Liferaft or Tender?

jpcarter30

jpcarter30

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My boating is restricted to the British coast and I've no plans to go further afield this year as the young 'uns are too young. When I bought my current boat it had no tender and the liferaft was removed. I have a berth in a secure marina but I feel I need something for my travels to be on the safe side. What should I be spending my money on?
 
Both

In many ways you are more likely to get into trouble near the coast than far offshore.

Are you sure you will never anchor anywhere and need to get ashore? Sailing without a tender could be very restricting and in some situations, a real problem.

If you have space for an inflated, or semi inflated dinghy on deck, that gives you something of an escape route if the worst happens, although not as good as a well maintained raft.

Why not buy a tender and hire a raft for anything other than short, inshore trips?
 
Firstly get yourself an EPIRB or HH VHF. I know that's not the question you asked, but it would make the difference between being picked up in hours or the search not even starting for a couple of days.

Given you have a way of calling for help then you are unlikely to have to spend more than a few hours in the liferaft/tender. Therefore for any sailing you are likely to do with young kids, the partially inflated tender should be absolutely fine.
 
Re: Both

A tender is pretty much a must in any circs, so you need one. Make it a deflatable and you have a short-term escape route, probably sufficient for coastal sailing in benign conditions. Back it up with a grab bag containing flares, survival bags, a hand-held VHF and a couple of bottles of water and you'll have enough give you a good chance of being alive to wave to the big blue and orange boat when it arrives.

Depending on your boat and the deflatable you choose, it's often possible to tow the tender with it half way up the transom, so it's there when needed.
 
Just go out in a good F3 with a swell,try launching your tender and getting in then try getting back to shore.In the med at least the waters warm & there isent really tide as in the UK

You need to tell someone your in distress then if you HAVE to leave the boat(sinks) then you will need water and flares a vhf (mini ssb?) powerful light and mirror

If its blowing hard a tender will probably be useless Even a life raft isnt easy to get into!!!There must be somewhere you can experience getting into a liferaft77

If its rough you will need a liferaft if you sink on a calm sunny day a tender will be fine.

The rubber dingy?? I have a Zodiac in storage which i cant keep on the water when the mistral gusts! My light rigid tender once in the water at least stays there!
 
I sail everywhere with my Zodiac tender following quietly behind ( mainly that is but has been known to misbehave in 35kts plus of wind though!!).......It is there waiting should the need arise!! I have heard too many stories of liferafts that never did the buisness when shuv came to punch!!

Paul.
 
Up until this season I never carried a life raft, because my Etap will not sink. However my one concern was always, "what if I have a fire?" So last year we went against the stop clock, extracting the inflatable from its locker, getting it on the fore deck, inflating it etc etc. It dont work, it takes too long, and if the smoke was blowing across the deck, you'd be even less able.

Look at this way, you can buy a Seago LR for less than 500 quid. search ebay etc and I'm sure you will find a cheap dinghy. You may well get away with both for £600.
 
Contrary to popular belief, yachts do not sink or catch fire at sea, and liferafts are rarely deployed. You can look on the MAIB website, read the reports and make up your own mind. I think you will come to the conclusion that the chance of needing a liferaft are virtually zero. However, make sure you have good communications, VHF and EPIRB and lifejackets.

Spend your money on a good tender as without one you are very restricted in your choice of anchorages.
 
Oh Gawd!! Not again PLEASE!!!.....can't you let sleeping muts lie down in peace! /forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif
 
[ QUOTE ]
Contrary to popular belief, yachts do not sink or catch fire at sea, and liferafts are rarely deployed.

[/ QUOTE ]
Just because events are rare (and yacht sinkings/fires are rare but not unheard of) does not make it OK to have no plan B. I have heard quite a few reports from friends and acquaintances of fires on yachts, mostly dealt with effectively by the crew and never appearing in any incident reporting. Likewise yachts do sink from time to time; some years ago someone I knew and his wife were drowned when their yacht hit a floating object in the North Sea. The 3rd crew member survived only because the liferaft was deployed.
 
jpcarter30 asked for advice as to what to spend his money on. My response was consistent with all the advice that comes from bodies such as RNLI, RYA, MCA on the equipment to carry for coastal cruising. The extra bit about buying a tender seems to be obvious when coastal cruising with a young family. Being unable to get ashore unless in a marina or tied up to a town quay is rather limiting.
 
[ QUOTE ]
Contrary to popular belief, yachts do not sink or catch fire at sea, and liferafts are rarely deployed. You can look on the MAIB website, read the reports and make up your own mind. I think you will come to the conclusion that the chance of needing a liferaft are virtually zero. However, make sure you have good communications, VHF and EPIRB and lifejackets.

[/ QUOTE ]

But when they do catch fire they do so with astonishing speed:

DSC_0611.jpg

(I will try to resize this image when I get a moment!)

In this case the electrics had burnt through before the owner could make his Mayday. He was in the process of preparing the crew to abandon when a nearby yacht saw the smoke and went to investigate.

It makes a good case for a handheld vhf.

As far a a liferaft goes - given that you can buy a basic 4 man valise for £450, it depends on where this fits in your priority list. I agree that the tender probably comes 1st, but it all depends on your sailing pattern.

John
 
Let's put itthis way, you'll rarely need a gun but when you do, you really really do!
I think that these are different things we're talking about that should not be confused.A liferaft is in my wiew indispensable and a tender is only very convenient.
 
[ QUOTE ]
In this case the electrics had burnt through before the owner could make his Mayday

[/ QUOTE ]

But he did have time to lower his anchor
 
thanks for all your well meaning advice. I searched but couldn't find a link to a previous topic but my question was slightly different. I can't afford the two this season so I'll go with a tender that'll be half inflated on deck and rent the raft if needed. Seems to be the best of both worlds. cheers /forums/images/graemlins/smirk.gif
 
Ever tried to inflate a half inflated tender when you're in the water? You can't.

Fully inflated or a raft. Fully inflated tows well in reasonable conditions and hump it half onto the transom in unreasonable conditions. Or fix it upside down on the foredeck. Put a safety line on when towing, so if the painter gives way, you've still got your rubbadub.
 
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
In this case the electrics had burnt through before the owner could make his Mayday

[/ QUOTE ]

But he did have time to lower his anchor

[/ QUOTE ]

The anchor lowered itself - I am not sure how or why.

John
 
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