Buying a life raft abroad eg italy - pitfalls?

[hoped4]

We are probably about to buy a new life raft (in Italy) for our UK registered boat which is in Italy at the moment. Are there any particular pitfalls around buying a life raft abroad? I ask because on looking at a couple of sites (Eg Arimar) the question is asked ‘in which country is the boat registered?’ and the spec of the life raft appears to vary slightly according to country. The boat will move around different countries in Europe of course.

 

[Roberto]

Italy has specific regulations for liferafts, which of course applies only to boat under Italian flag. Summing it up, the liferaft weighs 20kg more than a similar one.

Just ask for an ISO liferaft and you will be fine; I'd also investigate the cost of servicing and the actual availability of stations in other countries, the regulqar answer is "everywhere", reality indicates that people are often charged huge amounts of money just to transport the raft to the head office...

 

[GrahamM376]

We ordered a new raft from Marine Safety in Gib and they arranged delivery direct to Portugal, still cheaper than buying in country. http://www.marinesafetygibraltar.com/

 

[Richard10002]

Apropos of nothing, I found Italy and Malta full of opportunities to be ripped off, (more than anywhere else I have been in the world), either legitimately, or otherwise. With my time again, I'd probably look at buying in the UK and shipping to Italy, although the pyrotechnics might cause a problem, or make it expensive.

 

[sailaboutvic]

we just brought a lift raft from SVB in Germany and had it shipped out to Malta at a cost of 35 euros agree with Richard , its expenses to buy lift rafts in Malta although you can always get a deal , a France boat next to us got a 6 man ISO life raft for 1100 euros and we just replaced our Generator before Christmas and managed to get it £100 cheaper then if we brought it in the UK which we would had to pay another £ 150 to have it shipped out .
what I will say is if anyone planning to sail off into the sun set before leaving the UK get what every you need as you will get a better deal back in the UK for most stuff .

 

[rich]

And call into the Channel Islands on your way, even cheaper, no vat.

 

[SlowlyButSurely]

One pitfall we discovered when we had our liferaft serviced in Italy is that they can only give a service interval of two years even though the liferaft has a service interval of three years. This is the law in Italy I am told. Expensive mistake!

 

[bjl]

Why not consider a Eurovinyl life raft. They are manufactured in Italy. I’ve just carried out a quick survey and found that an ISO9650 Eurovinyl 6 man canister life raft is 2kg (5%) lighter than an Ocean Safety 6 man canister life raft and 16% smaller by volume. A Eurovinylliferaft might suit your needs and it’s service interval is 3 years.

 

[Sea Devil]

Could consider buying in Spain - https://www.promonautica.com/. offer very good deals and inexpensive delivery, based in Barcelona speak English and service life rafts

 

[hoped4]

Just to close this thread off - this was what we did. The yard where we wintered in Italy quoted some 3-400 Euros more for the Arimar ISO 6 person liferaft than Adec in the UK both including delivery to our boat. So we went with Adec based in Croydon. The raft came directly to the boat from Arimar. In Italy There were unclear delays in the dispatch ( including courier picking up wrong item apparently) but we were delayed by the weather as well so, although frustrating, didn’t affect us negatively and it was worth the saving made. We would have liked to have bought it through the yard but the difference was just too much. Thanks for the suggestions above which helped inform our course of action..

 

[Portofino]

Similar experience with Adec
With engine room fire extinguishing.
Based Cote d Azur , locals quoted €900 inc vat, me to collect .
Adec £340 delivered - same product- took over a week , but I was not time constrained.

 

[Seven Spades]

Why not consider a Eurovinyl life raft. They are manufactured in Italy. I’ve just carried out a quick survey and found that an ISO9650 Eurovinyl 6 man canister life raft is 2kg (5%) lighter than an Ocean Safety 6 man canister life raft and 16% smaller by volume. A Eurovinylliferaft might suit your needs and it’s service interval is 3 years.

I bought an Ocean Safety and it fell off whilst racing and the painter snapped. For the replacement I looked for a liferaft with a more substantial attachment to the boat. The last thing I want is to watch my fully inflated life-raft drift off in a storm when I need it.