Life raft or not

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gary3029

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Hi
Need some advice from the forum. This year will be sailing around Poole area..mainly the harbour, but may venture onto open sea, but very close in (my experience is limited) Do I fork out £500 on a life raft or caryy a small dinghy in case of an emergency. Given how quickly my family and myself may need to get of the boat in real emergency I think I already know the answer. Just wondered what the more clued up of you out there would suggest/carry
 
IMHO, the decision to carry a liferaft is dependent on a number of different factors. Principle are

How far offshore do you travel.
how cold is the water.
is your dinghy big enough for all of you and suitable for open water in the sea state that you go out in
Is your dinghy always inflated
Will your smallest member of your family be able to launch the liferaft/or launch the dinghy in case others are incapacitated.

The concept of a liferaft in a valise buried in a locker or down below, or of a liferaft on the coach roof in a cage such that you need to manhandle into the water, seems a little "silly" to me.
 
If you are only planning to sail in in-shore waters, then a life raft may be excessive. A life raft will protect you for longer and in rougher conditions than a dinghy, but if you are only in-shore, and particularly if you avoid going out in rough or foggy conditions, then the circumstances in which you might need a life raft are unlikely to arise (although not impossible - strange things happen at sea). If funds are scarce, then a VHF radio, a set of flares and a dinghy would probably be a better way to spend them. A dinghy has the added advantage of being useful for shore trips if you anchor, fun for kids (under appropriate supervision and in safe conditions), and handy for deploying the kedge anchor when you run aground.

Jonathan
 
Unless there is a suitable position onboard for a canister then a valise type is the only answer and these tend to be heavy and relatively large. However liferafts designed to be carried onboard light aircraft are lightweight and compact. Look up RFD Pilot liferaft. If they are good enough and approved to be used by downed aircraft then why dont we have these on our space limited boats? They are more expensive and dont have the features of a yacht raft but if they keep you afloat until help arrives then they must be worth considering if space onboard is a concern. No doubt they wont be approved for racing but they should be.
As to the "liferaft or not" question, it's a lot of money to spend on something which you hope not to use but then so is insurance.
 
For what you are planning a life raft would be a bit over the top. As others have said, far better to spend the money on other safety equipment or even a RYA training course

Once you've got your boat on the water give RNLI a call and ask for a "Safety Check". They'll come and see you on your boat and give you some really good advice on safety matters. They will give you advice based on your boat and what you plan to do with it. Well worth every one of the pennies that it won't cost you.....it's free.
 
It depends on what your attitude to risk is. I have sailed locally without a liferaft for years and just hired one when I was going on offshore passages.
 
I bought one anyway because of the risk of collision within even inshore waters. Not only collision with other boats, but other large floating boat-puncturing things. Yer pays yer money...Great warm fuzzy feeling when you look at it bolted to your boat somewhere.

Pops
 
I would have thought that for the sailing you're planning, a liferaft is overkill.
Carry lifejackets and harnesses for everyone, and as good a dinghy as you can
manage which is big enough for the whole family.
Take a liferaft when you start crossing the channel.
They are expensive, need servicing, and cannot be absolutely relied on.
Whereas a robust dinghy is always there, and you're used to using it.
Some multihulls (unsinkable) never carry liferafts. Not recommended for
leadmines though!!!!!!!!!!!1
 
I assure you I do take fire seriously. A good gas and electrical installation, a smoke detector in the galley and the engine compartment and three big fire extinguishers, a fire blanket and an inflated dinghy in the davits. But I sail out of sight of land in a world free of rescue services.

I have witnessed the results of three fires in one year on the boats of others and had one of my own twenty five years ago. I take fire seriously without being paranoid.
 
I sailed around for quite a while without a liferaft and I'm not dead as far as I know.
Seriously though does it make any difference if you are close to the coast or not. Most people couldn't swim more than a mile or two in our cold waters or last longer than 30 minutes.
 
If you've got the space and the money get a liferaft...peace of mind even a few miles offshore especially if your short-handed. In a real emergency (fire, collision, flooding,etc) you've no time to mess around inflating a dinghy...Mayday and raft over the side. I'd consider it for MOB as well (save haven until the LB arrives). I wasn't happy spending £500+ quid on something I hope I never use, but I did anyway.
 
If I can (to introduce some perspective) rephrase the question?

[ QUOTE ]
Need some advice from the forum. This year will be sailing around Poole area..mainly the harbour, but may venture onto open sea, but very close in (my experience is limited)

[/ QUOTE ]

My boat is a Wayfarer,a boat which is more than capable of doing this with my family on board,should I carry a life raft?

Does this change the answers?
 
As an earlier reply noted "do you feel lucky?" We've now reached Rome after two summers, crossing Biscay and going around the outside to the western Med, our only "liferaft" being a fully inflated and when offshore, emergency provisioned dinghy on the foredeck. there again, my life's perhaps not that valuable?

If/when we cross the Atlantic, I'm sure I'll find space for a proper life raft aboard, but no doubt I'll have the dinghy still there too. I, as I'm sure everyone else, has heard horror stories about incorrectly packed/serviced life rafts and whilst I'm sure these are the rare exceptions, I would dread having to pull that toggle knowing that someone other than myself was responsible for whether it's going to inflate or not.
 
apart from being able to beach your craft, or beach your tender, proximity to land also means that rescue times are short, thus overcrowded tender is acceptable.
 
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