A very, very lucky girl indeed !!

[grumpy_o_g]

I fully understand the point about not gybing but I was taught to avoid it if at all possible rather than not to do it all (was a long time ago I admit). The point made with going about for a man overboard was that you may well be down to one person in the cockpit and the boat may not like going about in the conditions prevailing which seemed valid. We had to practice letting the jib/genoa sheets fly and bringing the main right in for a controlled gybe. It seemed to work quite well at night in a force 6-7 in a Contessa 26 which didn't like to go about as the seas slammed into the bow and just about stopped her unless you were spot on.

 

[alant]

Here's a thought;

With a lifejacket on one cannot swim easily, so one tends to just lie there. No point fighting, may as well relax. You slowly get colder, slight hypothermia leads to drowsiness & sleep kills. Staying awake is a key lesson for surviving extreme cold.

No life jacket or PBA tends to concentrate the mind - almost to panic. Adrenaline surges thro the body. One has to swim, tread water or at least try to float. You are moving all the time and this increase heat loss, but your movement is generating body heat. So you are using up energy to stay afloat & avoid hypothermia. Shivering is a natural response to being cold - and is involuntary body movement to generate warmth. You sure as heck ain't going to sleep.

Maybe there is some lesson in this that is counter-intuitive? I am not recommending no life jackets (altho I seldom wear one myself, preferring a harness & life line), just asking a question.

Sea Survival, teaches just this -NOT to try to swim, cuddle up into a ball, to preserve body heat, rather than dissapate by struggling.

Main thing is 'believe you are going to survive'.
This is even on RYA Teaching Slides.

 

[strakeryrius]

Sea Survival, teaches just this -NOT to try to swim, cuddle up into a ball, to preserve body heat, rather than dissapate by struggling.

Main thing is 'believe you are going to survive'.
This is even on RYA Teaching Slides.

Yeah, but all these materials assume that you have a LJ on. In this situation where you are adrift in the ocean without a LJ you are going to drown if you curl into a ball long before you die of exposure. You have to keep moving to stay afloat and head-up out of the water. Preserving body heat is of secondary importance to being able to breathe.

 

[alant]

Yeah, but all these materials assume that you have a LJ on. In this situation where you are adrift in the ocean without a LJ you are going to drown if you curl into a ball long before you die of exposure. You have to keep moving to stay afloat and head-up out of the water. Preserving body heat is of secondary importance to being able to breathe.

"You have to keep moving to stay afloat and head-up out of the water. Preserving body heat is of secondary importance to being able to breathe."

So, without a LJ, you now have 2 serious problems, instead of just one!