TGIF! Hope you’ve been appointed to a new government position this week. And don’t worry, experience is not required.

Survival – Personal Edition

Let’s learn how to survive begin adrift at sea.

• First off stay in your boat as long as possible. The life raft is a last resort here. The rule of thumb is the water should be up to your waist before getting in the life raft.
• Take as much in supplies as can fit in the life boat. Your most important need will be water, so pack those water jugs in first. Any water jugs that don’t fit, secure to the life boat with string and throw them overboard as they will float. Drink at least 1/2 a galloon of water a day to stay hydrated. Then you’ll want canned food. Don’t forget the can opener.
• Stay near the boat. Rescuers will first look for you in the vicinity of where the SOS signal came from. Make a sea anchor by tying a bucket with rope and attaching to the raft. Deploy the anchor on windward side of the raft to keep the raft pointed toward the wind to minimize the chances of capsizing.
• Stay covered. Exposure or hypothermia is the most likely reason you won’t make it. Wear dry clothes and stay out of the water. If the life boat has a canopy use it, otherwise wear a hat, long sleeved shirts, and, yes, pants.
• If help isn’t on the way, time to start to attempt to get back to dry land. First, fashion a sail using two oars attached to opposite sides of the raft and a poncho in between as the sail. Use a third oar as a rudder to steer.
• Try to locate land. Puffy clouds with a flat bottom in a clear sky are usually formed over land. Watch for flocks of birds. In the mornings they’ll be leaving land, and in the afternoon they’ll be returning to land. Follow them.
• Maneuvering a raft is hard work and the journey will be slow. Rest often so you don’t exhaust yourself and use up your food and water supplies.
• Use a VHF radio or flare kit to signal any nearby boats or planes. You can also use a mirror to reflect sun light to get their attention. To aim, hold the mirror just under your eye and extend your other hand and form a V. Position the V, so the target boat or plane is in the middle. Then swivel the reflected light between your two fingers.

Congrats! Now that you’re back on land settle into that couch and get ready for a full weekend of doing nothing and watching football.

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Survival – Species Edition

Time to put the sexy in Friday!

Enjoy the weekend, folks! Alright, now let’s get to the comments!