Matina -lifeboat Drill

[r m lawrie]

We had the usual Saturday afternoon sports,whilst sailing to Panama in mid
Atlantic,full ahead, one of the lifeboats was lowered.Unfortunately the
brake band snapped on the Davits,the lifeboat hit the water with force,the
"plugs" were out.We stopped as soon as possible to retrieve the lifeboat,which by now had filled with water,one of the hooks had detached
from the Davits,the lifeboat now being pushed away from the hull by the overboard discharge from the main condenser.Various attempts made to
secure and lift the boat from the water, but to no avail.In the end the lifeboat
was set adrift and we continued on our way.Has anyone else experienced
such an incident?

[John Cassels]

Lifeboat set adrift ??. Must have caused great consternation to anyone
who sighted it.

[A.J.McMahon]

Lifeboat set adrift ??. Must have caused great consternation to anyone
who sighted it.

Not really !! It was sent out as a notice to mariners that a submerged object was sighted at Lat---Long--- Which was true. By the time the ship stopped and the fault located with the Wellin Mclane davit upper limit swich, and the aft derrick swung out to try to retrieve the (by this time) nearly submerged lifeboat, plus the fact that light was fading and we were on a tight skedule, the skipper made a management decision. Takes a bit of guts to do that, when you know you will get a grilling at your first U.S.A. port. We worked constant daywork to check the other three were in TOP LINE condition proir to arriving at New York, the fuel pipes were still not connected to the only boat with an engine, lo and behold it is the only one the surveyor is interested in, thankfully he stayed on the boat deck whilst we clambered up the ladder into the boat, poured a drop of petrol in, got it going, ahead and astern, just as it was dying out he said that's fine.