What kind of liferaft do you carry?

[Kelpie]

Just out of curiosity. If you routinely carry a liferaft, is it a valise or canister?

 

[rogerthebodger]

Mine is a 6 man canister mounted in a quick release frame pushpit mounted

 

[Refueler]

Oh Kelpie ... trying to prove me wrong ??

 

[Tranona]

It is a legitimate question and pretty sure the result will be overwhelmingly in favour of canister, particularly if offshore cruisers answer.

Valise are popular with hire companies for occasional users as they are they are more flexible for hirers, not requiring and external mount and easier to store in a locker or down below.

 

[Concerto]

I have a valise which is kept in the cockpit well as I did not have room to fit a canister on the pushpit.

 

[capnsensible]

On our liveaboard Moody we had a cannister on the coach roof. Same for our school yachts. Who wants to be scrabbling round in a cockpit locker for a heavy valise when its emergency hands to bathe time?

I've sailed a lot of yachts with cockpit locker liferafts that usually end up with a ton of junk on top...

Of the 2 yachts I sail regularly atthe moment, one has a valise which I often move junk off....and the other doesn't have one. I'm OK with that because it's rarely more than a mile or two offshore and not used for passagemaking.

 

[Kelpie]

Oh Kelpie ... trying to prove me wrong ??

Not a question of right or wrong, just curious. Your experience of that most people have valise, my perception is that canisters are more popular.
But perhaps all those boats without a visible raft have a valise stored out of sight? Only way to find out is to ask.

 

[ashtead]

We have a valise which sits under the walkthrough /deck from the stern (just) but doubt it would work for a 6 person raft or one with more kit due to thickness of valise so seago is type or other basic ones - I have always worried that canisters on stern might get hit by unruly boats in the marina . The advantage of valise is it can be taken home in winter etc I agree it would be lost in one of the stern cockpit lockers with the dinghy,paddle boards and canoe etc. . I guess in a cc boat options more limited. I had always thought the might also be a risk of rail mounted ones accidentally falling off the rail ?

 

[Boathook]

No life raft, but I have my dinghy on the back deck ready for use. If I was sailing beyond the English Channel or well offshore I might well then have a liferaft.

 

[Refueler]

It is a legitimate question and pretty sure the result will be overwhelmingly in favour of canister, particularly if offshore cruisers answer.

Valise are popular with hire companies for occasional users as they are they are more flexible for hirers, not requiring and external mount and easier to store in a locker or down below.

The choice of Valise or Canister - often comes about based on size and mounting possibilities on a boat. Canisters are fine on boats of sufficient size to be able to carry them. Valise offers more versatility particularly for the lesser sized boat.

 

[elenya]

4 man canister stored in chocks on deck with a hydrostatic release.

 

[Tranona]

The choice of Valise or Canister - often comes about based on size and mounting possibilities on a boat. Canisters are fine on boats of sufficient size to be able to carry them. Valise offers more versatility particularly for the lesser sized boat.

Is not that exactly what I said, or maybe you did not actually read the post?

 

[Bajansailor]

Ideally I would prefer to have a lifeboat rather than an inflatable liferaft (which might not inflate when I need to use it in anger).
The Portland Pudgies are very nice, but rather expensive, and I would be worried about somebody nicking it when it is used in tender mode.
Dinghy | Rowboat | Lifeboat | Dinghy Sailboat | Dinghy Motor

 

[Refueler]

Is not that exactly what I said, or maybe you did not actually read the post?

??????? Can I have what you're smoking ??

 

[14K478]

I scrapped a large canister liferaft on the foredeck which I think had been a “coding” requirement and fitted two valises - a four man and a six man - in the cockpit lockers. I should explain that the lockers are not in the seats but in the sides of the cockpit and are self draining.





I think this is what the designer intended and I feel safer with it.

Even an unfit and portly 71 year old can pull a small valise raft sideways out of the lockers and up to the side decks. I find it difficult to picture a situation in which the helmsman could not get a raft over the side; the rafts are well protected from the weather and for a small crew the small raft is safer. Also, there are two!

 

[harvey38]

Stern mounted canister.

 

[wonkywinch]

Canister in the cavity under the cockpit floor at the stern that Beneteau designed for it. Accessible via hatch or lowering bathing platform (not sure that would be an option in anything but smooth seas).

 

[rogerthebodger]

This is my life raft mounting under the blue cover

Blue cover now removed as birds were nesting on top

https://flic.kr/p/WM5REc

 

[chubby]

What experiences do folks have of a valise kept on deck? some people seem to have them lashed down but is there in practice water ingress?

 

[14K478]

What experiences do folks have of a valise kept on deck? some people seem to have them lashed down but is there in practice water ingress?

I would not do that. The covers do not seem intended to be waterproof.