Whether you are 10 miles from shore or 1,000, if things go wrong and you need to abandon your vessel, there are a few essential items that you will be reaching for. After the life raft and the EPIRB, the ditch bag is, in our opinion, one of the most critical survival items.

When we bought our 45-foot sloop, Distant Drummer, 10 years ago, we purchased a new Viking RescYou Pro six-man life raft. Like most life rafts, it comes with an emergency pack containing basic survival gear, such as raft-maintenance items, signaling equipment, drinking water, a first-aid kit and seasickness tablets. Our ditch bag contains many additional things that we deem essential for survival in a life raft for a reasonable period of time. After 26,000 nautical miles of cruising and six offshore passages of more than 1,000 miles, we have packed, repacked and refined our ditch bag a number of times.

I should point out that in addition to the ditch bag, there are several other items in daily use around the boat that would be vital to have on board the life raft. The EPIRB, activated and broadcasting the distress signal, is the most important, and then, in no particular order of priority, one (or more) jerry jugs of fresh water, a chart, a bucket, a handheld GPS and VHF, a satellite phone if you have one and as many cans of food as space and time permit. A passport for each crewmember, as well as some cash and a credit card, should be in a watertight container and in the ditch bag as well.

What Is a Ditch Bag?

A ditch bag is an emergency bag that contains the equipment needed for catching food, obtaining water, signaling for help and providing shelter from the elements to enable you to survive living in a life raft for a number of days or weeks. It needs to be stowed where it can quickly and easily be grabbed and thrown into the life raft. We keep ours in a locker close to the companionway because we have no lazarettes in the cockpit. A ditch bag should be waterproof and brightly colored, with a lanyard attached just in case it slips out of your fingers. We actually use two large yellow dry bags with the gear split between them, just in case only one bag makes it and to reduce handling size and weight.

For the purposes of this article, I have assumed that the crew are already wearing foul-weather gear, life jackets and clothing suitable to the weather and climate. I have subdivided the equipment into four categories, but obviously some of the tools are generally useful to have for a number of purposes.

Food

Food not only provides the energy and nutrients needed to keep the body functioning, but it also lifts the spirits and gives a focus or highlight to the day. Food stored in the ditch bag should not be perishable, should be edible without cooking and should not be salty because drinking water will be in short supply. It’s also a good idea to choose food that can be divided into smaller portions to enable easy rationing for as long as possible. I have vacuum-packed about 5½ pounds of roasted nuts, dried fruit and trail mix in 5-ounce portions and included about 25 granola bars.

Fishing line and hooks are needed to supplement the dried food and to keep busy. I’ve also included a folding knife and small wooden cutting board to deal with the catch. Hoping that time would be available to stow canned food on board the life raft, I have packed a can opener and a couple of spoons because our success at fishing can be a bit hit-or-miss.

Water

It’s said that a human can survive for three weeks without food but for only three days without water. Water is so essential, but it’s impossible to carry enough of it! When abandoning our vessel, I would be certain to grab a five-gallon jerry jug of water (we keep several full on the back deck for this eventuality) and a bucket for collecting rainwater.

Of course, in many parts of the world, rainfall catchment cannot be relied upon. The bucket can also be used to make a solar water still, and garbage bags, a cup and duct tape are packed into the ditch bag to enable us to construct one. A two-gallon sealable plastic bag is included for water storage. If your budget allows, a handheld manual watermaker would be a good addition.

Shelter and Navigation

The life raft provides the first line of defense against the elements, but there are a few other items contained in our ditch bag to help keep us protected from the rain or sun. Sun hats, sunglasses and sunscreen are packed, as are swimming goggles, which can be used for protecting the eyes from rain or sea spray. They are also useful for looking underwater to check for fish or to inspect the condition of the life raft.

On the navigation side, our ditch bag includes a compass, pen and paper (in a sealable bag) to record the wind and drift direction. There is also a small drogue to stabilize the life raft and control our drift. I would hope to have time to grab a chart and a handheld GPS and have packed spare batteries for it just in case. Having even a vague idea of our location and the possibility to slow down our drift may allow us to stay longer in a shipping channel or to predict how long before we reach land.

