“...people are selected for their un-fitness to row to be shoved off to die in the water, ...”
Sorta like “Lord of the Flies” but at sea...
That was another chilling book, by the way.
Except in Lord of Flies the kids did it for sport, in Abandon Ship the situation was setup such that they really would have all died in that crowded liferaft, about 5 or so were already in the water just hanging on the sides. It was survival.
That made it impossible to row far, that plus a shortage of water.
It is setup so you know they are unlikely to survive
This plot was the opposite of talk radio world were every problem has a simple clean moral solution that never get tried for some reason (those GOPe just ruin everything HAHA) .