We had our second and last planned emergency drill this morning. About 10 am the alarm went off and we all made haste to our muster stations, in my case forward port, and began pulling on our red neoprene suits to be used in the event that we needed to abandon ship in cold waters. These attractive head to toe one piece costumes have a large waterproof zipper that runs from the crotch to the nose, are about a 1/4 inch thick and very bulky. They have rubber gloves like you would find in the kitchen permanently attached and sealed at the wrist.
Yesterday we had spent about an hour trying them on. My original issue was a Large that almost fit, but the wrist opening was so tight I couldn't get my hands into the gloves. Fortunately, an XL was found that fit better, but had been in storage for so long and never used that that the zipper was practically immovable. It took all of my strength to get it moving and I was afraid that I would tear the suit. However, after exercising it for 10 minutes or so it began to free up.
Once we all had our suits and life jackets on the Mate, Steve Hicks inspected everyone, including Liz our wheelchaired crew member and we were all passed as ready for a real abandon ship situation.
What a relief to get those bulky hot things off, but even better to know that we wouldn't die or exposure should the worst occur!
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