They were on paddle boards which probably helped keep them out of the water.
alioth wrote:
Then again in the summer people swim in the Irish Sea without much of a problem (children in particular seem to be able to stay in almost all day to no ill effect).
I used to do that as well as a kid (not the Irish Sea but the North Sea) but I remember my sister getting blue lips after a while. And all day is probably half an hour an not 15 hours.
@Pilot-H those prices are reasonable. Thanks for sharing. I’m hotlinking their rental price list below if anyone else is interested (and lazy ;)
Aerosafe Rental Prices
That is not too bad, versus a purchase of say £1000 and then a overhaul every say 3 years for say £200.
Re AF’s question above about flares, I have never carried these but a friend who flew around the world in a Cessna 2xx recently did carry some. He left them with me to look after (he stopped at Shoreham) and I still have them in the back of the car in case I get lost one day 
I think they would be handy for this scenario but it would be better to carry another PLB because that runs for many hours whereas the flares you can shoot off just once and you better be sure somebody is looking when you do it. Just my opinion… might be handy if sitting in a raft in a busy shipping channel at night.
AF wrote:
Flares seem over the top, and dangerous to haul around to me.
And they were almost impossible to dispose of legally, after they expire… Not sure about now.
It would be interesting to get more details on this:
Great story if it is true that he was in the Mediterranean sea for 3 days, I probably would have been delirious after that period and not remembered how many days have passed.
Aerosafe are a very nice business to deal with. You would think the yearly exchange would be a nightmare but they make it very smooth.
Spending three days in the sun is pretty memorable…
Not sure how he was missed on the cruise ship.
Paywall on the article btw.
