Emergency dinghy inflation.

[ronmarson]

Has anyone any thoughts on a quick, cheap and reliable way of getting my dinghy inflated in an emergency?
I sail alone most of the time on a 27 foot Macwester.
I am usually within sight of land, I wear an auto life jacket with hood and crutch straps ALL the time, I carry a PLB tied to my life jacket, I ALWAYS clip on if I have to leave the cockpit and I usually wear a bright yellow hat that my children bought me. (They will not get the insurance unless my body is recovered)
Nevertheless, I know that if I fall overboard, I am probably in the water until I die, so I try not to let that happen. The seas off west coast of Ireland can be a lonely.
But, if the boat is compromised, I need to have enough time to get the inflatable at least partially inflated and over the side, and then me and my grab bag will step up into it as the boat sinks.
The grab bag contains Hand held VHF with spare batteries, Strobe light,(I will have my PLB on me) Pump for the dinghy, a cheap set of waterproofs, knife, Ski gloves, woolly hat, large orange survival bag, 2 litres of water, chocolate bars, energy bars, and a set of mini flares.
My question for the assembled experts is:
How can I inflate my 3 compartment 2.4 mt. dinghy quickly?
It takes 5 minutes with the pump, and I think I will be too busy with other things, like a mayday call, if the boat is sinking to spend that much time pumping.
All ideas welcome.
Capt. RoN

 

[Tranona]

Just buy a proper lifreraft if you are worried about it. What you are describing just shows limiting a dinghy is as the main plank of a survival strategy. Remember that most events that require abandoning ship occur in extreme conditions, where often even a proper liferaft is not ideal.

But, yes, you can get co2 cylinders for emergency inflation - Avon used to offer them as options, but you need either one carefully calibrated cylinder for each chamber or pipework from one cylinder to each chamber. You can appreciate why it did not catch on as a good idea, particularly now when a proper liferaft is so cheap (relatively).

 

[Eyore]

These days we have a liferaft, but previously when cruising and depending on a dinghy we always left two chambers inflated and managed to stow it on the cabin roof. That meant it would at least float if you had no time to pump the bow before abandoning ship. Tinker inflatables had a liferaft type gas cannister emergency system available as an option, afraid I don't know how it was rigged. Perhaps you could get your hands on cylinder with the correct attachment for your dinghy, and although it would mean inflating the three chambers separately it would be ay faster than pumping.

 

[Sybarite]

Has anyone any thoughts on a quick, cheap and reliable way of getting my dinghy inflated in an emergency?
I sail alone most of the time on a 27 foot Macwester.
I am usually within sight of land, I wear an auto life jacket with hood and crutch straps ALL the time, I carry a PLB tied to my life jacket, I ALWAYS clip on if I have to leave the cockpit and I usually wear a bright yellow hat that my children bought me. (They will not get the insurance unless my body is recovered)
Nevertheless, I know that if I fall overboard, I am probably in the water until I die, so I try not to let that happen. The seas off west coast of Ireland can be a lonely.
But, if the boat is compromised, I need to have enough time to get the inflatable at least partially inflated and over the side, and then me and my grab bag will step up into it as the boat sinks.
The grab bag contains Hand held VHF with spare batteries, Strobe light,(I will have my PLB on me) Pump for the dinghy, a cheap set of waterproofs, knife, Ski gloves, woolly hat, large orange survival bag, 2 litres of water, chocolate bars, energy bars, and a set of mini flares.
My question for the assembled experts is:
How can I inflate my 3 compartment 2.4 mt. dinghy quickly?
It takes 5 minutes with the pump, and I think I will be too busy with other things, like a mayday call, if the boat is sinking to spend that much time pumping.
All ideas welcome.
Capt. RoN

If you still have a battery working you can have a small vac cleaner on board which can also blow and fills the dinghy very quickly. A proper LR though is better. Or get yourself a Portland Pudgy.

http://www.portlandpudgy.com/

 

[Tranona]

If you still have a battery working you can have a small vac cleaner on board which can also blow and fills the dinghy very quickly. A proper LR though is better. Or get yourself a Portland Pudgy.

http://www.portlandpudgy.com/

If spending that kind of money you could have two liferafts and two inflatables. Where would you stow one of those on a 27' boat?

 

[KevO]

We often inflate/top-up our expedition diving boats using a compressed air diving cylinder with an A-clamp fitted with a rubber hose that will just sit into the valve recess on the tube. Quick blast and Bob's yer proverbial. I should think a small 7 (or a 3?) litre cylinder with hose etc could be stored in a ready-use pos'n in a locker without too much hassle. Takes 2 hands but is a darned sight quicker than a manual or 12v pump but obviously not as ideal a solution as a dedicated LR.

 

[Sybarite]

If spending that kind of money you could have two liferafts and two inflatables. Where would you stow one of those on a 27' boat?

Davits. It would replace the dinghy and would provide recreation in an anchorage. Bit of a squeeze I admit.

 

[Barnacle Bill]

Towing the dinghy is another idea, if you can't stow it inflated or partially inflated on deck.

That way if you did go into the water, you might be able to climb out into the dinghy: or you could recover someone else if you have a companion and they go in.

