April 25th, 2008
Whites Manufacturing
6820 Kirkpatrick Cres.
Saanichton, BC, Canada
V8M 1Z9
(250) 652‐8554
In February of 2004 the fishing trawler Hope Bay", owned by Alan Williams, was struck by tragedy and capsized suddenly onto its inflated life raft. The ship sank leaving the crew of four in the dark, stormy, cold waters of Queen Charlotte Sound. The lives of three experienced fishermen were sadly lost in the ordeal and ensuing investigations attempted to explain how this could happen in a carefully inspected, standardized vessel that was ready for emergency. One victim was wearing a floater coat and only survived for 2 hours before surrendering to the frigid water. The remaining two victims were wearing Transport Canada approved immersion suits that flooded after a short immersion period. The lone survivor from this incident was wearing a suit that fit properly and was donned correctly. His life was spared because he remained drier by keeping his leaking wrist seals up out of the water on floating debris even while his face/seal zipper leaked cold water into the suit. There was clearly something wrong.
The fact that 2 of the crew were believed to have succumbed to drowning in Transport Canada approved survival suits within 45 minutes of entering the water was particularly troubling to Alan and his youngest son Aaron, a crew member on another of the family fishing vessels. This led to a donning exercise involving a one year old, universal-sized, approved Gumby suit and Aaron, a 6 foot 165 pound 20 year old. To Alans horror, Aaron demonstrated that the wrist seal had a gap that could fit two fingers without stretching the material and the open ended zipper at the face seal provided free flow access for water. This was a serious shortcoming and Alan believed the poor performance of this life saving equipment disastrously failed his crew when subjected to a real world emergency.
Alan and his son Darren Williams, a maritime lawyer, carefully observed as investigations progressed and shed light on why three long‐time friends and crew had died. Darren and Alan were struck by the unnecessary loss of these three lives and this inspired their quest for change. On the terrible night when the vessel sank, the SARTECHs involved in the search and rescue were wearing Whites Drysuits. This naturally led the Williams Family to Frank White, owner of Whites Manufacturing, a well known Victoria‐based drysuit manufacturer. Frank and Alan, both lifelong divers and mariners asked a simple question: "would we put on an existing Transport Canada approved survival suit if faced with an abandon ship situation given what we had learned about the suit?" The answer was a resounding NO.
In conjunction with Frank White, Darren and Alan created a suit designed to fit a wider range of boaters. The intention is to stay DRY, thus lengthening the amount of time a person can survive when immersed in water. After four years, countless hours, and an investment of nearly half a million dollars, this suit now exists and has been approved by Transport Canada. This represents a major milestone, and is one of the first steps in making a permanent change to previously "approved" survival suits.
The suit has undergone rigorous testing to ensure the safety, comfort, and survival of the user for several hours in frigid waters. Ensuring that the user stays dry in the suit was a top priority for Frank White, as Transport Canada concluded that just half a litre of water can reduce the insulation value of the suit by 30%. Survival depends on staying dry as water conducts heat away from the body more than 20 times faster than air. Traditional suits often have a zipper that is open to the elements at the neck. This opening creates an unsealed area under the chin which allows water to enter the suit and often these suits are ill fitting. In rough water, it does not take long before a flooded suit would lead to hyperthermia and/or drowning from the sheer loss of energy while the user struggles at the surface against the weight of the flooded suit.
Whites is traditionally known for manufacturing drysuits for diving, and has supplied suits to military and rescue units coast to coast for years. Ensuring that the suit stays dry via latex seals and a properly designed entry system and zipper configuration was not a problem; the issue was using "new" technology for "old" standards to get Transport Canada's approval. Although the costs of keeping the suit dry are more than for the traditionally "approved" suits, when your vessel is in imminent danger, can you put a price tag on someone's life?
It is a terrible heartbreak that three lives were lost that cold stormy night; several families were affected and many lives changed forever. From the efforts of Alan and Darren Williams, Brian Lewis of the Transportation Safety Board, Whites Manufacturing, Transport Canada, and many others involved in the process, there is hope that more vessel operators will have the resources to heighten safety aboard their vessels by supplying DRY immersion suits to keep crew warm and dry for extended periods of time. This offers a far greater opportunity to survive an emergency situation.
