4 Man life Raft needs Servicing

[Porthandbuoy]

When I bought my current boat, which had been laid up in a shed for 5 or 6 years, the liferaft was many years overdue a service. I decided to do it myself. There are advantages to the DIY approach as you will be familiar with the contents, which you can add to or replace as you see fit. I added drinking water and a second torch to the inventory. My local Post Office were happy to weigh the gas bottle, which tallied to within a gram of the label.

 

[Daydream believer]

Bty. A few years ago I set off a 30 year old raft that had sat in my shed for at least 10 years and it work perfectly...

We’re you rescued by the RNLI, the RAC, or The Groundforce team?

 

[Tamar]

Have you considered renting? I have a 10 person LR on my boat and it costs £350 a year. I guess a 4 man LR would be considerably cheaper. Give Suffolk marine a bell.

 

[srm]

When I ran a skippered charter yacht I just rented a liferaft for my sailing season.

Just a note of caution to those doing DIY servicing. On my first sea survival course we were all in the pool, the liferaft was thrown in and the cord pulled. Raft started to inflate, but with a twist between gas cylinder and relief valve. Raft became a big twisted balloon, then bang. A cloud of gas drifted over the pool as we all scrambled to get out of the water.

If I remember correctly from when running Sea Survival courses inflating with air is OK, its the CO2 gas that shortens the life of the fabric. However, we used CO2 cylinders for the training rafts and they lasted a few years with around five inflations a year. When checking my inflatable lifejackets I use a dinghy pump to inflate with dry air.

 

[johnphilip]

Our raft is a couple of years beyond its servicing date as we have not been doing any distance cruising where I felt we needed one. Going to Holland for a couple of weeks I took it to the original supplier here on the East coast for service, would have been over £500 and they could no longer do it themselves. Alternative was a hire for under £100 for the holiday which we did. For many this is probably the realistic solution. OK ifyou go far and wide regularly hire is not economic but for us it worked.

Anyone want a 4 man valise raft that is out of date?

 

[Graham_Wright]

Our raft is a couple of years beyond its servicing date as we have not been doing any distance cruising where I felt we needed one. Going to Holland for a couple of weeks I took it to the original supplier here on the East coast for service, would have been over £500 and they could no longer do it themselves. Alternative was a hire for under £100 for the holiday which we did. For many this is probably the realistic solution. OK ifyou go far and wide regularly hire is not economic but for us it worked.

Anyone want a 4 man valise raft that is out of date?

Ebay.

 

[ylop]

Changing from gas to electric cooking,

It’s interesting that people think that makes them safer… I wonder if it’s true - huge amps required for cooking = bigger fire hazard?

 

[pmagowan]

It’s interesting that people think that makes them safer… I wonder if it’s true - huge amps required for cooking = bigger fire hazard?

Although you can increase the voltage and reduce the amps. Not a great risk and can easily be checked at installation. Gas does tend to create the occasional catastrophic event

 

[Metalicmike]

It’s interesting that people think that makes them safer… I wonder if it’s true - huge amps required for cooking = bigger fire hazard?

I've never heard of a gas fuse or an electricity sensor in the bilge. You can get auto closing gas valves but they wont operate with a small leak, your gas alarm will not function without Electricity and Electricity does not go boooom. As a Technical Gas Engineer, the gas bottle was one of the first things to get kicked out. My Induction Hob, Microwave and Kettle are on 230V fed by a small consumer unit with RCDs. I will be fitting a 2k inverter when I can afford one and also solar panels mounted on the guard rails. (By the time I can afford all this the panels should be 50% efficient).

 

[srm]

I've never heard of a gas fuse or an electricity sensor in the bilge. You can get auto closing gas valves but they wont operate with a small leak, your gas alarm will not function without Electricity and Electricity does not go boooom. As a Technical Gas Engineer, the gas bottle was one of the first things to get kicked out. My Induction Hob, Microwave and Kettle are on 230V fed by a small consumer unit with RCDs. I will be fitting a 2k inverter when I can afford one and also solar panels mounted on the guard rails. (By the time I can afford all this the panels should be 50% efficient).

OK if you use your boat as a floating static caravan in a marina. However for smaller boats that cruise and spend time at anchor or days and nights on passage gas still has advantages over 230V electrics. Mainly, as you point out, cost wise as well as storage.
Yes gas can and has caused catastrophic booooms, I used to illustrate and explain the risks on introductory fire fighting courses for new entrants working at sea. I have also used gas for cooking on all my boats and heating on some over 50 years without a boooom incident.
The closest I got to a fire on board a yacht was due to a Taylor paraffin cooker, and an electrical wiring fault that shorted a 100Ah battery on a survey vessel.

 

[Rafiki]

I have used Suffolk Marine Safety, based in Suffolk. I drive past them on the way to the boat, but they have pick-up and drop off points at Hamble, Lymington and Shamrock Quay. Prices didnt seem outrageous to me, but I must admit the last service due in May this year I skipped and will do it a year late.

 

[Metalicmike]

Was watching a youtuber unpacking a hard case 4 man similar to mine and about the same age. The life raft was vacuum packed, surely if the vacuum has been maintained and not exposed to sunlight the raft should remain in good condition. And if the gas cylinder is within the vacuum bag there is even less to worry about. However there is always that nagging doubt, I suppose if your sailing with children or passengers then certification is a no brainer other wise, you do what you what you want.

 

[srm]

I had a basic leisure liferaft in hard case with 3 year servicing interval. It was due for service but the service station could not do it within the time available (a couple of months) before I needed it for a cruise. They advised me to leave it until next year as it would be all right for another year.
The other side of the equation is a number of liferafts that failed to inflate that I heard about when teaching fishermen preparing for deck officer certificates.