About the pic in a minute, but first – an apology: no blogs for too long, the product of injury mainly. Back with you!
The pic shows a Salvare Worldwide ‘SeaPod’ (http://www.salvare.co.uk/seapod.html)
If your boat sinks, you must get out of the water fast (most in-sea fatalities are caused by hypothermia – you fall asleep in the cold water and never wake up.) So getting out of the water is vital. But a life raft can be hard to board – there’s nothing to push against to lever yourself up. SeaPod comes in a small bag. You take it out; throw it overside; it inflates automatically; both sides are up; and there’s just a couple of inches to climb over to safety. Visibility around 2 kilometres (and most rescues happen in hours.) We’re hoping to make Salvare a film about this lifesaver.