Where do you keep your lifteraft (or alternative)?

[prv]

Ouzo was right next to the IOW and had a PLB been on every LJ then it's likely a rescue would have been underway by the time the ferry reached Portsmouth.

I hope it would have been underway long before that, since the ferry was outward bound for Spain

Pete

 

[Daydream believer]

Do you have trouble finding people who want to sail with you?

90% of my sailing is single handed
But if you started sailing a cruiser (Silouhette) in 1959 at 12 years old ( with no parental supervision whatsoever) you would have had a few " experiences" as well & i am sure some of our older forumites can recount just as many such encounters

 

[l'escargot]

90% of my sailing is single handed
But if you started sailing a cruiser (Silouhette) in 1959 at 12 years old ( with no parental supervision whatsoever) you would have had a few " experiences" as well & i am sure some of our older forumites can recount just as many such encounters

But in all that time and throughout all those incidents, you have never needed to use a liferaft?

 

[lustyd]

I hope it would have been underway long before that, since the ferry was outward bound for Spain

Pete

lol sorry I thought it was just getting back, my bad for skim reading

 

[lustyd]

I think this thread is rapidly looking like those who think you should and those who think you should not carry one. I think it's important to mention that I don't think anyone is actually saying you should not carry one but rather that they are lower on the list of priorities.
We each have our own list and mine would be something like:
knowledge
tools
bucket
lifejacket
harness
VHF
Handheld VHF
PLB
Flares
Dinghy
Liferaft

We all need to make our own priority list and act accordingly although this forum can help with rearranging those priorities with extra knowledge

 

[Daydream believer]

But in all that time and throughout all those incidents, you have never needed to use a liferaft?

The point is I do not know what the next problem will be, so I carry flares but have only ever fired white ones

Come to that I have just realised that for the last 12 months I need not have done my seat belts up either, & I have done 10 times the mileage in my car

As far as I am concerned it will be handy if I never need it

 

[Rivers & creeks]

This year I was almost run down by a large container vessel in the Black Deep. I missed by less than 60Ft & if not had turned away I would have hit middle of the ship
The year before I had 4 near misses in the channel- by that i mean less than 150 yards

I will keep my liferaft thankyou

But people did not wear seat belts & my life was almost certainly saved by one
Lots of people do not wear life jackets or safety harnesses - I have been over the side 3 times
Lots of people do not get near misses with other craft- I have had collisions with 2 other yachts causing hundreds of pounds of damage & a number of near misses with fishing boats & ships
Lots of people do not have fires on board -- I had one mid North Sea with no VHF in those days ( the part inflated Avon was soon chucked over the side but trying to inflate it was a read difficult job)
Lots of people have not been dismasted- i have been once- plus several times in dinghies but that does not count
Lots of people do not run aground - i have hit every sandbank in the Thames estuary & if I had not had a long keel I suspect one particular grounding may well have punched my current fin straight through the hull
Not every one has been washed against a pier head & had the boat pounded under them - i have

So regardess of what you think I will go for the life raft & just about every other safety device I feel comfortable with

Oh & i won £ 10-00 on the lottery once as well

It's not a liferaft you need, it's some courses in navigation and seamanship, that's a heck of a litany of near misses and disasters! On second thoughts, do the courses but keep the liferaft - maybe a second for luck?

 

[Seajet]

It's not a liferaft you need, it's some courses in navigation and seamanship, that's a heck of a litany of near misses and disasters! On second thoughts, do the courses but keep the liferaft - maybe a second for luck?

+1, and a subscription to Thunderbirds & International Rescue !

 

[Daydream believer]

It's not a liferaft you need, it's some courses in navigation and seamanship,

& I suppose you are an expert then !!!!

 

[Seajet]

Well Daydream Believer is enough of an ' expert ' for his alarm bells to ring in this case, and so do mine !

I once met a chap who had singlehanded from Hull to Weymouth.

This is true and verbatim.

He described taking 20 minute cat-naps as he tacked through the shipping lanes, ending with

" I 'ad this 250,000 tonner, and 'e wouldn't give way '...

This nearly wrecked a perfectly good pair of deck shoes as my toes curled.

 

[fisherman]

Nobody is saying you have to get one. You have clearly convinced yourself you do not need one so there would be no point in telling you your arguement is folly

Au contraire mon brave, I have had a liferaft aboard since 1983. I merely put forward the salient point about stats.

 

[JumbleDuck]

This year I was almost run down by a large container vessel in the Black Deep. I missed by less than 60Ft & if not had turned away I would have hit middle of the ship

It sounds more as if you nearly hit it. That said, if you were hit by a ship with enough force to sink your boat, what do you think the chances are that either you or your liferaft would be in usable condition afterwards?

 

[Simondjuk]

You can't use reports issued by the MAIB to reach a statistical conclusion of any value whatsoever, since they do not report on every accident by a long chalk.

 

[JumbleDuck]

You can't use reports issued by the MAIB to reach a statistical conclusion of any value whatsoever, since they do not report on every accident by a long chalk.

Indeed. I would expect them only to investigate the more serious incidents in which a liferaft was more likely to be used, so statistical analysis of their reports probably greatly overestimates the frequency of liferaft use.

 

[Simondjuk]

More likely the opposite.

If it's not commercial and an investigation is unlikely to serve to improve marine safety, then an investigation and subsequent report is unlikely. Instances of abandonment of small, private vessels for clear cut reasons tend not to figure in their reports. Therefore there may be incidents in which a liferaft was used which do not appear amongst the reports.

 

[duncan99210]

More likely the opposite.

If it's not commercial and an investigation is unlikely to serve to improve marine safety, then an investigation and subsequent report is unlikely. Instances of abandonment of small, private vessels for clear cut reasons tend not to figure in their reports. Therefore there may be incidents in which a liferaft was used which do not appear amongst the reports.

Evidence?

 

[Simondjuk]

What do you mean 'evidence'? The MAIB rarely investigate non-commercial leisure accidents. Simple as that.

 

[JumbleDuck]

What do you mean 'evidence'? The MAIB rarely investigate non-commercial leisure accidents. Simple as that.

But when they do, it's the serious ones.

 

[Simondjuk]

It's not based on seriousness, however you quantify that.

 

[l'escargot]

But when they do, it's the serious ones.

They tend to only investigate incidents where they think there is some learning in them. They don't usually investigate straight forward incidents with a clear cause and outcome. Certainly with leisure boats, far more happen than are investigated.