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procedures to use at sea, such as a Mayday or PanPan call, should we ever need help (hopefully not!) We both passed our exams and now hold... a Radio Licence!
Another important topic was Navigation at
Sea. This is similar to reading maps for Duke of Edinburgh’s expeditions, however, unlike on DofE there are no landmarks or geographical features! We had to learn to navigate using only longitude and latitude, which are measured in degrees, minutes and seconds! Confusing right! Nevertheless, we again both successfully passed and can now read sea charts with some confidence. Thanks to this topic we have also now plotted a route across the Atlantic Ocean!
We also learned the Rules of the Road (but for the sea) - Basically all the do’s and don’ts of sea travel. This was fascinating and included lots of knowledge on sea buoys, sea traffic and most importantly, the tides!
First Aid at Sea was very similar to the first aid courses we take in the RAFAC as adult volunteers, but with the added difficulty of doing this on a
small boat being tossed like a pancake, with limited equipment and of course a longer rescue time!
For instance, did you know that you can’t just put a plaster on a cut when you’re out at sea, you have to scrub it clean and re-dress it daily to ensure that the bacteria in the sea water doesn’t cause an infection.
Probably one of the most crucial topics was Survival at Sea; learning how to survive should we ever need to abandon ship. We got our foul weather kit and life jackets on and then went swimming! Learning everything from how to keep warm, swim as a team, aid others in the water and much more. We then practiced life raft drills, from learning how to flip the raft, climb in / out and how to survive for days on end (did you know that a urine infection is the most common cause of death on a life raft? Gross but true!).
The course was beyond brilliant and really opened our eyes to the magnitude of the challenge we
are taking on. We highly recommend ‘Sea Sports Southwest Ltd.’ Tim, Sue, and Charlie were all so welcoming and incredibly knowledgeable. They made us believe that we really can achieve our goal.
But we still need some help!
Please like, follow and share our socials. Don’t
forget to visit our website to find out more about us, the race, and most importantly our charities - we are raising money for the Royal National Lifeboat Institution and Alzheimer’s Research UK.
If you can, please donate. To borrow a phrase from a well-known supermarket: every little helps. Or if you know a person or business who may like to donate or become a Sponsor (and have their Company Logo on our boat) please tell them to check out our website and get in touch via email - onerowliveit@gmail.com
What to look forward to in the future - Louis will be rowing around the Isle of Mull, Scotland with Rannoch Adventures’ Ocean Rowing boat ‘Roxy’ and we will hopefully be able to share news of some potential sponsors with you too.
Until then, thank you for reading and following our campaign!
CADET REVIEW SUMMER 2024 19