then maybe best to wear life jacket for entire trip.

If you don't know how to swim. FFS, cruises are planned months, sometimes years, in advance, giving non-swimmers a chance to learn how.

Precisely. And those in airplanes should learn to fly also... just in case.

In my perfect world no earthly machine would go faster than Roger Bannister's best run mile.



I might make an exception for ambulances, maybe not.

When Earth's Emperor Hunter the First installs his fusion powered asteroid built robot laser battlestations in high earth orbit there's going to be some changes around here...

I'm not going to post it, but the punchline is...

"For someone who can't fly you sure are mouthy."

But I guess learning how to take care of yourself in an emergency situation isn't a liberal value. Able-bodied people who don't know how to swim & refuse to learn take time & effort away from those who truly need assistance in those situations. They are also a danger to everyone else around them (look up why you should keep distance between yourself & a drowning person if at all possible if you don't believe me).

I'm sure you've been in this position before, since you seem to be taking such a stance.

You're on a floating hotel. If one jumps overboard, you have a great chance of dying from the fall, or will freeze in the water if you somehow survive a fall, or will drown or be attacked by sharks. Most disasters like this happen in open water, not a 1/2 or less from shore.

Except for the sharks and the fall, the only person who could survive a freezing, long swim is Lynne Cox.

We should also all be driving around with a gun rack on our bicycles just in case the Chinese show up on our shores.

We should all learn how to be First Responders or else we become a burden on those who are.




From one who swims AND knows CPR... ummmmm... how to put this politely? No. I won't cosign.

there would be a lot less need for cruises.

I do believe that most ship sinkings don't happen a hundred yards from shore or in warm water.

I have read that in the old days sailors purposely didn't learn how to swim. The idea was to drown as fast as possible to eliminate the suffering from the exposure and exertion. Of course back in the old days the chances of being rescued were slim.

Or what if there are rough seas?

Maybe only Olympic qualified swimmers should be going on cruises.

You have a greater chance of survival AND are not likely to hurt anyone else. Was I the only one who paid attention in first aid? FFS it's not hard to learn to swim. If you know how to swim, that frees up a crew member or 2 to help those less able. It's freaking common sense which apparently is also not a liberal value.

You're suggesting that anyone who goes on a cruise should be able to do the following:

1. Jump 80' (or more) from the deck of a cruise ship into the ocean
2. Be able to swim in freezing water and rough seas
3. Be prepared to do so indefinitely in the middle of the ocean, miles from shore (just in case lifeboats are full)

Sure....

Because I am on airplanes all the time yet I cannot fly by myself.

And also some oxygen, just in case the plane breaks up at 36,000 feet.

I swear, some people just don't know anything about being prepared.

If you can't swim you should definitely be in a boat. You'll likely drown in the water.

Unless you happen to be in shark infested waters. Then you might be fucked anyway.

Not sure I understand.

Not to mention the possibility of hitting part of the ship or debris in the water--or the possibility of being sucked under by the physical forces pushing the ship down.

I guess every situation has to be looked at individually.. Staying in ones cabin certainly doesn't look to be a good option, however. And, yes, I'd be tempted to jump

that's what seems to have happened in one case.

A woman survivor described how her husband gave her his life-vest. Then he jumped into the water. He seemed to be ok, calling for her to jump, too. She jumped, and when she turned around he was gone. She swam to the shore, but he hasn't been seen again.

He was probably sucked under in exactly the way you described. Very sad!

Why do you think so many have died from jumping off the Golden Gate Bridge? (and no, they aren't all drowning).


Height

Some people think that landing feet first will protect them, but at 25 mph -- the speed you're traveling when you hit the water after jumping from a height of just 20 feet -- you can experience spinal compression, fractures and concussions. If you don't manage to land feet first, the impact with the water can kill you. If you jump from just 10 feet, your body will reach 17 mph by the time you contact the water. Your risk of injury depends on your body positioning, which can be hard to adjust when you're in free fall.

