advise on liferaft

cjrvernon

cjrvernon

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skegness , lincolnshire
www.cjrvernon.com
advise on liferaft

im a little stuck
im going to buy a liferaft at the boat show
at the moment ive got a sealine s25 but am looking to upgrade to a sealine f33
the problem im stuck with is

do i get a
4 man or 6 man liferaft
and do i get a
liferaft in a bag to store away or do i get one in a canaster and clamp a bracket to my stainless rail on the front of the boat
please help with the pros and cons of each

thank you
cjrvernon
 
Re: advise on liferaft

Canisters are good if you have somewhere suitable to bolt 'em to, 'cos then they don't take up space in the lockers. Don't know the f33 that well, but is there space at the back of the flybridge, under the radar arch? Not sure i'd want one on the bow rail. I just got cheap plastic brackets rather than shelling out for a stainless one, and I actually think they're neater, but you can only use them if bolting to a flat deck area.

from memory 6 man is not much heavier or pricier than 4 man, so that would kinda answer that one for me.
 
Re: advise on liferaft

I have a canister inside the cockpit under the ladder to the FB.

I thought about the Princess purpose made holder on the stern hidden under the tender and thought it best where I could reach it with ease in a rough sea .
 
Re: advise on liferaft

If you are looking at life rafts, I would suggest you aim to get self righting, insulated floor and easy entry steps - not ladders.

The service interval of cannister ones is normally longer than the bagged ones and hence there is sometimes a saving in service costs for very little extra in product cost..
 
Re: advise on liferaft

I've got the 4 man valise, a bargain really for the peace of mind. Prices vary according to what kit is inside it like food e.t.c. I got a basic one as I have a rather large grab bag with everything I could want and also lets me choose what soup, flavour of coffee or Pannini's I want whilst waiting for a rescue /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

It is very handy to be able to move the valise around depending on conditions, e.g. going out of the marina I have it standby, in the marina it stands down out of the way /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif

I only got the 4 man as I don't have any friends, well none I would want in that tiny tent like thing for 30 days with no EPIRB /forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif, I may get a bigger one now I accidently bought a bigger boat, if you want to do a deal on one 4 weeks old let me know and I will get an even bigger one just in case I make some friends with the my new big boat /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif
 
Re: advise on liferaft

Think carefully about how many people you normally carry, and where you cruise. A 4 man raft with 5 in is more stable than a 6 man raft with 4 in. A mayday from 3 miles offshore may mean 2 or 3 hours, 500 miles offshore might be 2 or 3 days
 
Re: advise on liferaft

Had an F33 and SWMBO insisted on a valise. Two reasons :-
1. When the manure hits the fan chances are that I will be busy on the radio shouting for help, down the engine room with my finger in the hole or on my knees praying. She tried to lift a canister and failed, the valise is easier to handle and just needs dropping overboard. (4 person is lighter and we very rarely have more than 4 on board at any one time.)
2. Can be kept in the cockpit, near/under the rear seat always ready. Just slide out the transom gate.

Just suited us this way.
 
Re: advise on liferaft

I think the thought process is very different for a power boat than a sailing yacht. You are far less likely to go out or be caught out in poor conditions, when problems can begin to mount. In which case if you can have a suitable tender inflated and ready to go on the bathing platform perhaps, you are part way there. Just add a grab bag with plenty of smokes and flares.

If you are planning to go ofshore, across the N. Sea f'rinstance then do you need to buy or would hiring make more sense? Work out the cost of ownership and hiring is certainly better for a couple of long trips per year.

Power boats will always tend to go down stern first, so amidships or forward makes the best place to locate (and heaven forbid - deploy).

If you are fastening it down, don't underestimate the power of a green-un over the bows. It needs to be a bomb-proof attachment, and therefore a canister type.

Finally, if you are going to get run down in the fog, suffer an explosion or fire so bad that you need to jump over the side quick (or any other sudden, catastophic event), use a release mechanism of some kind to deploy the raft if you are unable to.

As with all of these things, it's all a big compromise.

I would rely on the dinghy for coastal hops, and hire a valise raft if venturing on a long delivery trip or crossing the N. Sea.
 
I use a valise type and was mightily surprised that the last time I had it serviced it cost over 60% of the purchase price.

Last time it will be serviced. Next time I will sell it (correctly described) on Ebay and use the proceeds to defray the cost of a new one.

That way someone gets a cheap liferaft that they can then have serviced and I get a new one.

Tom
 
nonitoo said:
I use a valise type and was mightily surprised that the last time I had it serviced it cost over 60% of the purchase price.

Last time it will be serviced. Next time I will sell it (correctly described) on Ebay and use the proceeds to defray the cost of a new one.

That way someone gets a cheap liferaft that they can then have serviced and I get a new one.

Tom
Click to expand...

As the thread is 6 years old, i suspect the OP might have got fixed up now. :D
 
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