How to survive at sea

Being stranded in the open ocean is one of the worst places you can possibly end up due to the complete lack of anything useful. Normally when people survive long-term in the open ocean it’s mostly because they were on a boat containing useful pieces of equipment and managed to survive until help came because of it. Having said that the longest lone survival at sea in history was set by José Salvador Alvarenga who managed to survive in a small fishing boat for 438 days after getting lost in a storm. Should you ever find yourself in such a situation here are a few things to keep in mind to increase your chances of survival.

Salvage supplies

The boat you were on could be anything from an oil tanker to a small row boat, so gathering supplies would depend massively on what you have to work with. The most important things to go for would be any kind of survival equipment such as life rafts, food, water, clothing, and anything you can use to get rescued like a radio or flare gun. Most large ships contain inflatable life rafts which are normally in their deflated form and will sink with the ship if not deployed. These rafts often contain small survival kits that include food, normally in the form of ration blocks, but it’s important to gather them if you have the chance, even if you already have a raft yourself. If you’re on a boat that has capsized but is still afloat, then try to dive inside to retrieve as much as you can that would be useful, as the chances of it staying afloat indefinitely are quite small.

Do Nothing

If you don’t know where you are then there’s no point in trying to row in a random direction, and even if you do know your location there’s a slim chance you’ll be able to row your boat the required distance. Survival at sea is mostly a waiting game and the longer you can last the higher your chances of rescue will be, and the only way to last that long is to save as many calories and as much energy as possible.

There’s the chance you’ll be relying on rainfall after a while to provide your drinking water and on a small boat, this will be quite limited. By restricting your activity to nothing your body will require significantly less nourishment than it usually would. It may be boring to sit there all day doing nothing, but if it can make you last those few days extra on your supplies then it’s going to be worth it.

Be careful of seawater

If you get salt water on your skin and you let it dry there will be a very small salt layer on the surface. When this happens repeatedly the salt builds up to a level that can cause your skin to dry out and crack, forming painful sores and dry patches. It might feel nice to pour some seawater over your head on a hot day, but what you’ll experience after won’t be worth it. Keep your hands out of the sea and try to protect yourself from splashes as best you can.

Monitor your mini-biome

A biome is an area that has a certain climate and landscape which in turn means specific plants and animals will live there. When a boat is in the water for an extended amount of time it can form a mini-environment in the form of fish and birds, who are attracted to the shade underneath and use it as a landing spot for a quick rest at sea. Sometimes people at sea have found they have a small group of fish following them around or a particular bird that keeps landing on their boat.

If things get desperate these should be looked to as a primary source of food, but how you catch them would depend on what you have at hand. One method I read of how to catch birds included making a slip knot and putting the loop at the opposite end of the boat on the edge, in a location where a bird would land. Upon a bird landing within the slipknot, the other end of the string would already be in hand and a swift tug would cause it to grip the bird’s feet.

Don’t panic if you see a boat in the distance

Getting rescued would of course be your number one priority, but if you’re in a small boat or one without a mast the chances of anyone seeing you from any real distance are slim. Flares can only be seen from a good distance at night, and someone jumping up and down in a raft in the middle of the sea won’t be seen by the naked eye from more than a mile away.

If you see a ship in the distance then don’t burn out all your saved energy, but instead use whatever signaling equipment you may have and stand up with your arms in a V shape, which is the sign for needing rescue. If they see then you’re in luck, but if they don’t you’ll be glad you didn’t spend 10 minutes shouting and jumping around.