Smudger Snippets
Created | Updated Jan 28, 2004
I suppose it's because I have so much time on my hands these days, that all these memories come flooding back to me.
The Survival Suit
I suppose I should have been paying more attention, but you know what it's like when you're eighteen - you know everything and nothing.
There were six of us in the small Gemini altogether, including the Chief Petty Officer who was giving us our survival suit training. We were on fishery protection at the time off the coast of Iceland, as way back in the seventies we were having the cod war with our European neighbours. It was not a pleasant duty at all! It was bitterly cold and the only thing that was hot was our tempers. Frustration played a large part of it as well, as we were not allowed to do anything and just had to put with all the aggro that we were given.
We had ships of all sizes coming dangerously close to us and trying to make us alter course and speed. This is where the frustration came in; knowing that we had the fire-power to blow them out of the water and could easily sink them if we rammed them, yet we had orders not to aggravate our so-called European neighbours. Because we were being put into dangerous situations, the skipper had us closed up to 'action stations' for hours - even days - at a time. This, of course, did not make matters any better for us as it meant no hot meals and very little sleep and, all in all, a very bad-tempered and inpatient crew with plenty to complain about. It was one of those situations where you had to go through it to believe it, where the slightest little incident could spark off a fit of temper.
Another drawback of this protection detail was the fact that we had to steam along at very slow speeds and carry out numerous twists and turns, which did not go down well with the poor folk who suffered from sea sickness.
The ship would pitch and roll with every large swell or wave we met, throwing everything that was tied down all over the place. This was all too evident when we went to use the heads1 as the smell from backed-up drainage and sickness would make even the fittest person to throw up. Alongside this was the fact that we were living on corned beef sandwiches and lime juice and, if you were lucky, a hot cup of cocoa made by our mates down in the boiler room, by using the steam to boil the water.
So there we were stuck out in the middle of the North Sea bobbing up and down in this very small Gemini wearing silly-looking survival suits with funny-looking flashing lights on top of the head of the suit. It was while we were laughing and having a joke about this flashing light, that the chief, our instructor, asked me if I had being paying attention. He had being telling us about the battery for this light, and how it was powered by a chemical reaction with salt water.
I, of course, replied that I had been listening, when in fact I had not. It was at this point where he said; 'Good! Now we will test this theory', and pushed me overboard into the water!
It was bitterly cold, it was like being stabbed with a thousand daggers, as the water made its way down through the open neck of my suit, and froze me as I struggled to zip it up. My hands were not properly in the gloves at the time when I went in and it was only a matter of seconds before I could not use them as they went numb with the cold. I had managed to zip up the flap on the top of my suit, but not before some water had seeped in and it was numbing me as I struggled to inflate the Mae West2 that required having a cord pulled to activate the compressed air to fill it.
After I had done this my main concern was looking for the boat that I had been in some moments earlier. I could hear it at times and even saw it on some occasions, with our frigate way in the background. The swell was high that day around twenty feet, which meant when I was at the bottom of a wave, all I could see was a wall of water surrounding me and the sky!
When I came back up to the top I had been turned around and could not see or hear any sign of my ship let alone the small Gemini. I do not know to this day as to which was the worst; the fear or the cold. One thing I did know, however, was that I would not survive for long due to the amount of water that had entered the suit. It seemed to me that I had been in the water for hours - infact it was only fifteen minutes I was told later that day. Eventually I heard the engine of the small Gemini behind me, as I struggled to turn to attract their attention thinking that could not see me. It was no good however; all my muscles were useless and stinging with the pain due to the the cold.
I had forgotten about the flashing light on my head, as this is how they kept track of me as I drifted away. The engine noise grew louder as they approached, and it was not long before they had hauled me back on board the Gemini.
'Are you paying attention now?'
asked the chief.
'Yes, Yes!'
I replied, as I sat there shivering, feeling very relieved and stupid at the same time. I learnt a lot that day; not so much about the survival suit, yet more about myself. I learnt humility.
