Knowing a few sea survival techniques is worth the effort. The ocean is, after all, one of the harshest environments to survive in.

And for anyone that travels international, having to survive at sea is not so far fetched.

70% of the world is the ocean! That means if your plane goes down, chances are that it will be over water. And if you like cruises, fishing, diving, or any other ocean activity, well.. you get the picture.

In this article, we will go through the sea safety and survival skills you need to have the best chance.

Before you can start surviving at sea, you will have to survive what put you there in the first place.

Two major reasons for this will be if your boat is sinking or your plane crashes.

Chances of surviving a passenger plane crashing in the ocean are slim, but not impossible. Getting off a sinking boat is easy in comparison, so let's cover that one first.

When you suspect you may need to survive a sinking boat, take the following steps:

Note: Do not exceed the maximum passengers in a life vessel. Have the healthy hang off the side and swap often.

If you need to jump off the boat, throw something that floats in first and then jump close to it. Once you are in the ocean, inflate your life jacket.

Once in the ocean, get away from the sinking vessel, upwind if you can. If you are too close to it, it is likely to drag you under.

If your plane is crashing into the sea (or anywhere), the same initial steps apply. Put on warm clothes and a life jacket. Gathering provisions will be harder but do it if you can.

To be honest, there isn't much you can do in a plane crash except to follow the pilot's/crew's instructions. If the pilot is down you may need to land the plane yourself. Get to the controls and radio for help.

Using the Radio to Call for Help

Once you have made contact with someone, follow their instructions to land.

If you cannot contact anyone, you'll have to try land the plane unguided. The first thing you will want to do is make sure you are flying straight.

Like cars, every model of plane is different, but they will all have the same basic functions.

Instrument panel

Assuming you have landed in the ocean and are still alive, get out of the plane. You do not want to sink with it.

Swim upwind from it so you do not get dragged under by its pull.

Also, whether you are abandoning ship or surviving a plane crash:

Instruction for how to swim on your back using the survival backstroke is later in this article.

Once off and away from the sinking vessel, you need to know how to survive adrift at sea.

Whether your liferaft is inflatable or a hard boat, there are things you must do to ensure surviving a disaster lost at sea.

In addition to the above, if in an inflatable liferaft:

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipisicing elit. Autem dolore, alias,numquam enim ab voluptate id quam harum ducimus cupiditate similique quisquam et deserunt,recusandae.

If the liferaft has a line attached:

To help someone else on board:

If you are in a hard life raft (not inflatable) you are more likely to get a leak on impact with the water.

When you see little bubbles in an inflatable liferaft, it is a sign of leaks.

In either case, place plastic it across the leak on the outside of the boat. Water pressure will help to hold it on place, but also try to seal it with duct tape, glue, etc.

Duct tape can repair small cracks also.

When you don't have a liferaft, your first priority is to get one! If there is one nearby, attract attention using noise and light.

When there is no liferaft, build one with whatever you can, e.g., wreckage from your crash.

When there is no other option, you can use your clothing to stay afloat.

To do it with your trousers:

Bring the pants over your head in a sharp motion to fill them with air

Ok, so you have survived the initial crash and are floating in the ocean.

Now what?

Now you need to survive until rescue arrives. But it may take a while.

For most people, there will be times that you feel like giving up. The moment you give up is the moment you die. You must keep your will to live.

Never give up!

I know that is much easier to say from behind my computer than it is from the middle of the ocean, but it is still true.

The longest survival at sea so far is 484 days!

Reference: Guinness Book of World Records

The will to live is very important and applies to ALL survival situations. You must keep a strong will to live and have faith that you will live. Different things motivate different people. Common ones are family and god.

Of course, having blind faith is not enough. Having the will to live also means being proactive in your survival. Always be vigilant for things that will help you, as well as pre-empting problems. If you are in a group, assign lookouts on short shifts. Look out for signs of life, land, rescue, leaks, and anything that could be useful.

From the very first moment you become stranded at sea, you must be on the lookout for rescue. It is your best chance of survival, and the sooner you get it, the better.

Your liferaft may have some signaling devices. There are various types of flares. Follow the instructions on them. Check out some signal flares here.

If you have nothing else, improvise. A mirror is an effective signaling tool. Use it to reflect the sun towards a possible rescue ship or plane. In fact, you can use any screen, e.g., your smartphone.

Most life jackets will have a whistle and lights. You can also use these to maintain contact with other survivors in other liferafts. View the best lifejackets on the market.

If there is no land in sight, or you are near shipping lanes, wait at the crash site for at least 72 hours. You can keep your position by making a sea anchor. Tie weighted objects to a line.