Visit survivaldry.com for more information on the Survival Dry
Whites Manufacturing
tylerp@whitesdiving.com
250‐652‐8554
Whites Manufacturing
6820 Kirkpatrick Cres.
Saanichton, BC, Canada
V8M 1Z9
(250) 652‐8554
Whites exceeds existing standards; Transport Canada Approves.
In February of 2004 the fishing trawler Hope Bay", owned by Alan Williams, was struck by tragedy and capsized suddenly onto its inflated life raft. The ship sank leaving the crew of four in the dark, stormy, cold waters of Queen Charlotte Sound. The lives of three experienced fishermen were sadly lost in the ordeal and ensuing investigations attempted to explain how this could happen in a carefully inspected, standardized vessel that was ready for emergency. One victim was wearing a floater coat and only survived for 2 hours before surrendering to the frigid water. The remaining two victims were wearing Transport Canada approved immersion suits that flooded after a short immersion period. The lone survivor from this incident was wearing a suit that fit properly and was donned correctly. His life was spared because he remained drier by keeping his leaking wrist seals up out of the water on floating debris even while his face/seal zipper leaked cold water into the suit. There was clearly something wrong.
The fact that 2 of the crew were believed to have succumbed to drowning in Transport Canada approved survival suits within 45 minutes of entering the water was particularly troubling to Alan and his youngest son Aaron, a crew member on another of the family fishing vessels. This led to a donning exercise involving a one year old, universal-sized, approved Gumby suit and Aaron, a 6 foot 165 pound 20 year old. To Alans horror, Aaron demonstrated that the wrist seal had a gap that could fit two fingers without stretching the material and the open ended zipper at the face seal provided free flow access for water. This was a serious shortcoming and Alan believed the poor performance of this life saving equipment disastrously failed his crew when subjected to a real world emergency.
Alan and his son Darren Williams, a maritime lawyer, carefully observed as investigations progressed and shed light on why three long‐time friends and crew had died. Darren and Alan were struck by the unnecessary loss of these three lives and this inspired their quest for change. On the terrible night when the vessel sank, the SARTECHs involved in the search and rescue were wearing Whites Drysuits. This naturally led the Williams Family to Frank White, owner of Whites Manufacturing, a well known Victoria‐based drysuit manufacturer. Frank and Alan, both lifelong divers and mariners asked a simple question: "would we put on an existing Transport Canada approved survival suit if faced with an abandon ship situation given what we had learned about the suit?" The answer was a resounding NO.
In conjunction with Frank White, Darren and Alan created a suit designed to fit a wider range of boaters. The intention is to stay DRY, thus lengthening the amount of time a person can survive when immersed in water. After four years, countless hours, and an investment of nearly half a million dollars, this suit now exists and has been approved by Transport Canada. This represents a major milestone, and is one of the first steps in making a permanent change to previously "approved" survival suits.
The suit has undergone rigorous testing to ensure the safety, comfort, and survival of the user for several hours in frigid waters. Ensuring that the user stays dry in the suit was a top priority for Frank White, as Transport Canada concluded that just half a litre of water can reduce the insulation value of the suit by 30%. Survival depends on staying dry as water conducts heat away from the body more than 20 times faster than air. Traditional suits often have a zipper that is open to the elements at the neck. This opening creates an unsealed area under the chin which allows water to enter the suit and often these suits are ill fitting. In rough water, it does not take long before a flooded suit would lead to hyperthermia and/or drowning from the sheer loss of energy while the user struggles at the surface against the weight of the flooded suit.
Whites is traditionally known for manufacturing drysuits for diving, and has supplied suits to military and rescue units coast to coast for years. Ensuring that the suit stays dry via latex seals and a properly designed entry system and zipper configuration was not a problem; the issue was using "new" technology for "old" standards to get Transport Canada's approval. Although the costs of keeping the suit dry are more than for the traditionally "approved" suits, when your vessel is in imminent danger, can you put a price tag on someone's life?
It is a terrible heartbreak that three lives were lost that cold stormy night; several families were affected and many lives changed forever. From the efforts of Alan and Darren Williams, Brian Lewis of the Transportation Safety Board, Whites Manufacturing, Transport Canada, and many others involved in the process, there is hope that more vessel operators will have the resources to heighten safety aboard their vessels by supplying DRY immersion suits to keep crew warm and dry for extended periods of time. This offers a far greater opportunity to survive an emergency situation.
Visit survivaldry.com for more information on the Survival Dry
Whites Manufacturing
tylerp@whitesdiving.com
250‐652‐8554
