Liferafts

[ashtead]

I was recently watching a vid from sailing Uma where they inflated their old Viking life raft which was most informative. As the replacement date for our raft is due soon I wondered if paying the extra for a Viking was worth the cost compared to a Seago for example? Also is it worth moving to one in a cradle as opposed to a valise ?

 

[Tiderace]

Cradle VS valise....the cradle should be configured to float free with hydrostatic release, whereas the valise isn't as they general live in a locker.

Cant comment on the makes, but make sure you compare like for like regarding specification and standard.

 

[ashtead]

Yes our valise when on board lives in stern space between the wheels but agree auto release of canister is an advantage.

 

[pvb]

I was recently watching a vid from sailing Uma where they inflated their old Viking life raft which was most informative. As the replacement date for our raft is due soon I wondered if paying the extra for a Viking was worth the cost compared to a Seago for example? Also is it worth moving to one in a cradle as opposed to a valise ?

If your liferaft is at the end of its life, just look at the available options and choose the best price/feature combination. Abandoning a yacht and taking to a liferaft isn't a hasty decision, so there'll be lots of time to ponder it whether you have a valise raft in a locker or a canister raft on deck. I went for a valise on my current boat, stored in a cockpit locker.

 

[RupertW]

And the odd thing about liferafts is their cost to live saving ratio is hopeless. Almost no yachts in trouble have ever been helped or saved by life rafts except as a means of risky transfer to another vessel in condtions where their tender would have mostly been much safer.

 

[pvb]

And the odd thing about liferafts is their cost to live saving ratio is hopeless. Almost no yachts in trouble have ever been helped or saved by life rafts except as a means of risky transfer to another vessel in condtions where their tender would have mostly been much safer.

When I bought my current liferaft about 7 years ago, the dealer told me that the prime motivation for liferaft purchasing was worried wives! Liferafts in most situations aren't going to help, but if the lady at home knows you have one....

 

[prv]

No question that Viking is the better make, the decision is whether it’s better enough to be worth the money to you, in your typical sailing.

For me, about the furthest I’m ever from land in our boat is the middle of the Channel; with an EPIRB, a VHF, and half a dozen rocket flares in one of the busiest shipping lanes in the world, I don’t expect to be drifting for very long. I also don’t expect to be in the raft in severe storm conditions, because I wouldn’t have left port in the first place (and I don’t do passages longer than we have good forecasts for nowadays). Really, I don’t expect to end up in the raft at all, because as Rupert says, very very few yacht crews ever do. So for me, the cheapest Seago is perfectly sufficient, with a comprehensive grab bag containing multiple ways of calling for help. I might judge differently if I was crossing oceans.

We have a valise because there isn’t really a good place on deck for a canister.

Pete

 

[RupertW]

When I bought my current liferaft about 7 years ago, the dealer told me that the prime motivation for liferaft purchasing was worried wives! Liferafts in most situations aren't going to help, but if the lady at home knows you have one....

I’m sure that you are right - we have an old life raft last serviced in 2013 when getting it registered in Croatia to pay VAT at 5 percent. But the lady is on board not at home fretting so seems ok with the pastiche of safety.

 

[rotrax]

Interesting thread this. Last night First Mate and I watched 'Saving Lives at Sea'

A fishing boat off Oban was aground on some rocks. As the all weather lifeboat approached the fishing boat crew decided to take to their liferaft and paddle - with great difficulty - towards the lifeboat.

Before they got to it the fishing boat turned turtle and disapeared under the ocean surface.

Sobering......................................

 

[ashtead]

Thank you prv for views as they rather reflect my current thinking ie a seago and put some spare cash to an EPIRB .

 

[prv]

Thank you prv for views as they rather reflect my current thinking ie a seago and put some spare cash to an EPIRB .

I would certainly take a Seago and an EPIRB over a Viking and no EPIRB or PLB. The goal is to get rescued, not to conduct an epic raft voyage.

Pete

 

[Buck Turgidson]

the difference between the cheapest certified life raft and the most expensive is price. as far as keeping you alive, if the cheap one doesn't neither will the expensive one.
Epirb is a much better investment and the SAR equipment that the long range search aircraft can drop is 1000 times better than your expensive life raft.

 

[RupertW]

the difference between the cheapest certified life raft and the most expensive is price. as far as keeping you alive, if the cheap one doesn't neither will the expensive one.
Epirb is a much better investment and the SAR equipment that the long range search aircraft can drop is 1000 times better than your expensive life raft.

Yup - I’ve spent money recently on an EPIRB but the liferaft is a decomposing thing on deck.

 

[dulls]

I was recently watching a vid from sailing Uma where they inflated their old Viking life raft which was most informative. As the replacement date for our raft is due soon I wondered if paying the extra for a Viking was worth the cost compared to a Seago for example? Also is it worth moving to one in a cradle as opposed to a valise ?

Do you intend to use it or not?

 

[ashtead]

I’m just waiting for someone to post who has used one and can share their views . I don’t propose to practice by staying overnight on my current version though.

 

[dulls]

I’m just waiting for someone to post who has used one and can share their views . I don’t propose to practice by staying overnight on my current version though.

I personally would get the cheapest one you can and also look at the servicing costs.

 

[prv]

I’m just waiting for someone to post who has used one and can share their views .

You‘ll be a long time waiting, it really is vanishingly rare.

The only extended (more than a matter of hours) life raft use in UK waters by leisure sailors I can think of was the Inis Mil back in 2004. That happened to be a Seago, for what it’s worth, and performed satisfactorily for eight days in the Irish Sea (they had no means of calling for help except a mobile phone, once they drifted within GSM range of Cornwall).

There was a large motorboat that caught fire on a delivery trip from Poole to Southampton, the two men aboard abandoned to a raft just ahead of the flames - I think fire, perhaps while moored or at anchor, is probably a more likely scenario for successful liferaft use than the ocean storms often envisaged. Of course, off the mouth of Southampton Water, they were probably only in that raft for a matter of minutes and an inflatable pool toy would have done the job.

Sybarite had a story from a French friend who abandoned to his raft off the east coast of the UK, again due to fire. He was in VHF contact with the Coastguard, so again didn’t need to spend long in his raft. Like the motorboat above, this was quite a few years ago now. I can’t think of anything recent.

Pete

 

[dulls]

I’m just waiting for someone to post who has used one and can share their views . I don’t propose to practice by staying overnight on my current version though.

I used to be in a marine rescue unit and we never went to a job where they were in a liferaft. They were either in the water or clinging to the upturned hull if it was still around. We did plenty of drills in them as it was a yearly test for us but you actually learn very little from them other than how to deploy them,right them enter exit etc....Just nothing to learn in the sense of if it was or was not a good raft..and we used a few different types. All I remember is they were orange and black.

 

[prv]

We did plenty of drills in them as it was a yearly test for us but you actually learn very little from them other than how to deploy them,right them enter exit etc....Just nothing to learn in the sense of if it was or was not a good raft..and we used a few different types. All I remember is they were orange and black.

Practicing being rescued from one by an imaginary helicopter was fun though .

The training centre played engine and rotor noises at us through speakers, ran a big fan, and then lowered a helicopter strop into the raft on an electric hoist from the pool roof. One by one we got winched up to a balcony and then directed to walk back down the stairs.

Pete

 

[LadyInBed]

A raft is a comfort to have if you sail off shore. I didn't bother with one until I started going across Biscay. If you want one for peace of mind and only do two or three trips across the Channel a year, then you would be better off hireing one. If the majority of your sailing is local coastal, then I wouldn't bother replaceing, I would self service and keep what you have.