Cross channel - without liferaft?

[ QUOTE ]
it has everything bar a jacuzzi!!

[/ QUOTE ] If you have to be rescued you may as well do it in style.Personally i would like a Bar and a Jackuzzi. /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif
 
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
I do however carry the dinghy inflated on deck.

[/ QUOTE ]

Thats much more sensible IMO. Half-inflated ones lying on deck are not going to be much use in an emergency situation anyway. Why not be properly prepared. At least, thats what I do. (Light lashings and a sharp knife).

[/ QUOTE ]
Err what about visibility. Fully inflated = far more likely to run into something.
 
When I sailed a 24ft yacht across to Cherbourg a few times, these crossings were without a liferaft. Now with a larger yacht I have one but if it was missing this fact would not deter me from doing a one off mid summer crossing.

No one has mentioned fire as a likely reason for needing a life raft, or using the liferaft as a platform helping a weak crew to get someone back on board or the well documented case of the Moody yacht that got sliced in half by a cargo boat near the Channel Islands in fog. The moody crew were very dependant on their liferaft.
 
a best selling mid-range car (honda crx) has no spare wheel. Altho there agin, with no spare wheel you die very slowly indeed....

I just know i don't need a liferaft AT ALL, definitely. Unless of course i need it....
 
[ QUOTE ]
Channel crossings in daylight and good weather should be trouble free anyway.

[/ QUOTE ]

I wish I had your confidence. After 50 years of Channel as well as ocean crossings in all conditions, other than perhaps hurricane, in yachts ranging from 30 feet to 84 feet I have never felt that there was absolutely no risk of something going wrong and made provisions to deal with it. It's called risk assessment these days, and a liferaft would always feature in it.
 
Spending £?????? on a yacht and then skimping on basic safety gear does not make sense to me. Maybe if I sailed solo I would look at this from a different perspective, but as skipper, with responsibility for the well being of my family and friends, it's a no brainer.
 
lots of excellent views there - thanks. Having looked at the Hanse sinking (thanks Dyflin) - having a liferaft not inflating is my big worry.
I guess in 99% of cases liferafts are only ever serviced and never deployed, so you only can be ceratin they work at the point you need them, whereas with an inflatable you actually know before you leave that it's ok

In an ideal world, with no cost or space restrictions, I'd want both, but on my 27 footer, i'll be taking the dinghy
 
Down side of a dinghy is no ballast... if you end up in the thing in a real hoolie, there is a very real risk of the wind just tumbling it..... and equally, it may be near impossible to launch/enter in the same conditions.... just an opinion mind you...
 
Probably wouldn't be a lot of consolation for the skipper of a boat holed by a semi submerged container, or somebody that had is boat burn away from beneath him.

I don't do long distance racing and try to steer clear of crap weather. Fom my view point the greatest danger is from a catastrophic incident, such as fire or collision, so I'd rather carry my self inflating comfort blanket.
 
"To have a "disaster" you need three things to go wrong"

So being shot in the b*ll*cks once isn't a disaster?
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

/forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif
 
___________________________________________________________________
We have had a rental liferaft on the last boat, now we don't. We sail a Prout cat, not unsinkable but probably would float if holed in 1 hull, if we inverted who knows. BUT, could we get in a liferaft in storm conditions assuming we could deploy it,( only 2 of us and now 60), have we done a survival course, no,
we have an inflatable on the afterdeck, but would need to pump it up, my only real concern is fire, or explosion, what do we do then and how long would we have.
I want to carry an EPIRB for our next cross-channel and further.
Sold an old Tinker with full kit including gas inflation, wasn't sure that option suited us,, didn't like the concept, dinghy/liferaft/sailing dinghy, 1 boat 1 job.
I wonder if ocean survival suits, EPIRB and DSC is a better option.
Or sit under an Oak tree?
____________________________________________________________________

I see your boat every time I go out. Mine is "Peregrine" an Elite I built myself and keep in Fareham. When I built it I did a full set of calcs on damaged stability and built in several extra watertight bulkheads and filled every spare space with foam. My calculations showed that a standard snowgoose if holed in one hull would fill up and eventually sink when the level reached the bridgedeck and flooded over to the other hull. The calcs on mine show that with my mods it could still do the same if seriously damaged in the bows but the coachroof would remain above water. If capsized (likely in that situation) the hull would still remain afloat upside down (just!). If I am right I would sit on that and await rescue rather than step up into a liferaft. I also carry a fully inflated 3.1metre RIB on my after deck when in open water. Until now I have followed the same logic as you and been happy with that. This season however as I intend to sail with inexperienced crew who does not swim well I am adding a liferaft and she will wear a lifejacket and harness when crossing the ditch.(suppose I will have to as well as it would be even worse if I went in as she can't yet handle the boat) My philosophy is that I have got to be 65 and am trying hard for 66. While I am not unfit, I don't think I am quite as capable as I was and I can still get run down, catch fire, or (heaven forbid...shock horror!!) my calculations might be wrong.....
Saying "I have sailed since God was a boy and have never needed a liferaft, is like saying I haven't drowned....yet! As far as being too old to get into one, well If you were drowning I think it would be good to have the option of trying.... I know I would manage it somehow! In also know I can't swim 50 miles......
 
[ QUOTE ]
Spending £?????? on a yacht and then skimping on basic safety gear does not make sense to me.

[/ QUOTE ]Well, you've spent two "?" more than me on a boat, then. Some of us don't have a bottomless pit of money. I already have two VHS radios, plus emergency aerial, two GPS systems, full offshore flares (although I've never been more than a couple of miles offshore - still, I might one day). I also have a horseshoe life ring, enough lifejackets for all crew with safety lines, a throwing line, fire-fighting equipment, and a full first aid kit. To that lot, I could also add a liferaft, radar, epirb, automatic MOB system, etc. etc, but I can't afford it. For at least 80% of the time I sail in water shallow enough that, if the boat sank, I could stand on the coachroof and not get wet above the knees. Anyone who comes on board with me knows the score, and is still happy to do so.
 
I always hire one when crossing. The cost of hiring is in no way comparable to buying and maintaining. When sailing along the coast (mainland) the dinghy should do.
When I will cross an ocean in a couple of years, I'll buy a raft and an epirb.
 
Answer to no one in particular but wanted to add that sometimes we are guilty of loosing our perspective.

While I hate the H & S term risk assessment and as such I always wore a motorcycle crash helmet before they were compulsary but lets all remember that the most dangerous part of say a 3 weeks cruise to Brittany is the drive to and from the Marina in the UK!!

Let consider the following

1. An exposed 600Volt cable

2. A 1m hole with no safety barrier

3. Vehicles passing at 40mph within 1/2 m of pedestrians.

4. 2,000,000 people exposed to all of the above 3 risks every day.

Would you allow that on safety grounds. Well you had better not go on the London Underground then - or at least not without a liferaft!!

/forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif

I just wanted to make the point that at times I think we are all guilty of not keeping risks in perspective!!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Other threads that may be of interest

bluey01
Anyone want to design a folding sailing dinghy with me?
2 3 4
Replies
66
Views
2K
bluey01
bluey01

Share this page

Top