Interesting to see what worked and what didn't; even more interesting to see what peoples' expectations can be regarding the use of equipment in hostile conditions.
Hundreds of years ago, when I travelled the nicer parts of the world on shoots, I would take out extra insurance for professional indemnity, film and the cost of doing a re-shoot in case that old Murphy guy had seen me coming. I remember very clearly that there were exclusions for equipment being used in hostile conditions, one of those being the seashore, which was exactly where I spent most of my time working. It therefore surprises me to see the suggestion made that someone's insurance company might be willing to pay for an owner's madness...
I also seem to recall that even in the days of film cameras one took great care to keep them out of the rain; it was rumoured that only the Leica M series were capable of being weather-proofed to the degree necessary for work in the climatic conditions of the far north or south.
Frankly, when you consider the unfortunate combination of different metals, salt water etc. it's amazing nobody on the trip managed to produce their own Leclanché cell or, at least, with Michael's boat experience, see fit to install some form of cathodic protection... (joke).
Ciao - Rob C