Source for canister liferaft cover?

colind3782

colind3782

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I have a shiny new 4 person canister liferaft mounted on the coachroof and I want a cover to keep the sun off when we're tied up. Google and all the usual chandlers' sites are fruitless so far. I can get one made but I would have thought there was a ready market for such a thing off the shelf.

Suggestions?
 
I have been looking at this as well. I found a supplier in Australia but the price was based on measurements and made to order, so I suspect locally made.

A quick review around my marina identified 2 boats with liferaft covers and both were 'classic' style wooden yachts and the covers were obviously made at the same time as the spray hood as they all matched.

Custom made will be the easiest method. For convenience and price shop around at canvas and tarp suppliers, not sailmakers. It would also be a very simple thing to make.
 
Be careful with the colour of the material used to make the cover. The white grp reflects the heat from the sun, keeping the raft reasonably cool inside. If you put a dark coloured cover over the canister, you may find the raft is damaged by the higher temperatures. Probably ok in UK but something to be aware of if you’re heading south.
You’ll almost certainly have to get it custom made for you as most people don’t bother with a cover. Pretty easy job with a reasonably robust domestic machine. I’d also make sure the any cover is easy to remove in a hurry so it doesn’t interfere with deploying the raft.
 
Duncan raises a good point, the risk you have with a cover for your liferaft is that it ma just impede an effective inflation if it got caught or tangled, that’s why no-one makes them as standard and I don’t think in 50 years of sailing I have ever seen a liferaft fitted with one.
 
Praxinoscope said:
Duncan raises a good point, the risk you have with a cover for your liferaft is that it ma just impede an effective inflation if it got caught or tangled, that’s why no-one makes them as standard and I don’t think in 50 years of sailing I have ever seen a liferaft fitted with one.
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Lots of boats here in Empuriabrava have them fitted and I'm sure they would remove them at sea as I would. I have a local cover guy here that does work for me and I'm emailed him for a quote on a white cover.

I did toy with the idea of having it with Velcro seams and a "rip" handle but that would make me lazy and I wouldn't take it off when going out.
 
Made my own using my grandma's 1928 Singer.

Spend £100 and by a Brother + 'Denim' needles.

All good sailors should be able to sew.

Good luck.

PS: I bought the canvas from my sailmaker.
 
STATUE said:
Made my own using my grandma's 1928 Singer.

Spend £100 and by a Brother + 'Denim' needles.

All good sailors should be able to sew.

Good luck.

PS: I bought the canvas from my sailmaker.
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I was taught to use a sewing machine age 7 by the nuns at primary school. They also taught me woodwork but I'm not planning on building a wardrobe any time soon :)
 
STATUE said:
Oh! Come on, you'll never get to Narnia with that attitude.
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:encouragement: You're right about that. I do have the machine and the skills but not the time. In any case, the machine is 1000 miles from the boat! I'm amazed that, given a new liferaft is £600 to well North of a grand, no-one has come up with a protective cover. I'm sure that the canisters are all a standard size for the size of liferaft as I can't see the manufacturers making their own. Perhaps a niche market?
 
Most folks simply don’t bother with a cover. The idea of a canister liferaft is that they are designed to sit in the open, ready to deploy and the casing is designed to stand up to years of that sort of treatment. Casinos tend to outlast the rafts: I recently helped check over a raft from the late 1990’s. The canister was in fine shape, a few scratches but nothing more. The raft, on the other hand, had started to disintegrate as the glue holding the various bits together had come to the end of its life and the things were falling apart, particularly the ballast pockets.
 
All the arguments for not covering are all very well. However, the two boats in my marina that have them are beautiful wooden yachts. The canvas work adds to the attractiveness. Not only is the liferraft covered but so are the winches, tillers, forehatch and windlass, as well as the ubiquitous spray hood. With the boom cover in a matching material it makes for the look of a well cared for yacht. It’s a style that some people like, as opposed to any great functionality.
 
BlowingOldBoots said:
All the arguments for not covering are all very well. However, the two boats in my marina that have them are beautiful wooden yachts. The canvas work adds to the attractiveness. Not only is the liferraft covered but so are the winches, tillers, forehatch and windlass, as well as the ubiquitous spray hood. With the boom cover in a matching material it makes for the look of a well cared for yacht. It’s a style that some people like, as opposed to any great functionality.
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:encouragement:
 
Easier to clean off the random bird s**t off a polished cannister than a canvas cover, but if we all wanted our boats to look the same it wouldn’t ‘arf be boring.
 
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