Read more: http://www.livestrong.com/article/450256-the-dangers-of-jumping-into-water-from-heights/#ixzz1jvQMNEex

and if they are still launching lifeboats, could be more dangerous than waiting. Also, you cannot 'pull yourself in' to the average lifeboat - you'd need them to help you up, since the side are quite high. If it's dark, you're depending on the people in the boat seeing or hearing you, in a very confusing situation.

Jumping no
swimming no
pulling yourself into a boat no
Drowning yes

Trip and miraculously fall into one of the life boats.

for the closest life boat. The people with get the fuck out of your way REAL fast! Then simply jump over the side of the life-boat, extinguish yourself then hop back in. See? Problem solve.

I'm speechless.

you can always demand that God save you.

They seem to be reliant on the fact that the vessel will not be listing at all or very little when the life boats are being launched. Using a winch system to lower them off a vessel this large is ridiculous. And in larger vessels they should store the boats internally in special evacuation corridors, where you can board, without worrying about falling into water that will drain you of your body heat.

Time and time again the ship doesn't actually sink. They often roll on their side and float half submerged for days. Stay with the ship until help arrives.

We were hulled through on our 32 foot sailboat about 60 miles off the coast of California. We calmly inflated the raft, pulled the outboard off the boat and grabbed a 6 gallon can of fuel, hit the EPIRB, untied surfboards and strapped wetsuits to them, got out food and a water kit, even grabbed some weed and lighters. It took 5 minutes or so for the boat to list to 90 degree's and then it sat like that for a few hours, finally ending up floating bow up with three feet showing above the waterline. We never saw it sink.
We had a 2' by 4' gash down the port side from hitting a floating piling with hardware on it at 5 knots.
The main thing is not to panic and we had practiced for just such an adventure as this.
Never once did we think we were going to die.
We fired up the little 6 hp outboard and motored back towards Monterey, talking to the Coast Guard and keeping them aware of our position. We did run out of fuel but still got to within towing distance of Santa Cruz.

I don't know how this ship went over but as it is huge, it should have happened pretty slowly.

No need to jump until there is simply no alternative. Luckily, rescue boats are much faster and prevalent than in the time of the Titanic so you will probably receive some help before that happens.
In the case of the recent incident, that might seem to make sense as it was warm, relatively calm water, except that the boat had hit sharp rocks and you certainly wouldn't want to land on them when you jumped.

I think if I ever go on a cruise I'll bring my inflatable kayak, the SS Rubber Ducky, with me. That way when the ship goes down I got my own boat.

Without the seasickness.

It looked like the lifeboats had some kind of cover, may be difficult to climb aboard.

Plus, any lifeboat that's launched will be moving away from the ship, to get out of the way of the ship and other lifeboats being launched.

But, I guess the first couple of things - put on a floation vest, and get the hell out of the lower decks, the ones below the water line will be traps.

Luck of the draw as to which one you get assigned to

rudder or whatever that thing is?

Hopefully most of us would be on a ship that actually has people in control and in command and putting the passengers first, unlike the captain/crew of this tragedy.

find a head board and only you, get on, leaving them in the water, promise never to let go and then, after they freeze to death, whack their hand on something hard and free your self. Find a whistle in a dead persons mouth and blow it, that is what to do. I Know.

If the boat begins to sink or list you can be in an even more difficult situation.

If there are substantial waves you might have to add in the height between the peak and trough of the wave to that distance.

I would not recomment jumping over the railing from that height unless you want to break multiple bones when you hit the water. At that height you might as well be jumping onto concrete especially if you aren't trained as an Olympic high diver.

Head "up" (towards the sky), and hang on to something for dear life. Understandably, that may be a difficult task for families who are looking out for each others' welfare.

It's a long, long way to the water.

I thought it was a joke in the beginning.

Just trying to save somebody's life in the future

and twists as I could on the way down.

"Freezing" or "Shark Infested"