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you can wet your clothes in order to cool down your body’s temperature and the liferaft’s
temperature (by laying the wet clothes on the canopy).
If the changes of the external temperature conditions affect the inflation pressure of
the liferaft’s body, you can use the bellows of the standard equipment.
6.1.13
Monitoring
The master of the liferaft is in charge of monitoring the area around the liferaft in order
to look after rescue team or any other kind of help. So, the master must observe about the
navigation of the liferaft, the weather conditions, whether there is possibility of a rescue
team as well as the total liferaft’s condition.
6.1.14
Arrival of the rescuers
When a rescue team appears on the horizon, these are the actions you must follow:
1. Signaling:
Use all the means available in order to send signals to the rescue
team (smoke signals, signal mirror, etc). You should use the pyrotechnic signals only if it
is certain that the rescuers can see them. As mentioned before, use the parachute signals
and the hand flares during the night and the smoke signals and the signal mirror during the
day. It is wise to use the signal mirror also during the night in order to reflect the light of the
rescuers’ lights. You should send any kind of signaling until you are sure that the rescuers
have seen them. Don’t use all the signals’ means because you might use some of them to
guide the rescuing ships or for any emergency use. If the rescue team is on a plane, you
should expect a period of time until the rescuing ships arrive. During this time, you should
prepare the abandonment of the liferaft and make sure that all the liferafts are linked one to
the other.
2. Rescue by towing:
Use a rope in good condition (e.g. the cylinder operating line
or the sea anchor rope) and fasten it to a solid point of the liferaft. This rope can be launch
from the liferaft to the rescuing unit or from the unit to the liferaft. If the rope hasn’t reached
the liferaft, use a paddle or the fishing kit to collect it. The master of the liferaft must always
make sure that the liferaft is stable and that the rope is in proper condition, in order to try to
communicate with the rescuers’ team
3. Rescue by helicopter:
In that case, you should point to the rescue unit the
direction of the wind by using flags or any kind of fabric piece. You should never use a
parachute signal and turn off the radar reflector so it can not interfere to the helicopter’s
transmission equipment. During the rescue operations, the passengers of the liferaft must
remain calm and lie down, mostly in the centre of the liferaft, so it can be remained stable
and not affected by the air. Do not fasten the lifting equipment lowered by the helicopter to
any part of the liferaft. Make sure that the lifting hook does not get caught somewhere. If
a stretcher is lowered to rescue an injured survivor, before laying the person down on it, it
must be detached from the lifting cable. All the instructions for the rescuing must be given
by the operator of the lifting means on board of the helicopter. The survivors must abandon
the liferaft in such way that its stability would remain.
4. Landing:
If the liferaft has approach a coast, even a rocky one, you should let
