Safety Matters

In addition to the sails, Phil also recently acquired some important safety equipment for Prairie Gold’s offshore adventures.

The first purchase was a life raft from Life Raft + Safety Equipment (LRSE) http://www.lrse.com/ located in Tiverton, RI. It was really interesting to see the life rafts that they had inflated in the back of the store, and to get an idea of what the rafts would look like once inflated.

A look at some of the large (50 person) rafts inflated at LRSE used commercially.

The raft Phil purchased is made by Winslow http://www.winslowliferaft.com/ and is the offshore ultralight 6-person life raft. As Phil said, it does seem a bit strange to invest in something that you never want to use! Good thing he and Dustin got a chance to try this one out!!

Dustin (left) and Phil (right) in the Winslow life raft at LRSE.

Phil also bought a para anchor which is used to dampen waves breaking on the boat by creating a flat, oil like slick on the ocean surface. This calms the slamming motion of waves against the boat, providing a more comfortable and safer boat ride.

Phil selected the off-shore para-anchor from Fioretiono http://www.paraanchor.com/pro.offsanchor.html.