Installing a Liferaft

Bawdrons

Bawdrons

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I have recently purchased a Moody 31 mk2 and need some advice about mounting/placing the liferaft which is a Seago 6 Man Offshore.

I had originally thought of hanging it from the pushpit and with that in mind I have a Seago adjustable cradle. However, I think the whole thing is way too heavy to hang off the back of the boat so I am having a rethink.

There is a large space in from of the spray hood below the boom which is used by many boat owners to store their liferaft and I was going to use this instead. My question is, what are folks thoughts on me using the cradle - bolted to the coach rooof (with suitable rienforcement) to store the raft?


I also have these http://www.force4.co.uk/178/Force-4-Liferaft-Deck-Mounting-Kit.html

However, they don't look particulalrly substantial to me and if I were ro use them I think I would have to mount them a sheet of marine ply first and then mount that to the coach roof area.

Thanks in advance for any tips/advice.
 
Went through the same conundrum myself. Pushpit on a neighbouring boat required considerable strengthening to cope with the weight of his life raft. Once done however it is a great spot as only requires being released from its cradle and it drops straight into the water. I have mine under the boom infront of the spray hood and on what is in fact the garage for the hatch. It required some alteration to its fittings - not the liferaft to the garage, but the garage to the boat, as you may find that it is actually only secured with a couple (4?) small self- tappers and would not cope with a decent breaking wave over the foredeck without letting go and taking it, the liferaft and your spray hood into the water!
 
First off, how often do you sail with six people on board? We have six nominal bunks on Ariam, but rarely sail with more than three on board, never overnight with more than four. So we have a 4-man raft which is much smaller and lighter than the six-man she came with (by law when she was coded for charter).

The pushpit is, as stated, an ideal place to launch a raft from if you can manage it. I don't know the Moody 31 well, but maybe it's possible to reinforce the pushpit, or stand the raft on deck against it instead of hanging from it?

Some boats with tillers stand the raft up against the aft face of the cockpit, using space under the tiller which is rarely used anyway.

If it has to go on the hatch garage, as Pladdatoo says it may be difficult to secure it firmly enough to withstand a big wave hitting it. I know mine couldn't be (not that it would work anyway, as the hatch garage is under the windscreen). Maybe the raft should sit on chocks screwed to the garage, but be strapped down to ringbolts mounted through the deck either side?

Pete
 
Probably too late but two things spring to mind
1. I agree with prv, if possible a 4 man liferaft would save you some space and weight
2. If it was me, I would have a 4 man valise liferaft and store it under the removable seat at the aft end of the cockpit on the 31. I believe this was where they may have been intended to be stored.

On the hatch garage, you will lose significant forward vision, which is a bit of a pain.
 
I originally used the Force 4 type fittings for my Seago 6-man raft on the coach roof in front of the mast. They don't provide any lateral support and the straps and attachment were not up to the job. My opinion being slightly coloured by the raft washing overboard, though it was quite a big wave. I still use the plastic bits but now on a wooden frame which provides lateral support and much stronger straps which do not rely on the plastic.
 
I was advised that there are safety reasons not to have a raft larger than necessary, though modern rafts are probably more stable when under-occupied. We keep our 4man raft in a locker but there have been discussions about this and most people seem to agree that there is no best place, unless you have a boat designed for it. If I find myself with too many on board, the extras will just have to hang on outside and like it.
 
I have a Moody 31 Mk2 and it came with a 6 man offshore liferaft that was just roped on to the cabin roof. It was there because the boat had been coded. It was due a £250 service. It was so heavy it took two of us to move it. As I will never sail offshore with 6 people I rang round and Adec did me a straight swap for a brand new 4 man in a valise. This did fit under the seat at the aft of the cockpit. It did get pretty dirty there and I had a PVC bag made for it (which I still have if you want it). I now have it in a canister on the pushpit where it would be easy to launch and is out of the way. I now have that useful space for a bucket etc.
 
robmcg said:
Probably too late but two things spring to mind
1. I agree with prv, if possible a 4 man liferaft would save you some space and weight
2. If it was me, I would have a 4 man valise liferaft and store it under the removable seat at the aft end of the cockpit on the 31. I believe this was where they may have been intended to be stored.

On the hatch garage, you will lose significant forward vision, which is a bit of a pain.
Click to expand...

The hatch garage is also a good place to put an inflatable. The Moody 31 has only 1 cockpit locker which is scarcely adequate when you have a calorifier, a holding tank, a cockpit tent, dinghy oars and pump, fenders and ropes and a large fire extinguisher and all the other bits. Hey ho.
 
Thanks for the reply.

It is likely that we will do quite a bit of sailing with 4 adults and 2 children (albeit one very small one - but growing). The trouble with the pushpit is that there is already a wind generator on the port side and the outboard bracket on the other! The previous owner (sadly given up sailing due to medical reasons) had just bought the chocks with a view to mounting a life raft on the garage. Since he sailed mostly with just his wife then it is likely he would have just used a 4 man. He owned the boat for nearly 10 years and was clearly confident about doing this. I quite like the idea of a couple of ringbolts on either side to secure it down.
 
Bawdrons said:
I quite like the idea of a couple of ringbolts on either side to secure it down.
Click to expand...

Sounds like you do need the six-man then, and if it's too big for this under-seat space in the cockpit then the above sounds like the way to go. You might as well incorporate a Hammar device in the lashing and then you have automatic deployment in the (fairly unlikely) event of a ship looming out of the fog and sinking the boat without warning.

Pete
 
The hangers on will have to hope they are rescued quickly - they are likely to die from exposure in less than an hour in UK waters. Better to squeeze them inside crowded but cosy.
johnalison said:
I was advised that there are safety reasons not to have a raft larger than necessary, though modern rafts are probably more stable when under-occupied. We keep our 4man raft in a locker but there have been discussions about this and most people seem to agree that there is no best place, unless you have a boat designed for it. If I find myself with too many on board, the extras will just have to hang on outside and like it.
Click to expand...
 
MoodySabre said:
I have a Moody 31 Mk2 and it came with a 6 man offshore liferaft that was just roped on to the cabin roof. It was there because the boat had been coded. It was due a £250 service. It was so heavy it took two of us to move it. As I will never sail offshore with 6 people I rang round and Adec did me a straight swap for a brand new 4 man in a valise. This did fit under the seat at the aft of the cockpit. It did get pretty dirty there and I had a PVC bag made for it (which I still have if you want it). I now have it in a canister on the pushpit where it would be easy to launch and is out of the way. I now have that useful space for a bucket etc.
Click to expand...

I put ours in the same place. It's what the boat was designed for. And you can cuddle it for reassurance when helming it at night.

I put it down below when the boat is unattended so it stays nice and clean. Also, I've heard of people having 6 man rafts repacked to fit into the space available.

I personally don't like the obstruction to vision having stuff in front of the sprayhood. I'd have to peer over the sprayhood - and one might get wet!
 
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