Signaling

Once sustaining life has been dealt with, the next thing to think about is rescue. As soon as the EPIRB is activated, it will alert the authorities that there is a vessel in distress and will signal the location of the life raft for at least 48 hours. To avoid missing a chance of recovery, keeping a good lookout for ships or aircraft during both day and night is essential. When rescue is sighted, it’s time to break out the signaling gear.

In our ditch bag we have two red and two white handheld flares, two orange smoke flares and two red parachute flares. Although a flare is an excellent locating device, it only lasts for a moment and hence could easily be missed by a search vessel. We have packed a signaling mirror, a strobe and a powerful flashlight (with spare batteries), which are all very useful for trying to attract attention over a longer period of time. Sea marker dye, a rescue streamer and a 2-foot plastic signal square are included to enhance the visibility of a life raft, particularly from the air. Once a ship or an aircraft is in sight, the waterproof handheld VHF can be useful in facilitating the rescue.

This list is not exhaustive, and every skipper will have different ideas about the equipment they prioritize as essential. We check our ditch bag every year to replace batteries and restock out-of-date food and flares. Going through this process gives me the chance to review our gear to ensure it still meets our needs and will keep us alive until rescue arrives.

Suzannah and Neil Carmody live aboard Distant Drummer, a Liberty 458 cutter-rigged sloop that they bought in Thailand in 2006. Eleven years on and 26,000 nautical miles later, they are currently enjoying a leisurely cruise down the California coast. Their blog (carmody-clan.com) tells stories of their adventures exploring the world on a cruising boat and gives some useful tips for living aboard.

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When cruising, safety should always be at the forefront of your mind. Having a well-stocked and meticulously-planned ditch bag can be the difference between surviving to write your best-selling account or taking an extended trip to Davey Jones’ locker. Most of the items needed can be grabbed from home at little to no expense. The more pivotal items are worth spending a bit of money on.

There are three phases of preparing your ditch bag: stocking, packing, and stowing your bag. This is the list I used to prepare for a four-person crew circumnavigating the world in a tropical climate. It’s a good foundation for preparing your own bag for your specific circumstances.

Stocking the Bag

I found it helpful to break things down into categories. Our bag is broken into five groups: medical, nutrition and hydration, signaling and navigation, tools, and personal. Below is a complete list of what we keep in our Ultimate Survivor Technologies Marine Survivor Ditchbag 1.0.

Packing

Once you’ve found what you need for your ditch bag, take care in how you pack it. In the event of an abandon ship, it’s likely things will be hectic, people may be injured, and the seas will probably be rough. Packing your bag accordingly – so necessities are easily accessible – will make a big difference.

First, make sure your throwable is near the ditch bag with 40 feet of solid bowline pre-attached. Make sure knots are pre-tied and inspected by another crew member. If you do need to abandon ship, you’ll need to pull in anyone who’s in the water – having lines and knots ready ahead of time will save time (and possibly lives).

In an emergency, you’ll also want light so you can see what you’re doing and assess the situation. Headlamps, light sticks, and waterproof flashlights should be near the top of your bag, followed by emergency blankets and medical supplies to tend any injuries that need immediate attention. Once everyone is in the life boat and as stable as possible, the next priority is rescue. Under the medical supplies are the EPIRB, flares, GPS, and handheld radio.

After those basics have been packed near the top or attached to the outside of the bag, it’s up to you to decide how to use the remaining space. Most of the other equipment isn’t vital within the first moments of abandoning ship, so you can fill the bag according to your needs.

Another helpful tip when packing your gear is to organize things in groups and store them in clearly-labeled waterproof bags. Whenever possible, fill the bags with as much air as you can. Even though it takes up space, it will help your bag float if it doesn’t make it into your lifeboat. (I’ve also read of other sailors who cut up pool noodles and stuff them into nooks and crannies to make their bags more buoyant.)

Proper Storage

Once your bag is properly stocked and packed, the last step is to store it. Space on a boat is precious. The least-used items are usually squired away in a bilge or abandoned in an extra birth. It’s tempting to do the same with your ditch bag – don’t! The best place for a ditch bag is somewhere on deck that’s easily accessible and near your lifeboat. You don’t want to be down below wading through three feet of water to get your emergency supplies.

