Signs

March 1st: Everyone on board is very safety concious. There are warning signs everywhere. After lunch, Peter the Mate ( its like the deputy captain ) continued his tour of the ship and today we looked at the rescue equipment. If someone fell overboard you’d throw them a life ring, though the water is so cold you would probably be dead before you could reach it. Next size up are the life rafts, white capsules about 1 metre long, lashed to the deck, but which inflate into rubber rafts with canvas tops when tossed over board. Then come the life boats, one on each side, big orange capsules. They look like giant kinder surprises and I hope I never have to get into one, other than for a look. They fit 68 people, sitting side by side on hard fibreglass seats and the toilet is a bucket. There is a motor and steering equipment, but once you run out of fuel there are oars, and its nearly 2000 nautical miles to Hobart. There are water tanks, but the water would be frozen, so that could be tricky, and the food is sea biscuits. The safety equipment includes fishing line and hooks, can openers and waterproof matches. Anyway, the Aurora Australis feels very safe, so I am going to bed to sleep peacefully