Liferafts andi

[Sea Devil]

Next spring I will return to sailing in the English Channel after a lot of decades in the Med and further afield. I expect to day sail and possibly overnight in the future but not far offshore except crossing the channel.

My new old boat boat has neither a dinghy and outboard nor a life raft and I suspect I am not going to add either to the inventory.

In all my sailing experience I have never, ever met anyone who has got into a life raft. (crossing the Atlantic and Pacific always had one on board for obvious reasons!)

Once I stopped circumnavigating and sailing in the Caribbean I found I only ever used the dinghy and outboard once or twice a year and frequently not at all.

In H&S terms I can see that a VHF and a HH back up together with a mobile phone and some flares perhaps, will fit the bill. Got some life jackets as well!

Mind you I have only ever met one person who´s boat sank under them and he got picked up in half an hour...

Wonder if I am being Titanic or just realistic?

 

[awol]

What a refreshing take on all this safety equipment palaver! Why not just rely on a mobile phone and forget the VHF, HH and flares. As for lifejackets, EPIRBS, lifelines, dan buoys, fire extinguishers, etc. and I suppose anchors and chain, why bother? I believe it is possible to drown in a soup-plate and none of that safety equipment would save you. I look forward to hearing of your exploits.

 

[penberth3]

Wonder if I am being Titanic or just realistic?

I'm sure they had exactly the same discussion in Belfast 100+ years ago.

 

[Sea Devil]

I am so glad there is general agreement that the world has moved on. ...

Whilst I know nobody who has been saved by a life raft I know several who have been rescued because of VHF (in the English channel) and mobile phone (in the Mediterranean) i. It is all about communication IMO.

There is a mega industry, as pointed out above, in scaring folks who probably hardly ever go out of sight of land into buying a vast array of just in case gear... Exploitation of fear for profit.

 

[Kukri]

I'm a bit surprised that you don't want to carry a dinghy. Presumably you are happy to always use marinas. In that case you may as well do without an anchor - another useful saving.

I would find sailing from one marina to the next deathly dull, but each to his own.

I rather like anchoring and going ashore by dinghy, though I suppose if you only want to sail in the middle part of the Channel you would not find many places to anchor.

 

[fisherman]

My bro jumped off a yacht called Midnight with his arse on fire not far off Salcombe, so there's one, (rather four) yachtsmen who had cause to be thankful, they had the dink inflated on the foredeck and he tried for that but ran out of time. Just run the numbers, what % of yachties have needed one, and draw comfort. Know many more fishermen who've needed one, of course.

 

[penberth3]

There is a mega industry, as pointed out above, in scaring folks who probably hardly ever go out of sight of land into buying a vast array of just in case gear... Exploitation of fear for profit.

Not at all, abandoning because of fire or sinking is "reasonably foreseeable" and your survival time in water is how long?

 

[awol]

Not at all, abandoning because of fire or sinking is "reasonably foreseeable" and your survival time in water is how long?

But think of the feeling of satisfaction in not wasting all that money on safety items as he sinks beneath the waves. Surely one of England's stalwarts taking back control and waving 2 fingers to common sense ..... now what does that remind me of?

 

[Sea Devil]

I'm a bit surprised that you don't want to carry a dinghy. Presumably you are happy to always use marinas. In that case you may as well do without an anchor - another useful saving.
y
I would find sailing from one marina to the next deathly dull, but each to his own.

I rather like anchoring and going ashore by dinghy, though I suppose if you only want to sail in the middle part of the Channel you would not find many places to anchor.

l i
Having spent years in the Caribbean and Pacific anchoring and using the dinghy on a daily basis I am just trying to think where in N France, S UK channel Islands I would want to go ashore with the dinghy? Can see anchoring up for the night ---- far from the madding crowd but --- Just trying to justify it and the OB realistically. How often do you use yours

 

[Sea Devil]

Not at all, abandoning because of fire or sinking is "reasonably foreseeable" and your survival time in water is how long?

What is your survival time in coastal UK waters in summer time?

 

[LadyInBed]

I never carried a raft sailing X Channel & N Brittany, I only carried an inflatable for getting ashore when anchored. When I started crossing Biscay I bought a raft, it seemed sensible.

 

[Kukri]

l i
Having spent years in the Caribbean and Pacific anchoring and using the dinghy on a daily basis I am just trying to think where in N France, S UK channel Islands I would want to go ashore with the dinghy? Can see anchoring up for the night ---- far from the madding crowd but --- Just trying to justify it and the OB realistically. How often do you use yours

You might have a point. I am in a slightly odd position as I don’t usually sail in the Channel, but in Essex and Suffolk. There’s one marina on the Blackwater, none on the Colne, one on the Stour, four on the Orwell, one on the Deben, none on the Alde, so we East Coast types still tend to use the dinghy to get to the pub, and I like to go for walks if the shore is pretty. I agree that there is no point at all in a dinghy in Holland or Belgium and indeed I have never, in forty years, taken one across the North Sea.

