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http://dsc.discovery.com/fansites/alive/episode/episode.html

"I SHOULDN'T BE ALIVE pushes the limits as survivors of death-defying ordeals relive their experiences at the edge of human endurance — and the moment of truth that kept them alive."

First show is tonight at 9PM Eastern. Saw some previews on the Discovery Channel and it looks pretty good.

Gonna watch it. Must tape it, though. Conflicts with one of my wife's favorites, "Most Haunted."

-- Craig

The title of the show is pretty good; they shouldn't be alive (actually, only 2 of 5 survived I think)... Did anyone else watch the first episode about the folks stranded at sea? Can someone explain why one of the crew worked so hard to get the liferaft free from the deck of the sinking sailboat, got it into the water, and inflated, swam to it, was holding onto it, and then decided to swim away from it?

He left the covered, off shore life raft, equiped with EPIRB, rations, water maker, signaling gear, fishing kit, FAK, etc... to swim to the open and empty inflatable Zodiac that someone else had managed to get off the ship before it sunk. Eventually, they all end up in the Zodiac.

The whole crews survival chances were reduced dramatically by deciding to let the well provisioned lifeboat drift away as they went into this unequipped zodiac. I had a few distractions during the show, there must have been more to this decision?

I was struck by the same thought. That I heard, they didn't offer any explanation of the "why" for his actions.

As portrayed, they had ample warning and the expectation that the situation could deteriorate at any time. In similar circumstances, at the very least, it would be prudent to have a good signal mirror secured on one's person (absent an EPIRB). When you consider a 3-in. x 5-in. mirror, with decent sunlight, will get out at least 20 miles, that's over 1200 sq. miles covered in a 360 degree sweep. More than enough to cover line-of-sight to the horizon, or be seen by reasonably close search aircraft (though, in this instance, no search aircraft were deployed).

I missed the episode. Also, I haven't read Ms. Kiley's book. However, this incident was one of those featured in Lawrence Gonzales's book "Deep Survival". According to that account, the first mate (who was allegedly an alcoholic) panicked and inflated the life raft in a hurricane force wind without bothering to secure it to the boat, the result being that the wind picked it up and blew it away (along with all the survival gear that came with it).

According to Kiley's account, both she and the other eventual survivor had gone several days prior to the sinking with almost no sleep, as the captain and first mate responded to the crisis by getting drunk and staying that way. Whether this was corroborated by anyone else, I don't know, although Gonzales seemed to indicate that the first mate's drinking problem was a matter of record.

I thought the incident sounded familiar!

The drinking would fit right in with their later drinking of seawater due to alcohol dehydration. In retrospect, it would have been better to tank up on H2O. As they say, it's better to have it in your body than in your canteen.

In Gonzales's book, it also occurred to me how important it is to choose the right traveling companions... <img src="/images/graemlins/smirk.gif" alt="" />

Sue