On our boat, we keep the ditch bag and one of our two lifeboats in a storage bench below the driver’s seat. Right next to that, strapped to the deck, is our full jerry jug of fresh water. It’s a great spot for our gear: it’s waterproof (protecting the contents inside), it’s easily accessible, and it provides enough room to keep all of our ditch gear together. It’s close to the radios, controls, and emergency signaling gear so we can send mayday calls as long as possible, and it’s one of the highest spots, giving us enough time to properly deploy the raft and gather as many supplies as we can before stepping onto the lifeboats.

No sailor wants to think about a situation where he/she might need a ditch bag, but taking time before your trip to plan, organize, and stow your bag properly can make a life-or-death difference. Plan ahead so you and your crew can sail confidently, knowing that you’re prepared for the best – and worst – case scenarios.

Sample Packing List:

Medical

• Splint
• Skin stapler with staples
• Tourniquet
• Triangular and assorted bandages
• Dermabond – one at .5 ml, two at .36 ml, and two at .7 ml
• Anti-diarrhea pills – Bismuth Subsalicylate
• Painkiller – Norco
• Anti-inflammatory – Ibuprofen
• Antibiotics – Amoxicillin and Azithromycin: We keep two antibiotics because two of our crew members have antibiotic allergies. The packages are clearly labeled with their names to avoid confusion.
• Antihistamine – Benadryl
• Medical tape
• Syringe
• Antiseptic solution – Povidone Iodine: Iodine can also be used to disinfect fresh water, in addition to its medical uses.
• EpiPen
• Gauze
• Surgical towels
• Mylar emergency blanket
• Visine
• Personal medication

Nutrition and Hydration

• Vitamin C tablets – 50
• Tuna fish pouches – 10
• Mayday Emergency Food Rations 3600 – four
• Peanut butter – 40 oz.
• Dex 4 glucose tablets – 50
• Drinking water pouches – Twenty-three 4.2 fl. oz. pouches: These drinking water pouches are pre-rationed and provide the precise amount of fresh water needed to sustain life. They are not to be used unless all other means of collecting fresh water have been exhausted.
• Jerry jug – five gallons drinking water: The jerry jug is not actually in the ditch bag, but is always full and on-deck near the bag.
• Solar still

Navigation and Signaling

• Whistle
• ACR C-Strobe Light
• 3M High Reflective Tape – 50 ft.
• Orion light sticks – one white (8-hours), two green (12-hours), one red (12-hours)
• Handheld flares – three: Always be sure that your flares are current (they usually have a shelf life of about three years). The expiration date can be found on the packaging.
• 12-gauge aerial flares – three
• Smoke flare
• Signal horn
• Garmin GPS 12
• West Marine Handheld VHF Radio: We use a battery pack that runs on AA batteries instead of rechargeable batteries.
• Signaling mirror
• Compass
• Paper and pens
• ResQlink+ Personal Location Beacons – four: Also not in the ditch bag are our ResQlink+ PLBs, which are attached to our life jackets. It is assumed that, in an emergency situation, each crew member would be wearing their life jackets.
• Emergency Position Indicating Radio Beacon (EPIRB)

Tools

• Fishing kit – 280 yards of 50 lb. line, sinkers, hooks, jig heads, and artificial minnow Rapalla lure
• Velcro
• Duct tape
• Various bungee cords
• Nylon para cord – 50 ft.
• Throwable floatation device with 40 ft. of throwing line
• Stainless carabiner
• Four dry bags for storing ditch-bag contents
• One dry box
• Lighter
• Funnel
• Tarp
• Goal Zero Lantern – waterproof, solar or hand crank
• Headlamp
• Batteries – eight AA and four AAA
• Knife with sheath
• Cutting board
• Air pump
• Raft repair kit
• Binoculars
• Goggles
• Watch

Personal

• Flushable wipes
• Chapstick – SPF 30
• Sunscreen – SPF 50
• Copies of passports
• Emergency medical forms
• Baseball hats
• Synthetic long sleeve shirt
• Sunglasses
• Deck of cards
• Water shoes
• Prescription eyeglasses
• Complete inventory of ditch bag
• Survival instruction manual

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