Surviving in cold water Posted on 29 April 2009 Written by
Douglas Campbell A delivery crew of three men was aboard a
38-foot catamaran that capsized in February 2007 east of Bermuda
in 45-foot seas. Two crewmen survived for 10 hours in the
63-degree water before they were rescued. The captain died. The
difference between life and death in all likelihood was
clothing. When the catamaran flipped, one crewman was on watch
in the cockpit, dressed in full foul-weather gear with thermals
and fleece underneath. The other crewman was huddled in his
bunk, all of his foul-weather and thermal clothing on, as well
as his harness and inflatable life vest. The captain, exhausted
from long hours at the helm, was in his bunk, dressed only in
thermals and a layer of fleece. That’s the way he escaped the
overturned sailboat. But he couldn’t escape hypothermia. He was
dead in about seven hours. Whether you are wearing layers of
clothing or an immersion suit, your chances of survival in cold
water will be improved if the water