The crew is indeed strapped down in their seats. The crew - except the driver - sits backwards in the boat.
The driver pumps with the hydraulic pump the pin out to raise the FFB out of the locking device. After that,the boats falls with the help of gravity in the water. I'm always a bit disoriontated after the boat hits the water.
We also have 3 liferafts with a capacity of 16 persons each, 2 of them can be lowered by crane but could also be thrown. There are, indeed, very heavy!