Using an out of date life raft

[lumphammer]

So my 14 year old life-raft is now one year out of date with the last inspection done in May 2018, and valid for three years. The life-raft is a Viking RescYou Pro that cost several thousand back in 2008. I would like to use it for another year for a cruise this year to Southern Ireland.
How happy would you be to use it for another year? Would anybody in Ireland be interested in the expiry date?

 

[awol]

A bit of Dymo tape and change the date - all sorted! Everything will be absolutely fine............................. unless you actually need it when it will either work and you will feel justified or it won't but possibly no-one will ever know and given the record of liferafts it may not have worked when it was in-date.

 

[paulajayne]

One item I hope never to use, but one item to keep in date.

 

[awol]

One item I hope never to use, but one item to keep in date.

Still no guarantee it will actually work. Don't forget to carry a rabbit's foot - though it too may not work!

 

[penfold]

For coastal cruising a mobile phone and an inflated rubber dinghy is sufficient. How much to get it redone?

 

[lumphammer]

For coastal cruising a mobile phone and an inflated rubber dinghy is sufficient. How much to get it redone?

That's the problem because of its age it is an annual service at around £600 a time. ADEC Marine who serviced it last time no longer service Viking rafts. I will be going to Ocean Safety, but was hoping to get another year out of it before I give it away.

 

[thinwater]

The way I see it, for coastal sailing, I won't be sailing in real shit weather or far out. Therefore, the need is for fire, a failed thru-hull of something like that, so and inflated dinghy with 5 gallons of gas should take me to shore in reasonable time.

Pick your passages.

 

[fisherman]

My ancient and out of date Plastimo was as good 8 years out of date as when newly serviced, ie, not much.....although when I cut open the canister I was able to fire it. Wrongly rigged trigger lanyard. My 2007 out of date by five years Seago inflated a few weeks ago when the carrier (most likely) dropped it very sharply. Are you feeling lucky? There is much to be said for getting the raft inflated on deck before the last minute.

 

[Jmc1764]

last year I fired up a 30 year out of date Avon life raft. It worked perfectly !

 

[HissyFit]

Still no guarantee it will actually work. Don't forget to carry a rabbit's foot - though it too may not work!

Didn't work for the rabbit.

 

[Tranona]

So my 14 year old life-raft is now one year out of date with the last inspection done in May 2018, and valid for three years. The life-raft is a Viking RescYou Pro that cost several thousand back in 2008. I would like to use it for another year for a cruise this year to Southern Ireland.
How happy would you be to use it for another year? Would anybody in Ireland be interested in the expiry date?

There is no legal requirement for a UK yacht to carry a liferaft, nor that it has to be in date if you do carry one. So the only person who decides on this issue is you. You have now carried the raft for 15 years and never used it. What is it about this coming year's cruise that is so different and so much more dangerous that you think you will need it? And if you do as already pointed out how do you know if it would ever work, either when new or now?

 

[pandos]

No one in Ireland will care how in date or out of date your raft is.

My first raft (now 18 years old) which was serviced twice, would not have inflated if it was needed. I discovered this when I serviced it myself.

A second hand raft which is now 4 years old would not have fired as the trigger mechanism was not tied correctly.

A 30 year old raft (which was on my boat when I bought it) had not been serviced for 15 years, fired off and stayed inflated for days...

There are recorded cases of rafts not triggering or performing when needed despite being certified and in date ( see Megawatt, and the Asgard investigations)

There's another thread running where a forumite who services rafts came across a raft where the valves had been assembled with an incorrect spring, and thus would not have fired.

My view is that it is not much better than a 50/50 chance that a raft will actually perform properly when needed.

Certainly I will be surprised if I ever need it and it actually works....

 

[penfold]

That's the problem because of its age it is an annual service at around £600 a time. ADEC Marine who serviced it last time no longer service Viking rafts. I will be going to Ocean Safety, but was hoping to get another year out of it before I give it away.

If you feel the need you could DIY; unpack and inflate with a footpump, eyeball the tubes for chafe or peeling seam tape, weigh the CO2 cylinder then repack. make a note of how it is all stowed so you can reverse the process. They aren't magic, it's just like a lifejacket only bigger.

 

[Neeves]

I had a life raft serviced by a respected company whose main business was serving similar items for a major international airline (and maybe airlines). When it cam to be serviced the next time, because I had moved this next service was with a different company, it was found to contain no water nor flares.

Jonathan

 

[coopec]

Plastimo liferafts offer an 18 year warranty but you would have to have the L/R serviced according to their schedule (every year?) and by an approved Plastimo Servicing Center.

SOLAS require a life raft to be serviced every year. All professional fishermen in Western Australia must have their L/R serviced every year.

I did a lot of research when I bought a life raft from a re-cycle yard and apparently L/R used in the tropics require servicing at more regular intervals.

Life rafts built for coastal environment (ISO 9650 Type 2) are more lightly constructed than life raft built for open ocean (ISO 9650 Type 1)
https://docs.gestionaweb.cat/1254/iso.pdf

I had my L/R (16 yrs old) inspected by approved Plastimo Service Agents and they said there was nothing wrong with it.

I think it's a bit like a motor car: do you send a car to the wrecking yard when it is 15 years old?

 

[38mess]

It's going to be fine for a few years I would think. It's not suddenly going to disintegrated at midnight on the expiration date.

 

[Iliade]

Why not check it yourself to find out? You could even let us know the outcome for the furtherance of knowledge.

 

[Supertramp]

I test inflated two 20 year old lifejackets a few weeks ago. Co2 and triggers worked fine. One failed and deflated as the seal around the manual inflation valve leaked. Both are now binned.

If you have safety gear because you want it to safe lives then buy new, good quality and throw away at 10 - 15 years (with necessary servicing and checks in between) . I am happy checking my own lifejackets and if I think about it then probably my liferaft as I will do it carefully. Wish I'd kept my old larger cannister...

Agree with post #5 at least for coastal sailing. A regularly used and inflated dinghy plus a grab bag, phone and hand VHF means you know everything will work and even more importantly you know how to use it.

 

[Helidan]

So my 14 year old life-raft is now one year out of date with the last inspection done in May 2018, and valid for three years. The life-raft is a Viking RescYou Pro that cost several thousand back in 2008. I would like to use it for another year for a cruise this year to Southern Ireland.
How happy would you be to use it for another year? Would anybody in Ireland be interested in the expiry date?

Viking make VERY high quality rafts, assuming it was serviced correctly I wouldn't worry about using it for another year. Back during the peak of the pandemic we were issuing extended certificates for commercial rafts due to severe delays in servicing and organising swap-outs etc.

 

[Helidan]

Why not check it yourself to find out? You could even let us know the outcome for the furtherance of knowledge.

The op's Viking could well be a hermetically sealed design, it would need special tools and equipment to service correctly.