Valise liferaft - on deck?

[brownsox]

We've inherited a Seago 4 man valise liferaft with our new boat. Can't decide whether to keep it, as we are firmly of the "only step up" school of thought, no gas on board, and cautious mostly coastal sailors ... But if we do keep it, are the valise type meant to be stored on deck, eg lashed down by the mast? I always thought the canisters kind of burst open and the raft zooms out when required ... but the valise has a zip and I can imagine struggling even to get it out of there. In a stressful situation ...
Previous owner kept it under the saloon table and it weighs a ton. Not easy to manhandle up on deck.
Does anyone know about these things?

 

[dombuckley]

Valise type liferafts should be stored below or in a weatherproof locker. They aren't waterproof enough to be kept on deck, and any moisture that gets in will affect items such as flares, gas inflation and so on. If you sail in sheltered waters, where you don't usually get waves across the deck, you may consider putting it up on deck by the mast when sailing, but I suggest you would quickly tire of getting it up and down every time you want to go sailing. Better to find a readily accessible place (like under the saloon table, as the previous owner did) and keep it there permanently.

 

[KenMcCulloch]

The valise is moderately weatherproof but not to the same standard as a canister. I have one just like yours and my practice is to keep it in my very deep cockpit at sea. If you look on one side you will see a velcro-ed flap and the painter end is under there. Tie that to something immovable then throw the whole valise in the sea, no need to unzip. Pull out the painter line, length is indicated on the valise but probably about 10m, and a sharp tug will trigger infation. Step aboard and attempt to regain your composure.

Do a sea survival course and you will have the chance to play with a lifraft in a heated pool.

 

[Jonny_H]

We inherited an XM 4 man valise. It was due a service when we bought the boat, so while it was out I asked the guy servicing it to repack it into a canister.
We had simalar concerns to you - ours was stored under the chart table - not ideal.
A new canister was a ridiculous price (£200), but the engineer found a 'nearly new' Avon 4 man canister that he repacked our raft into (£70 for the canister and he repacked it into it for free as part of the service). (I never asked what happened to the raft that was previously in the canister!!)

We now have ours mounted in a cradle on the transom - flip one catch and nudge it - hey presto - much better IMHO.

Jonny

 

[MoodySabre]

My 4 man valise (not a Seago) fits under the seat across the aft end of the cockpit and has lived there for 2 years. As it has a 3 year service period it must be vacuum packed and therefore in a waterproof inner bag. My only concern is that in a very rough sea it would restrict the volume of water getting to the cockpit drains. I have to agree that a small canister on the pushpit has to be the neatest solution.

 

[FAITIRA]

Definitly Not, on deck, twud be ruined, I actually prefer the valise, out of the weather, and if it,s needed, i,m sure the getting it up there would be not an issue!

 

[john_morris_uk]

Like Johny_H we had a valise type which fitted a purpose built locker on our last boat, but we had it repacked into a canister for our current boat. Ours is a Plastimo and the Canister wasn't too expensive. The bottom line is that valise needs to be out of the weather in a locker somewhere. You don't need to unzip to launch. If you want it on deck, get it repacked.