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Surviving 75 hours alone in the ocean

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Re: Surviving 75 hours alone in the ocean

#61
post #28
post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Maybe even more amazing is that Courtney Dauwalter ran the Moab 240 ultra marathon (240 miles) non-stop in 2.5 days.

Al Howie ran across Canada(7295.5 km) in 72 days, 10 hours and 23 minutes. Which is about 2/3 of Courtney's speed but for 72 days straight.

72 days straight means without sleep?

Re: Surviving 75 hours alone in the ocean

#62

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Salt water is buoyant. If you know how to float, it doesn’t take much energy.

Some people simply cannot float. Me included. I've had 3 different instructors try to tell and show me that everyone can float. I can't. I have 5 swimming certificates, I'm fit, but I think I just don't have enough body fat? Even in the Red Sea (if it's called that in English) I can't float. Not for more than 5 seconds.

Maybe your bones are too dense, though to be honest, I've never heard of anyone with your issue in floating/treading water. I've always assumed that everyone has enough buoyancy to float most of their body.

Re: Surviving 75 hours alone in the ocean

#64
post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Maybe even more amazing is that Courtney Dauwalter ran the Moab 240 ultra marathon (240 miles) non-stop in 2.5 days.

Non-stop in the sense that there aren't any staged pauses, but she undoubtedly stopped to sleep at some point. What really blew my mind is that she finished 10 hours ahead of the next competitor.

The story of Cliff Young will undoubtedly blow your mind:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cliff_Young_(athlete)#Sydney_t...

Re: Surviving 75 hours alone in the ocean

#67

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Salt water is buoyant. If you know how to float, it doesn’t take much energy.

Some people simply cannot float. Me included. I've had 3 different instructors try to tell and show me that everyone can float. I can't. I have 5 swimming certificates, I'm fit, but I think I just don't have enough body fat? Even in the Red Sea (if it's called that in English) I can't float. Not for more than 5 seconds.

Neither do I. My legs always sink. The long muscular legs and low body fat might kill me one day.

Re: Surviving 75 hours alone in the ocean

#68
post #58

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The Ph. are just off the equator. I’ve been in the water in northern Australia and the water was 30c and on the verge of being too warm. Definitely not refreshing, felt like a salty bath tub.

Due to water being a way better conductor of heat than air you lose heat up to 75% faster than in air. Even 30°C warm water can therefore quickly lead to hypothermia if unprotected. Ever seen scuba instructors in warm countries? While their customers would often submerge in nothing but a swimsuit the instructors would often wear 6mm full body wetsuits due to longer exposure. And yet a lot of them are shivering in the…

True, although below the surface the water tends to be colder.

Re: Surviving 75 hours alone in the ocean

#70

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In the Philippines?

Hypothermia starts at relatively high temperature (naked, below 25°c if I remember well) There are records of people dying after hours of being exposed to 14°c without proper clothing (actually in the Philippine, if memory serves me well) Our body (without technology like clothing or homes) are really just adapted to live around the equator at constant 27°c :-)

There are a few adaptions to colder conditions like Brown Fat and shivering which directly converts calories into heat and work fairly well.

Body Size and insulating fat at can also make a huge difference. People in warmer climates are simply less adapted to cold conditions and therefore at greater risk for a given temperature.

PS: Some people can actually walk around without clothing or becoming cold in 40f weather and be perfectly comfortable. It's sleeping that's the greatest risk as you reduce metabolic activity while having a large surface area in contact with the ground.

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