Survival At Sea - Pool day training

When I joined Doulos in 2005 I had to complete my BST (basic safety training) that included a fire fighting day and a pool day. That means I didn't have to sit with the others in class, but could still accompany them for the water practical. :) Yes, just because we are going to Africa we still have to comply with international maritime regulations and Survival at Sea is one of them.

For the most part I was out of the water taking pictures of everybody. Here are some fun shots that can give you an idea what it takes to join a ship...

The "water train" exercise was extremely entertaining to watch! :)










Among the many "gumby dressed" people I almost look naked in my proper bading suit... :)

(keeping the injured member warm and inside the circle)

Climbing in and out of a life raft can be quite a challenge if you have to wear a life jacket!

Sometimes the life raft inflates upside down and we have to know how to flip it back. It's really easy in theory: you swim to the raft, grab the strings, pull yourself out of the water on top of the raft, grab some more ropes, lean back and use your own body weight to turn it back. As I said, it's easy... :)

At the end of the day the instructors allowed me to join for this exercise. I was thrilled! :) I quickly passed my camera to a girl and jumped into the water. Good thing I remembered some old tricks, but still I had some interesting moments. Since I was the last one most of the people were standing around the pool cheering...

The good news is that all of us passed! The even better news is that we are flying in 2 days!!!! :)