1450 days
Right before I got out of the Navy, they gave us a badge, a little anchor, to show how many days at sea we had. 1450 days barely qualified me for a silver. There were some salty Chiefs that probably had double that. But still, do the math, that’s four entire years of my life at sea.
Side Note: Technically, I’m still only 46 because the Groundhog Days at Sea don’t count.
How many man overboard drills did I do during those days?, I honestly couldn’t even begin to count. We did them often!
During each man overboard, we’d launch four life rings, each with a smoke marker. It made a gate that we could drive through when we turned the ship around with what’s called a Willliamson Turn.
Those smoke markers only lasted 10 minutes as the standard was to have the man in the boat in less than 6 minutes.
The entire process of a nighttime man overboard was something to behold! Hundreds of men and women going from a dead sleep to rushing topside to look for one of their own who may be in the water. Divers and Bosn’s getting dressed, firing up and launching RHIBs to recover, spotlights turned on, a beehive of activity on the bridge as we turned a 5000 ton warship into an Ace Ventura type 180 degree turn!
Then, a few minutes later, the man is recovered, (usually a 100 lbs dummy named Oscar, named after the flag used during a man overboard) and hundreds of people just go back to bed.
We rarely recovered the life rings. We had a compartment at the bottom of the ship that just held life rings. Dozens of them. If the RHIB happened to pass one or bump into one, we’d grab it.
Imagine though, being the person in the water. If we couldn’t see them from fifty feet in the air, the person in the water certainly wouldn’t see them.
The GLO Ring was borne of the countless times we discussed this exact issue, usually at 2 or 3 am after things had settled down.
Honestly, almost every single person we show this to says “How has this not been invented yet:, or something similar. They get it.
We want to save lives and at night when every second counts, especially in Canadian waters that will steal your breath and paralyze you upon contact most of the year.
It was usually a dummy that we practiced with, but it could also be a loved one after a fun day on the water.
Imagine suddenly being immersed in the water at night with no land in sight. Confusion and panic. Blackness all around, a terrifying experience. You hear a splash, but can’t see anything. Counter that with a glowing ring that is clearly visible, giving you something to get to!
We want to make our life ring the global standard, but more importantly, we want testimonials saying someone got saved, is alive even, because of our ring.
I spent a large portion of my life dedicated to Canada and its people. The GLO ring is one of the lessons I learned over the course of those many days at sea.
I loved my time in the RCN, but I also love creating and bringing to market products that could save lives in this 2nd career I’ve embarked on.
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