What tender to double as liferaft?

C

CharlesM

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Hello all

I do not have a liferaft, and had the thought of getting a tender which can double as a liferaft.

Boat is 43'. Unfortunatley I cannot stow on the foredeck due to the inner forestay.

Preferably good for a round the world/ long distance cruising. Rowable would be nice, but must ba able to handle a 15hp outboard as well.

Capacity... well if liferaft then I guess 6 at a push.

Previously we used the inflatable, towing it as we trundled around the islands, but I am not sure this is appropriate as a liferaft for any length of time.

Any comments/suggestions?

Cheers
Charles
 
I would think any rigid tender with built in buoyancy would be as close as you will get but I wouldn't deceive myself into thinking it will perform as a liferaft in any sort of heavy, cold or wet weather. Will you keep emergency stores aboad when in daily use, how will they be stored, risk of injury abandoning to rigid hull etc.
 
With the benefit of a couple of North Sea survival courses behind me, I would say that anyone who thinks that any tender would suffice as a liferaft is deluding themselves. Even liferafts with full water bags beneath them, holding large numbers of litres, will capsize and roll in any open water sea. My Quicksilver tender, even though it has the largest tube diameter that I could find, would be capsized and swamped in a choppy estuary, never mind open sea. As for the well documented difficulties of righting and boarding a properly designed raft, I imagine that these would pale into insignificance for a tender.
 
Would disagree that it's 'unfortunate' you couldn't stow it on the foredeck. Hope you never need to abandon ship, but if you to you'll want the raft closer to the crew, and not at the part of the boat that leaps about the most.
 
quite right, vc. The dinghy looks like as liferaft so long as it's in a swimming pool. Under no circs can the dinghy ever be a liferaft, unless you are trying to pass some pathetic "safety test"- but in real life a liferaft ain't a dinghy.

Only exclusion wd be i spose if the dighy is refuge for a fire on board. But in all other exmaples esp rtw take a dinghy and a liferaft. Or two liferafts.
 
If you want something for long distance cruising, as you say, then there is absolutely only one sensible option and that is a liferaft for the reasons several posters have already given. Plus, if a dinghy substitute for a liferaft is soft, you will not want to store it on deck because of risk of loss or damage from rough seas so it will take too long to deploy it in an emergency from down below.

We have the same problem as you with an inner forestay - we bought the max lengthed hard dinghy we could fit between the mast and inner forestay (we wanted hard). It sits lashed upside down to solid fitted chocks and we carry a liferaft as well.

John
 
Would share many concerns about the value ofa life raft. However, several survival stories emphasise the value of a hard chine life boat if carriable (eg Steve Callahan who wished for something he could sail and which was more protective against curious fish, or the Baileys who had both a life raft and a dinghy and found it was very valuable to have both.

We therefore have a raft and a swifgig. (We love these, but then we sell them!). Contact us if you want to know more.

The other big thing you ask for which I think is very difficult to add to the mix is the 15hp outboard. Anything you can get on 43' which would take something that size is bound to be some sort of RIB - which will take ages to get in the water and not be nearly stable enough for liferaft type situations.

HTH
 
Hello All

Thanks for the replies.

It seems the general consensus is for a liferaft specifically designed as such, and using the tender as a backup.

That is unfortunate, but I guess I will just need to shell out.

Problem is, what size to go for then?

If usual crew is 2, but you could occasionally have guests on board what then? Surely you do not want to have something to small for the entire bunch. Would a 6 person be adequate then? What do real cruisers do?

Cheers
Charles
 
spose most have a 4 man or 6-man. In fact, 6 cd squeeze in the four ok and it's actually better than 6 in a six-man, so they say - else you roll about too much

There are 2-man liferafts but they are a bit expensive, i think. Pity, cos with twox 2man you can have have 2 shots at a liferaft launch. Or of course you can have a spare liferaft for a bit of peace and quiet after the first few weeks in same liferaft...
 
I agree with TCM. We are normally just 2 on board and we use a 4 man raft and as said one could probably squeeze 6 in for a very short while.

An important thing to remember is that if you carry a registered 406 EPIRB the chances are that you won't ever be in the raft long as the rescue will be conducted by one of the official RCC's and the authorities in the country your boat is registered in (eg Coastguard in UK), even if you are around the other side of the world will also be aware of the emergency. In fact, here in the Pacific most are rescued before the dreaded getting into the raft bit as you have to be in a very remote area to not have a ship within 24 hours steaming of you. If conditions are too rough for a rescue, which means quite extreme conditions, then you probably haven't much chance in the raft in any event.

John
 
i agree with heartless ship's cat except to say that I am sure you'll be fine in the liferaft...

incidentally, it's a really good idea to go on a 1-day course for using a liferaft. Good fun and teaches you how hard it blinking well is to get into a liferaft, and try some ideas for getting in or helping each other etc.
 
/forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif eeeK, a heartless cat. Goodness gracious me, sounds like I am in trouble 'cos whenever I see TCM's posts something goes bomdiddybomdiddybom inside. I wonder what it could be. (For those old enuff to remember Peter Sellar's and Sophia Loran's most silly song ever).

John
 
Thanks all

So a 4 Man canister liferaft... double floor etc etc...

Well, I guess a 4 man is cheaper than a 6 man at least :-)

Cheers
Charles
 
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