Keep your position by making a sea anchor.

Besides a fast rescue, your best chance of how to survive lost at sea is to find land. So if you see it, or know where it is, head for it.

Signs of land include:

Isolated cumulus clouds indicate land.

Maybe you can not spot land, but you know where it is. Great! You need to navigate there.

In this section, you will learn how to survive being lost at sea using survival navigation.

With today's technology, there are easy ways to navigate, such as GPS. But batteries run out, and salt water is never good for electronics. Still, a good marine GPS can't be beaten. Check here to see the best in today's market.

Knowledge of map and compass navigation is an excellent skill to have for life in general. You can learn more about that here. A reliable compass is essential. My favorites are by Silva. Get yours here.

The navigation I want to look at in this article is survival navigation for the sea. That is, when you do not have a GPS or even a compass.

Here are some basics of sun navigation:

Now for something a little more accurate, how to tell direction with a watch.

For this method you need an analog watch. I'll explain how to do it with a digital watch after I've explained how to do it normally.

Hold your wristwatch in front of you like a compass, and line a small twig or something similar along the edge of it. Your aim is to cast a shadow toward the center of the watch.

Now turn the watch until the shadow splits in half the distance between the hour hand and 12 on the watch face. In the Northern hemisphere, 6 is pointing north. In the Southern hemisphere it is opposite, i.e., 12 points north.

If you do not have a twig you can still do this, but it won't be as accurate. In the Northern Hemisphere, point the hour hand towards the sun. The center of the angle between the hour hand and twelve o'clock mark is the north-south line.

In the Southern Hemisphere, point the 12 mark towards the sun instead.

If you only have a digital watch you can still use it in the same way. You have to estimate where the hour hand will be. Use 12, 3, 6, and 9 o-clock angles to guide you to the other hours, and smaller increments for half/quarter hours.

Note: Your watch must be set to the time zone you are in. So if you were flying internationally and have no idea where you are, this may be a problem. Also, make sure your watch isn't set to daylight savings.

Navigating by the stars is more accurate than doing it by the sun.

By locating the North Star, you can draw an imaginary line from it to a landmark back on earth. With this, you can steer north.

Finding a landmark in the open sea is difficult, but do your best. You can even use another star lower to the horizon.

The North Star is NOT the brightest star in the sky. The reason it is good for navigation is because it does not move. To help you find the North Star you can use two other constellations. The Big Dipper and Cassiopeia. Cassiopeia is like an upside down "W".

Follow the 'ladle' of the big dipper up about 5x its length. This is about halfway to Cassiopeia. The bright star you see in this area is the North Star.

Finding north with the North Star.

In the Southern Hemisphere, you can use the Southern Cross to find South. The Southern Cross constellation is 5 stars, and the 4 brightest stars make a cross that is angled to one side.

Imagine a line 5 times the distance between the two stars that make up the long axis of the cross. Now imagine a line from this point to a landmark on "the ground".

This gives true south. True north will be behind you as you are looking at the point.

Navigating with the Southern Cross.

This is not very accurate but is simple to use and easy to remember.

If it is before midnight, the illuminated side of the moon faces west. If it is after midnight, the illuminated side faces east.

To make an improvised compass you need to magnetize metal. A sewing needle is in most survival kits and is perfect for the job. Anything similar will also work.

There are two basic ways to magnetize metal:

You can magnetize iron, nickel, and steel. That means aluminum soda cans won't work.

Hang the magnetized needle on a string or float it in the water on top of anything that is not metal.

Once you know where land is, you have to get to it. Knowing these techniques is very important when learning how to survive stranded at sea.

You can paddle, but that uses a lot of energy. It is better to save your strength until actually shoring.

So unless you have a motor, you will need to use either the current or the wind.

The current is more useful when approaching land, but you can use it in open sea also. To use the current, deflate your raft a little so it rides low in the water. Also, keep yourselves low in the raft. Deploying your sea anchor if you have one will also help.

To use the wind, you will need to improvise a sail. If you do, prevent capsizing by holding the bottom of it with your hands. This way you can release it if there is a sudden gust of wind.

Using the wind is opposite to using the current. You want to ride high, not low. Inflate the raft, sit up, and pull in your sea anchor.

To prevent capsizing in rough waters you should keep low. Stream your sea anchor from the bow (front). If there is more than one liferaft in your groups, tying them together will improve stability.

When you need to swim long distance and/or stay afloat in the water for a really long time, do survival backstroke.

