Using an out of date life raft

[Sandy]

If you're caught in that while coastal cruising you're doing it wrong.

Even I know the weather forecasters actually don't control the weather. I live a couple of miles from the Met Office in Exeter and they still are not 100% accurate, even with looking out of the window.

Serious question
What are the worst case sea state and wind conditions that would reasonably be expected to allow a life raft to be launched from a leisure boat and to allow peole to get into the raft .

That question is unanswerable, when the 'chips are down' nobody knows how they will respond, adrenaline is an amazing thing.

 

[KAM]

Servicing yourself has the advantage that you will know what's inside and what everything looks like. There will be a big difference between a raft which has been on deck in the tropics and one kept below deck on a boat further north which is only in service for 6 months a year. Remember it's not difficult to inflate by hand if the worst happens and the auto inflation fails.

 

[awol]

Servicing yourself has the advantage that you will know what's inside and what everything looks like. There will be a big difference between a raft which has been on deck in the tropics and one kept below deck on a boat further north which is only in service for 6 months a year. Remember it's not difficult to inflate by hand if the worst happens and the auto inflation fails.

Have you actually seen the joke hand pumps that come with the plastic spoons in leisure rafts?

 

[KAM]

Have you actually seen the joke hand pumps that come with the plastic spoons in leisure rafts?

Yes. I'd use my dinghy pump. Constantly amazed at the poor quality of some yacht safety equipment.

 

[38mess]

Why not hire one. It's works out at around £6 a week for my 12 man, gets changed for a serviced one every three years.

 

[Daydream believer]

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

If you are going to use a mobile phone you need a broomstick & some duct tape to make a paddle. Because that is about as much use it would be, once a few miles off shore. Actually, where I live you would be better with 2 coke tins & a bit of string; & that is inland

 

[awol]

Why not hire one. It's works out at around £6 a week for my 12 man, gets changed for a serviced one every three years.

I recommend you read the MAIB report on the Louisa sinking - not a good advertisement for hire rafts.

 

[38mess]

I recommend you read the MAIB report on the Louisa sinking - not a good advertisement for hire rafts.

Well what are we supposed to do then?

 

[awol]

Well what are we supposed to do then?

"It would be more seemly to drown like a gentleman."

 

[penfold]

If you are going to use a mobile phone you need a broomstick & some duct tape to make a paddle. Because that is about as much use it would be, once a few miles off shore. Actually, where I live you would be better with 2 coke tins & a bit of string; & that is inland

For clarity my original statement assumes you have the usual coastal safety equipment, including but not exclusive to an installed 25w VHF and a 5w handheld.

 

[Supertramp]

Well what are we supposed to do then?

You make decisions about the range and type of safety gear you carry based on your boat, type of sailing, crew and financial circumstances.

If (and when) my liferaft goes out of date I would make sure I had a dinghy ready to go on board. PLB and EPIRB seem wise. Handheld VHF, grab bag, fire extinguishers and so on.

With many nautical and non-nautical safety incidents it is often an unexpected outcome arising from historic maintenance, purchasing or training decisions that contribute to the incident. An example might be you worry about a storm at sea but a corroded gas pipe causes a fire.

Its easy to say buy new everything, but I could not afford it and would I know how to use it all? So it's about considering possibilities, listening to experience and opinions and making your choices for you and your crew. Big responsibility.

 

[CapPugwash]

We get ours serviced. It dosn't cost very much. However, I think the main thing that they replace is the food and water. So unless you're going across an ocean, a few years out of date won't make any difference.

 

[Daydream believer]

For clarity my original statement assumes you have the usual coastal safety equipment, including but not exclusive to an installed 25w VHF and a 5w handheld.

Perhaps you might have made that clear then. Your post certainly does not. There are some reading this thread ( & others) for advice. Not realising your comments were incomplete. They may well have thought that they were sufficiently well equipped. I bet that there are more than a few who would think that & taken to their craft unprepared for emergencies.
In fact i would suggest otherwise as my somewhat sarcastic post was meant to indicate.

 

[fisherman]

I recommend you read the MAIB report on the Louisa sinking - not a good advertisement for hire rafts.

...and the Lady Hamilton/Blithe Spirit report. In that one the hirer was VERY anxious to get the raft back when the boat was raised, but not as anxious as the MCA to hang on to it.
To be fair they reimbursed the hire fee for the remainder of the period after the raft failed.

 

[penfold]

Perhaps you might have made that clear then. Your post certainly does not. There are some reading this thread ( & others) for advice. Not realising your comments were incomplete. They may well have thought that they were sufficiently well equipped. I bet that there are more than a few who would think that & taken to their craft unprepared for emergencies.
In fact i would suggest otherwise as my somewhat sarcastic post was meant to indicate.

Yes, because yachting novices are going to use my post as an equipment list for their coastal cruising.

 

[Daydream believer]

Yes, because yachting novices are going to use my post as an equipment list for their coastal cruising.

A pretty poor list in my opinion. But to each his own

 

[Travelling Westerly]

Have you actually seen the joke hand pumps that come with the plastic spoons in leisure rafts?

Absolutely spot on.

I've been reading many threads, past and present on self servicing liferafts. I have an Ocean Safety 4 man that was due its last service in 2015. Its been in my shed as I've always opted to disembark into my dingy (dressed in full Crewsaver offshore immersion suits).

So I decided to open it up yesterday and perhaps service it myself.

Few things learnt.

1. The liferaft itself is in remarkable condition though I've yet to pump it up and leak test it (neatly leads onto to point 2&3)

2. The CO2 inflation cylinder fitting to the liferaft was loose, expect major gas leak during inflation would have meant me having to top it up manually.

3. The emergency equipment supplied is mickey mouse quality. The supplied pump is dire. Doubt it would top up my push bikes tire let alone a raft.

4. As said by another poster, they'd use their dingy pump to inflate the raft. I thought so too until I realised the inflation fitting in the liferaft is not compatible with my dingy pump fittings!

5. It looks real difficult to get back into the canister

 

[ghostlymoron]

A pretty poor list in my opinion. But to each his own

I think he was being ironic (at least i hope so)

 

[pandos]

I recommend you read the MAIB report on the Louisa sinking - not a good advertisement for hire rafts.

And the MCIB investigation on Megga Watt and the Asgard..no one died, but in both cases liferafts failed to perform properly despite being in service...

 

[pandos]

Absolutely spot on.

I've been reading many threads, past and present on self servicing liferafts. I have an Ocean Safety 4 man that was due its last service in 2015. Its been in my shed as I've always opted to disembark into my dingy (dressed in full Crewsaver offshore immersion suits).

So I decided to open it up yesterday and perhaps service it myself.

Few things learnt.

1. The liferaft itself is in remarkable condition though I've yet to pump it up and leak test it (neatly leads onto to point 2&3)

2. The CO2 inflation cylinder fitting to the liferaft was loose, expect major gas leak during inflation would have meant me having to top it up manually.

3. The emergency equipment supplied is mickey mouse quality. The supplied pump is dire. Doubt it would top up my push bikes tire let alone a raft.

4. As said by another poster, they'd use their dingy pump to inflate the raft. I thought so too until I realised the inflation fitting in the liferaft is not compatible with my dingy pump fittings!

5. It looks real difficult to get back into the canister

If the bottle connection was loose it may not have had the pressure needed to burst open the cannister.

Had it been serviced?

If you want to repack it you could use a vacuum cleaner to extract the air from the raft itelf and then a vacuum storage bag to shrink the raft to less than cannister size...