I wouldn’t want to be without a dinghy in Devon and Cornwall, but I never needed (or had an opportunity to use) one in the Solent this summer.

 

[mainsail1]

I kinda like the comfort of knowing I have a liferaft for the crew to escape to in extreme circumstances. Irrationally, perhaps, I think that the risk of needing to abandon ship has increased over my lifetime.
I also like using the dinghy and outboard to explore new anchorages. If you don't, I am fine with that but I think you are missing one of the joys of sailing.

 

[john_morris_uk]

l i
Having spent years in the Caribbean and Pacific anchoring and using the dinghy on a daily basis I am just trying to think where in N France, S UK channel Islands I would want to go ashore with the dinghy? Can see anchoring up for the night ---- far from the madding crowd but --- Just trying to justify it and the OB realistically. How often do you use yours

I’ve sailed in many places all around the world so claim to have a reasonably broad experience. I’ve also sailed a lot (for work and pleasure) in the channel and continental waters nearby.

I’d hate not having a dinghy.
I really enjoy choosing obscure (and recognised) places to anchor and then going ashore by dinghy. Why stick to marinas and harbour walls with the crowds?

 

[Kukri]

l i
Having spent years in the Caribbean and Pacific anchoring and using the dinghy on a daily basis I am just trying to think where in N France, S UK channel Islands I would want to go ashore with the dinghy? Can see anchoring up for the night ---- far from the madding crowd but --- Just trying to justify it and the OB realistically. How often do you use yours

Helford River? Scillies? Yealm? I admit I am struggling a bit East of Lyme Bay.

 

[Daydream believer]

In my first 2 boats I carried inflatable dinghies as I had moorings in the Crouch & in the 70s one needed a dinghy.
I Used a dinghy the first season (2003) I had the current boat as I had to keep it on a mooring, but I soon realised how horrible moorings are (& i am the one that lays them in our section !!!) & went for a marina berth in Bradwell. I have never felt the need for a dinghy since in 16 years. that includes 2 trips round UK ( Via Cally canal) & regular annual trips to the CIs, Camaret etc.There are ample marinas & they are all in interesting places, plus they are well serviced with restaurants, bars shops etc.
However, I have had some very near misses from ships & have had a liferaft which i shall be renewing in 2020. I would never rely on a mobile phone for safety ( Actually, 2 coke tins & a bit of string might be better where I live) but i do have 2 VHF & EPIRB & PLB plus a double lot of flares.

 

[fisherman]

Before his arse singeing experience my bro espoused the half inflated dink on the foredeck protocol. In survival training we were told that of the 35000 or so seamen casualties in WW2 most died of exposure, having only carley floats and the like. In a closed raft the atmosphere becomes saturated after twenty minutes and you stop losing heat to evaporation, that's why they work. Yes there are many instances where it wouldn't help, like the guy who survived a car crash by being thrown out, no seat belt. Choose your poison, but there is no right answer and you won't find one here.

 

[dunedin]

I have never felt the need for a dinghy since in 16 years. that includes 2 trips round UK ( Via Cally canal) & regular annual trips to the CIs, Camaret etc.There are ample marinas & they are all in interesting places, plus they are well serviced with restaurants, bars shops etc.

You clearly must have bypassed entirely all the best bits of Scotland’s west coast and islands in your round (bits of) this U.K. trips.
Just a handful of marinas and all the best places need to anchor, or occasionally pick up visitor mooring. We used the dinghy up to 4 times a day landing on different islands.
And even the Channel Islands have places only reachable by dinghy.
Each to their own !

Going back to the OP for coastal cruising dropping the liferaft is probably a reasonable risk, but I would definitely want a dinghy in that case (particularly in case of collision with hard object or fire). Decent dinghy available under £400. Outboard is a luxury.

 

[doug748]

....

My new old boat boat has neither a dinghy and outboard nor a life raft and I suspect I am not going to add either to the inventory...

I would not bother with a liferaft for singlehanding either, though you can now get a small two man quoit:

Seago Rescue Platform RP500 - Compact 2 man liferaft

It might give you some chance of getting aboard dryish


I like a dinghy though, pretty vital for where I sail anyway but it's a useful backstop if you sail with, maybe, one crew. Also handy for attending to the waterline and removing stuff from the prop. No doubt just the job for running out a kedge as well but that is something I have only read about, though I have taken to the dinghy several times when mooring up. Also, on one occasion, pushed the boat a long way by outboard with the Redstart lashed alongside,

 

[lw395]

Helford River? Scillies? Yealm? I admit I am struggling a bit East of Lyme Bay.

Plenty of places where you can pick up a mooring or anchor and want a tender.
Seaview, Bembridge, Yarmouth.
Langstone.
Mudeford.
Swanage.
Medina.

Unless you're racing, I don't think being without a dinghy is credible. Particularly as inflatables seem to be the same price as 20 years ago, but water taxis and marinas don't...