I’m watching a show that is speaking about ships sinking in storms at the Cape of Good Hope, and evacuating to lifeboats. If seas are so rough that a large ship goes down, how are lifeboats able to stay afloat? Are they able to bob in the waves easier? Or are they just a last ditch option that often capsize but are better than nothing?
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The large ship prioritizes different needs than the lifeboat. If you need a big sturdy ship that carries lots of stuff, some drawbacks are that the ship isn’t as buoyant and the size makes it easier for waves to try to bend it, causing weak points.
Lifeboats are only there to keep people from drowning, so they are made very buoyant and are often flexible and smaller, therefore waves don’t damage them as easily. Even capsized, a lifeboat will likely remain floating, while a big metal ship sinks.
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