KURT,
A 600 page bible I read a few pages of every morning is
SURVIVOR by a cruiser: Michael Greenwald.
The volume is about everything survival.
You should hear what he has to say about life rafts and their manufacturers.
You know: criminally stupid, un compassionate, leaky life saving tubes made for profit.
The book is armed with a large print club by Joseph Conrad:
I HAVE KNOWN THE SEA TOO LONG TO BELIEVE IN ITS RESPECT FOR DECENCY.
Here's an eye-opening verse on raw survival reality that might relate to our former protagonists.
"When a bird is caught, pull its head off and drink the blood.
Skin, rather than feather it and suck the inside of the skin for fat.
Save an assortment of feathers and the feet to make lures.
Suck the eyeballs for liquid.
Eat the liver and organs first. Crack the skull to get at the brain.
Sea bird flesh often tastes of fish but is completely edible.
Since sea birds eat fish which eat phosphorescent plankton,
the bird's flesh often glows at night.
This does not mean that glowing birds or fish are inedible."
In terms of the Pearson cousins who pulled off a buck for profit with an idiotic port light design,
or the numbnut who slathered evil silicon all over his (now your) gelcoat,
40 whacks with an ironwoodie might be satisfactory. MAYBE! :D