should a Liferaft be float free

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kippers26

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I was present during a recent M.C.A. inspection when the coastguard untied the painter from the liferaft cannister to its mounting frame.The coastguard said the liferaft must be float free,The manufacturers instructions show the painter tied to the vessel before deployment, and as the cannister is deck mounted, its frame is an ideal location to tie the painter too . can anyone give me an explanation of why you would not tie the painter to its cradle.
 
pcatterall said:
Surely the 'painter' is also the deployment line If it is not connected the raft will no deploy
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You have identified the problem.

We all think of a painter as a line attached to a dinghy or small boat, that does nothing except pull the dinghy towards you.

MCA are using the wrong term. The 'painter' of a life raft has a triggering function as well. Although... does anyone know of a "gas bottle inflation triggering line" which does not act as a painter, and maybe even comes loose after doing its job ?

Perhaps one of the splendiferous technical committees in the RYA can think of a new word to make sure that there is no confusion.
 
It all depends whether you have a hydrostatic release. Usually a little black and yellow cylinder with a small loop of rope attached.

If you do, then he was correct that the line should not be tied to the cradle. This is probably what he's used to as they're mandatory on commercial and fishing boats.

If you do not, then he was wrong and you probably should tie the line to the cradle.

Pete
 
I wonder if there is a misunderstanding. For coding purposes, IIRC, then the liferaft must be float free via a hydrostatic release, compared to just a manual launch system, which is of course not float free. Perhaps that is what the coastguard was meaning, is there a hydrostatic release currently fitted?
 
kippers26 said:
no hydrostatic release fitted , just lift and throw overboard, which could be a disaster if the painter is not tied
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Was the MCA inspection for Coding purposes, the involvement for the MCA suggests it could be?
 
When I visited the MCA a while ago the officer in charge told us about a fishing boat that had sank. He said he had to tell the families of the crew that they had all drowned, when he knew the liferaft was 'floating' 10 feet below the surface of the water with it's painter tied to the boat which was on the sea bed. I imagine it's this kind of tragedy he's trying to prevent.
 
ronsurf said:
When I visited the MCA a while ago the officer in charge told us about a fishing boat that had sank. He said he had to tell the families of the crew that they had all drowned, when he knew the liferaft was 'floating' 10 feet below the surface of the water with it's painter tied to the boat which was on the sea bed. I imagine it's this kind of tragedy he's trying to prevent.
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If there's no hydro unit on the cradle he's barking up completely the wrong tree, though.

As an aside, I'm mildly surprised that the painter attachment point is strong enough to hold an inflated raft underwater. I mean, I know this is exactly why hydro units have the red plastic weak link, but it seems like a hell of a lot of force to hold with a bit of glue onto a rubber tube.

Pete
 
kippers26 said:
no hydrostatic release fitted , just lift and throw overboard
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So is it not even strapped into the cradle, then?

That's an unusual case, but I suppose logically the painter should be tied on via a weak link. I'm not aware of anyone selling them separately, but if you ask around you should be able to get your hands on a discarded one from a Hammar unit because the Hammar unit itself has a relatively short service life and every new one comes with a link.

Pete
 
Mine is strapped into the cradle, and would be released from the cradle by the hydrostatic release, but would be inflated, by either me pulling on the painter, or the pull on the painter caused by the buoyancy of the raft. The hydrostatic release does NOT inflate the LR. I keep a knife, in a sheath, beside the raft.
I have no intention of putting any of the above, to the test!
 
If the painter is not tied to the boat, then your chances of grabbing it and giving it a hard enough yank to trigger it is minimal. I presume an uninflayed raft will just sink - taking the painter with it?

Rob.
 
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