Foundation I - Day Two

Safety Training

The morning was great fun and pretty essential as we intended to take the Linden far north. If for whatever reason we had to abandon ship then it is critical we know what to do and how to survive immersing ourselves in the frigid water.

Now I know something about cold water immersion because it's something we train people to be fully aware of and experience just in case they fall through the sea ice they are crossing. So, it's an integral part of Ice Warrior Polar training. Cold shock response, rapid fall in skin temperature, reflex inspiratory gasp, uncontrolled hyperventilation leading to incapacitation of motor responses, hypothermia and eventually cardiac arrest.

In sea temperatures of 5 degrees, you might last between 1 and 3 hours depending on age, sea condition, movement, how fat you are, etc. All that is assuming you do not have a survival suit.

But we were here to experience donning a survival suit and life jacket, entering the water by jumping off the side of the ship, manoeuvring and getting together as a team in the water and exiting the water up a rope ladder.

We had such fun! A great team building exercise. My long lasting memory was actually how warm it was flailing about in the freezing sea - somewhat different than polar training where we do the same except without suits!

After hot drinks and a lovely lunch we prepared to set sail and weighed the anchor.

ProCrew taught us how to coil ropes properly and haul sails or sheets which we practised for some time but then due to a light breeze on the nose and a slight swell we had to motor sail out of Trygghamna and round the corner to face an even bigger swell caused by a confluence of currents.

It was at this point that those of us who were fearing sea sickness had their “taste” of the experience. Sam found she lasted a few minutes and promptly dashed below deck and into her bunk. She found that if she lay down she got total respite. Lucy reported feeling a little queasy but made it through, boosting her confidence, and I was absolutely fine which surprised the heck out of me. However nothing needed doing so I did use the time to catch up on sleep deprivation over the proceeding months during planning, and had a lovely snooze.

The expeditions of old very often took along with them what they called an artist-in-residence and so when I came across Helen Habershon sheltering from a stormy training night in the Warren House Inn on Dartmoor it occurred to me that a composer-in-residence would be a great idea and she agreed. So the following video is “Far Out in the Ocean” which I put video of our journey to. The calm beginning of day one and then other sea segments.

Thanks so much to Helen Habershon for her stunning composition

Maps

Corordinates

Start: Trygghamna 78.25º North, 13.79º East

Finish: Transiting North Overnight