Not quite sure about feeling nostalgic about this particular extravaganza conducted East of Godhaab (Nuuk) in March 1977. The water temp was close to zero and the air temp -15 deg C. We had to move the ice flows out of the way to launch the liferaft and the wind was a cruel 20 knots so the raft was tethered to the quay so as not to loose it out to sea.
The S61 survival pack contains a 'shotgun/rifle'. This Czech-made 12 bore/7.62 weapon was designed to enable the survivors to protect against Polar Bears and to hunt Ptarmigan and similar game.
It was bl***y cold - a 'never again' experience.
We spent the night in a 25 man raft in arctic grade sleeping bags that are vacuum packed into small bricks and carried as part of the normal kit. Anything left outside the sleeping bag would be frozen solid by the morning so you slept with your boots alongside you and passed a less than comfortable night. Still, when morning came you were still alive despite temps of -20 deg C. You were well enough to gather mussels on the beaches of the Fjord and light a fire.
G.