 

[Kelpie]

Thinking laterally, what about an immersion suit? Might be quicker to put on than launching a dinghy. And you could always try the dinghy after you got the suit on.

 

[Tranona]

Davits. It would replace the dinghy and would provide recreation in an anchorage. Bit of a squeeze I admit.

More than a bit! Wider than the stern of the OPs boat and weight (60kg) would mean substantial davits.

Just not a practical proposition for a boat less than about 35' and 9' beam at the stern. Never mind the cost.

 

[BruceDanforth]

I expect you will be able to pump much faster than that when sufficiently frightened.

Has anyone any thoughts on a quick, cheap and reliable way of getting my dinghy inflated in an emergency?
I sail alone most of the time on a 27 foot Macwester.
I am usually within sight of land, I wear an auto life jacket with hood and crutch straps ALL the time, I carry a PLB tied to my life jacket, I ALWAYS clip on if I have to leave the cockpit and I usually wear a bright yellow hat that my children bought me. (They will not get the insurance unless my body is recovered)
Nevertheless, I know that if I fall overboard, I am probably in the water until I die, so I try not to let that happen. The seas off west coast of Ireland can be a lonely.
But, if the boat is compromised, I need to have enough time to get the inflatable at least partially inflated and over the side, and then me and my grab bag will step up into it as the boat sinks.
The grab bag contains Hand held VHF with spare batteries, Strobe light,(I will have my PLB on me) Pump for the dinghy, a cheap set of waterproofs, knife, Ski gloves, woolly hat, large orange survival bag, 2 litres of water, chocolate bars, energy bars, and a set of mini flares.
My question for the assembled experts is:
How can I inflate my 3 compartment 2.4 mt. dinghy quickly?
It takes 5 minutes with the pump, and I think I will be too busy with other things, like a mayday call, if the boat is sinking to spend that much time pumping.
All ideas welcome.
Capt. RoN

 

[Sandy]

I plan to stay with the boat.

 

[Seajet]

ronmarson,

another string to your bow would be a high speed inflator, 12 volt; these used to be made by LVM but are now marketed by Force 4.

These things work very well, but you MUST connect the croc' clips direct to the battery, the current draw would melt the boat wiring if used through a cig socket or something ( I was on a boat where exactly that happened, melted all the brand new wiring and nearly started a fire - the boat belonged to an electrician ! ).

Very handy for normal use blowing up the tender to go ashore too.

Now of course it's not as good as a liferaft, but it would be a big help - some people carry one of those ' power pack ' batteries to aid using in an emergency, spiffing as long as everything is kept charged up.

There is one advantage of dinghy over raft; you'd be using a dinghy you know works, and what it's like - wheras with rafts there's always the sneaking feeling that if triggered it might just sink like a rock or be empty with a credit note from the supplier...

 

[parbuckle]

I have a dedicated socket for my LVM 12v dinghy pump it is just inside the forehatch I can quickly inflate the dinghy on fore deck weather and sea permitting but as Seajet says the current draw is unusually high my cabling is around 30 amps and fittings are to suit. I do have a liferaft so my thoughts are more for assisting in retrieval of MOB or other unforseen emergencies.

 

[ronmarson]

Many thanks all.
As always your thoughts stimulate my mind and I now it's just a matter of working out which system to use.
BTW I know a life raft would be the proper thing.
Capt. RoN

 

[steveallan]

You could use a co2 fire extinghisher. I did this a few years ago, fitted a couple of truck inner tube valves and some flexible piping. Never used it in anger but when I sold the boat. I tried the extinghusher system and it worked very well. Keep your hands away from any metal parts though as these will get very cold.

 

[KevO]

We always inflated and topped up our diving boats on expeditions with a diving cylinder fitted with a rubber hose on the A-clamp. Choose a hose that will just fit into the tube valve and will provide a good enough seal when held in place with a hand. Quick blasts from the cylinder and hey ho, there ya go.

A small 7 or a 10L cylinder (depends on the size of your dinghy) will stow in a bracket in a locker with little trouble I suggest.

 

[Nigel-in-Oxford]

I made a cheap and cheerful inflator from a soda stream I got from a jumble sale, and an old foot pump.
It would almost inflate the larger tinker on 1 cylinder.

 

[Mudisox]

You could use a co2 fire extinghisher. I did this a few years ago, fitted a couple of truck inner tube valves and some flexible piping. Never used it in anger but when I sold the boat. I tried the extinghusher system and it worked very well. Keep your hands away from any metal parts though as these will get very cold.

+1 you wont need the extinguisher if you leave the boat. I used to inflate my avon with the cars' exhaust[ co car of course]

 

[Daydream believer]

I was about to ask if a CO2 fire extinguisher would work when some one suggested it first.
Does anyone feel it is viable???
Certainly a compressed air bottle of some kind would be the answer.
I carry a life raft but to be honest , if one is in sight of land a good inflatable is much better.
A few gallons of water in my Avon makes it very stable & unlike a life raft I could easily row it a few miles to the shore
A life raft may end up blowing off shore ;plus I would be less likely to get sea sick rowing a dinghy instead of curled up in a life raft
Even if it turned out a futile exercise rowing would help keep moral up for a while