Former army medic Wayne Ingram kept a video diary to show how he completed his 7-day liferaft survival challenge with meagre rations
Liferaft survival is an imprecise science, as most of what we know about it comes from retrospective anecdotes passed on by grizzled seafarers.
So when former army medic Wayne Ingram decided to spend 7 days in an Ocean Safety liferaft to raise money for Great Ormond Street Hospital, it was very much a step into the unknown.
To make this fundraising project more realistic, Wayne only took meagre rations with him for this week-long liferaft survival challenge: three ration packs and 1.5 litres of water.
He supplemented this by catching fish, trapping rainwater and generating drinking water by using an osmosis pump.
In this video diary, Wayne shows us inside his tiny, cramped raft and opens up about the challenges of liferaft survival, from loneliness and homesickness to the elation of returning to dry land.
He also measures how his body reacts, taking blood and urine samples, and filling out psychological questionnaires that are now being used by the University of Portsmouth for further study.
What’s more, Wayne’s monumental efforts raised a grand total of more than £10,000 for Great Ormond Street Hospital.
Wayne’s full story will be published in the September issue of Motor Boat & Yachting, which is out on August 6, but to see 7 days of liferaft survival compressed into 7 minutes, click on the video above.
