It's another day at sea for Spirit of Cardiff, and whilst the journey along the Palawan Passage hasn't revealed any floating coffins as yet (the customary manner of burying the dead in these parts is to float them out to sea), we have plenty of time on our hands.
So here's the first in an occasional series called Clive's Curiosity Corner - a little quiz to educate and entertain.
Take a look at the photograph of Spirit of Cardiff's laughing cavalier Steve Lloyd and see how many of the questions below you can answer.
Questions
1. What is Steve pointing at with his right hand?
2. What is he wearing?
3. What is Steve holding in his left hand?
4. What fireworks aren't in the picture?
5. What else (not pictured) is yellow, floats, and knows where it is?
Answers
1. Indicator light for American-made Seafire Halon gas fire extinguisher located in the engine compartment. Any fire within the engine box is detected and extinguished automatically, within seconds.
2. Inflatable life jacket. One for each crew member. There is also a Gore-Tex immersion suit for survival situations in cold conditions.
3. One of the two handheld CO2 fire extinguishers carried on board.
4. Spirit of Cardiff's emergency flares - more than the mandatory minimum requirement for offshore work - stored in a waterproof container.
5. Spirit of Cardiff's EPIRB (Emergency Position Indicating Radio Beacon). Once activated, a unique signal identifying the boat and its location to within one square mile is transmitted to passing ships and aircraft on 121.5 MHz, and via satellite on 406 MHz. The distress signal is relayed to the nearest Search and Rescue Facility. Response times will vary, but are typically under an hour in northern areas, two or three hours in more remote third world areas.
Verdict
How well did you do? Whether you got any right or not, treat yourself to a mile of Spirit of Cardiff's round the world voyage - available from the Spirit of Cardiff shop.
Clive Tully
Copyright Clive Tully ©2002
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