toward a chocolate orange and finally to deep rusty colour across the whole sky. As we watched this orange show unfold we had burgers -home made with fresh baked baps and red onion with red cabbage made jointly by Mark and Keith. Keith had also been busy as he had made some fresh flapjacks. Not bad from a small galley which is moving with the swell.

I felt as if we had made some progress and trust we are on the last stretch. As I write I hear the water rushing down the side of the hull with a slight movement of the swell. I am sitting at the navigation station and can see we are doing about 7.8kts. We are in the grove for the night. Sleep well all – we will tonight as the roll is not as bad and we do this whilst dodging our night shifts.  Love to all.    

Distance last 24 hours  155  nm

Grab Bag contents (as of 31 Dec 2023

Distress/signalling

1x.  ODEO LED distress “flare”

1x emergency light (tested correct) plus 2x AA batteries.

1x White Flare (handheld) (May 2027)

3x Red Para Flares (May 2027)

1x Orange floating smoke (May 2027) 

1x rechargeable VHF radio (charged 30 Dec 23)

1x PLB1 (David Mark) (Nov 2026)

2x 6-inch light sticks (Mar 22/Feb 23)

 First Aid

1x Seafarer MEDBOX:   heat retaining blanket, antiseptic spray, saline solution, CPR mask, gloves, pins, dressings, and plasters, bandages and tape.

1x large see-through plastic bag (sealed):   painkillers, stugeron, bonine, angina treatments, anti-diarrhoea tablets, Ibuprofen, paracetamol, scissors, bandages, pins.

2x Thermal Protection Aids.

1x Factor 30 sunscreen.

 Rations

1x bubble wrapped package of:   6x2 kitkats (June 2024), 9x double twix (May 2024), 7x Penguins (April 2024).

12x bottles of water

 Misc

1x plastic bag containing:   RYA Sea Survival Handbook, waterproof notebook, 2x pens, 1x pencil, 2x baseball caps.

1x bailer/fold down bucket + 1 roll heavy duty duct tape.

1x plastic bag containing:    Hand-held fishing line plus weights and lures, 1 pair heavy duty gloves, 1 roll up chopping board.

1x plastic box containing:    Headtorch (checked correct) can opener, 2xAA batteries, 6x AAA batteries, 1 plastic measuring/mixing jug (small) 3x packets Chlorine Dioxide (120 tablets) (Feb 2021, Aug 2021, Nov 2023), 2x tubes of hydration tablets (Jan 2023).

1x Leatherman style knife.

1x packet biodegradable wipes (52 wipes)

1x vacuum packed loo roll.

1x black plastic bag containing…….an assortment of plastic bags.

1x rolls of spare bubble wrap

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