Survival backstroke is floating on your back as you propel through the water. You use a simultaneous frog/breaststroke kick and a sculling motion with your hands. Your arms and legs move and come together at the same time.

The main goal of the survival backstroke is to conserve energy and reduce heat loss.

To maximize energy conservation, do the survival backstroke very slow. Take short strokes and glide for as long as possible. Only take the next stroke when you feel your legs dropping or you loose forward momentum.

Take short strokes and glide for as long as possible.

At the end of each stroke, bring your arms and legs together.

Also use the survival backstroke is if an underwater explosion is likely. You will want to go faster so you can escape the blast, so make your strokes larger. Take your next stroke sooner than normal, but not too soon. Make the most out of your streamlined glide position while achieving the most speed.

Make your strokes larger to go faster.

If you want to know how to survive being stranded at sea, then creating shelter is very important.

Finding shelter when stranded out in sea is harder than on land, but not impossible. You can use any clothing or tarpaulin to shelter you from the cold and sun. If you have some poles you can even construct a roof.

IMPORTANT: Ration any food and water you have in supplies from the start. Even if you are expecting rescue, anything can happen.

Also, always try to live off the sea before using your rations.

Learning how to survive at sea without water means learning how to find water!

First of all, never drink sea water. It will lead to faster dehydration. Instead, you need to catch and store rainwater whenever you can. Any plastic will do the trick. A tarpaulin, sails, the raft itself, etc.

Although not as effective, fabric will also work. It will absorb water which you can wring out into containers.

The first rainwater you catch will wash the salt off whatever you are catching it with, so don't drink that. It is still useful to clean wounds and wash food.

If you are at sea for a while, fabrics will have salt crystals, so wash them out with sea water first. Seawater is salty, but salt crystals are worse!

If you don't get rescued or find land within a day, you will want to find food. Fishing is the obvious answer, but you can also eat seabirds, planktons, seaweed, etc.

Small fish will gather underneath your raft. A simple handline, hook, and lure will do the trick. Even a simple survival kit will have a small fishing kit in it. Get yourself a survival kit!

If you don't have fishing line, any string can work. Shoelaces, paracord, etc. If you do have fishing line, be careful not to cut yourself. Anything flashy makes a good lure. Be very careful with the hook or anything sharp if in an inflatable liferaft.

When you do catch a fish, use its guts as bait.

Do not hang around after spilling blood in the ocean. It may attract sharks.

The vast majority of shark attacks on humans are mistaken identity. Humans don't taste good to sharks! Still, they are the king of the ocean, so you want to stay out of their way.

Like most animals, food is what will attract a shark, whether it is real or mistaken identity. Blood and fish are the biggest attractions. So is anything that resembles these, like shiny objects or human waste.

Whether you are in a life raft or not, if you spot a shark, be loud and slap the water.

If you don't have a liferaft and are in a group, bunch together and face out. Everyone should shout underwater and slap the surface.

When a shark starts circling you, it is a sign of attack. When it comes at you, strike at its gills, eyes, and nose.

Once you find land you must first choose a good landing point. This is much easier to do in daylight. It is better to land on the downwind side of an island. Also, select somewhere that will be easy to beach or swim ashore.

As you approach the shore, note the landscape. Look for high ground, vegetation, water courses, etc. It is easier to see these things from a distance so make the most of it. If you are in a group, choose a meeting point in case of separation. Also, secure all your gear to your body and have a floatation aid ready.

As you come in to beach, do the following:

Once you are past the wave breaks you want to avoid getting swept back out to sea. Make the liferaft as light as possible and take out the sea anchor.

If the under-current is taking you back out, partly fill the raft with water and stream the anchor towards the shore.

When swimming to shore without a raft, face the shore and sit with your feet about a meter below your head. This way, you can take any impact with your feet.

When the waves are big, swim to shore in the troughs between them.

If a wave going out to sea approaches, go under it.

Finally, if you get caught in the undertow, don't try to swim against it. Instead, swim parallel to the shore until you can swim in.

Sea safety & survival is an important subject to learn about, and there are many lessons of what to do when lost at sea.

If you survive the accident, ration any supplies you may have and stick around the site for rescue. If nothing comes after a few days, and/or you know where land is, head for it.

While navigating the seas you will need all the things of any survival situation. Shelter, food, and water. Try to live off the sea as much as possible before using your rations. Never drink sea water and keep an eye out for anything useful. This includes rescue, raft leaks, sharks, land, etc.

Finally, remember to never give up. The longest person to survive at sea did so for 484 days, and the second longest was 438 days.

Did you find these sea survival techniques useful? If so, please share them with your friends.