h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Entry: Initial actions to take on abandoning ship in an inflatable liferaft - A4178144
Author: EsmondMillion - U1589395

See what you make of this

Useful, entertaining and informative - it fills all the requirements for me.

Perhaps after your 'big four' you could add a few survival tips for staying alive in a raft afloat? That's the sort of thing that keeps the reader interested.

At some point, you might want to teach yourself GuideML (A187355) - it's dead simple and doesn't half make your Entries look better.

It's a good start, though, and I think with a bit of work this will make a very good Edited Guide Entry.

B

Yep - perhaps a warning about getting people from the sea into the liferaft - its not easy, but pretty good.

Thanks for the feedback. I guess I just wanted to keep it simple to start off with 'cos unless you're trained in this sort of thing most of it can easily go over your head. It is possible to get very in depth on this sort of thing. The 'cut, stream, close, maintain' is the sort of introduction to keep you alive and makes it easier to teach to others. I'll have to see about the GuideML, it looks a bit beyond my present capabilities but thanks for giving us the heads up.

There is a lot to be said for the 'keep it simple'. I just felt that this Entry ends a bit abruptly, that's all.

Don't panic if you think GuideML is beyond you. It's not obligatory and, frankly, it's a lot easier than it looks at first sight.

B

Okey doke, I'll try expanding on it a little bit.

Easy to read and understand

Just one point (and it might just be that I'm caffeine-deficient) but the meaning of term 'stream' (unlike the other three) is less than obvious

I assume its a nautical term and I'm sure I could Google it BUT... it would be helpful if a (very?) brief explanation was included in the entry

Granted, the only times I've ever seen liferafts were in films, I've never seen a covered one. Is this a universal design, or is it possible that we will find ourselves in the topless model? Aside from where to find the things that would otherwise be stored in the roof, are there other differences between the two?

As much as I like the Harry Potter line, in the long run it will date your entry. You might replace it with 'the latest best-seller' which will, at some point, include Mr Potter.

Nicely done .

This is a very good entry indeed, and apart from spurious semi-colons I can't find any grammatical errors. GuideML and perhaps a title change are probably in order, but can easily be done by a Sub-Ed.

The Entry hasn't had a lot of attention since June; any comments? It *could* be recommended if the author isn't willing to return to it, but there might be other information to add. Perhaps some more information about the key points you're likely to find in the guide books? Maybe something on how to filter water, when to eat? I'm not entirely sure, myself, but I know somebody around here can give a more informed opinion.

Good Entry.

Couple of things it might be worth adding...

Firstly, getting into the raft itself.

Rule 1, try to stay dry, don't jump into the water if you can climb down a ladder...

Rule 2, If you can't climb down a ladder and have to jump - DO NOT try to jump onto the raft itself - you'll either break your legs or break the necks of the people already inside.


Getting inside from in the water...

The first two people to arrive at the raft don't climb inside, they situate themselves one either side of the entrance, hanging onto the straps. They then 'boost' the third and forth to arrive into the raft, who then take over and help pull everyone else out of the water.

Believe me - this is far quicker than trying to clamber in on your own without help. - and everyone else is getting very cold whilst you're messing around trying to get in!



Finally, turning a raft over when it's upside down.

Depending on the size of the raft there are one or more ropes running under the bottom of the raft from one side to the other.

If the raft is upside down, grab hold of one of these ropes with your hand, lean backwards, putting your feet on the side of the raft, (so you're lieing on your back) and pull yourself up hand over hand using the rope... As you climb up the raft will start to rise up out of the water to counterbalance you. As it swings over the vertical it'll start to fall back towards you, right side up... At this moment let the rope go and get out of the way as quickly as possible (straight down into the water).


You might also want to mention the fact that some liferafts (in my experience it's all liferafts - but that might not be the case with all commercially available rafts) are fitted out with emergency radios, with very simple written instructions on how to use...

These are fixed to a single frequency (internationally recognised distress frequencies - VHF 121.5 MHz / UHF 243 MHz)

I'd love to see this entry go through with Whisky's suggestions put in if the author is okay to do that. If not then we can shove it up and I'll be happy to shunt Whisky's things into it in subbing

Yeah, Whisky's suggestions are good and I would be very happy to have them added. The only thing I would change though is that not all liferafts carry radio equipment, it depends on the type of liferaft and the ship you're on. I could add a list of the equipment if you felt it necessary but I just wanted to keep it simple to start off with. The whole business of sea survival can get pretty, er, expansive.

Oh, and when righting the liferaft you want to be standing on the gas bottle which will help in pulling it over.

It all sounds Great! The extra material will be well appreciated. Just don't let my spouse read this before our first cruise!!



Now, maybe you could add some helpful hints of what NOT to do while waiting. Mumblety-peg, darts, sword-dancing, etc.

How is this going?

EsmondMillion, are you still around?

Fleamarket?

Seconded.

Let me guess: you're going to say 'added'.

Am I getting too predictable? I have typed that nigh on 100 times in the last few days, so it's always nice to have a variation on the theme. A mini-conversation while I get to the business of saying that magic word.

So just for you, with heartfelt gratitude m'dear, here it is:

Added

Awww.... thanks