[Public-List] Liferaft Storage

[Gordon Laco]

Hello again - 

I forgot to say that we paid for the repacking of all three rafts, and a
rental for the third one!

Last I heard, Les is still using the Zodiac dinghy....

Gord




On 25/11/13 1:48 PM, "Gordon Laco" <mainstay at csolve.net> wrote:

> Good day -
> 
> My only direct experience with life rafts was when I served as a consultant
> on the television show 'Survivorman' in which Les Stroud is sent into
> various environments and copes for five days with what one might expect to
> have at hand.  Sometimes he's been in the desert, sometimes a swamp, the one
> I did with him was assuming he'd had to abandon a yacht at sea and live in a
> life raft for five days.
> 
> The production company made a deal with Switlik for the use of one of their
> four person life rafts; but they backed out at the last minute suggesting
> that a five day test of a life raft was unrealistic...their representative
> said 'in this day and age anyone anywhere should expect rescue in two days'.
> 
> I reckon he doesn't read the news nor books much.
> 
> We were in a pickle; there we were in Belize about to set Les adrift but
> without a raft.  I hit upon the idea of renting a raft from a yacht actually
> on a voyage; there were several yachts around, I knew people would probably
> be glad of the cash and it would add an interesting story point to be using
> a 'real' raft in the midst of a voyage.
> 
> The first two rafts we tried (and you can guess where this is going) which
> had both been stored in on-deck canisters, inflated correctly when the
> lanyard was pulled.  The first literally fell to pieces before our eyes.
> You should have seen the look on the owner's face.  The glue had perished
> and the raft sank before our eyes as a bunch of sheets of hypalon rubber.
> 
> The second raft didn't quite fall to pieces, but it leaked so badly that we
> couldn't use it.  You should have seen the look on that fellow's face too.
> 
> The third raft blew up and...and.... Stayed inflated.  However, when we
> opened the emergency kit, we found twice the amount of food in the
> container, but no water.  You should have seen the look on that fellow's
> face.
> 
> Each of these rafts were by name-brand manufacturers you'd all know.  The
> first two had been stored in deck canisters and I reckon baking in the sun
> is what did them in.  The first one was three years past it's repack date,
> the second one year past, as was  the third.
> 
> We gave Les a very old Zodiac inflatable boat reckoning that it was
> reasonable to assume a sailor abandoning ship would bring his dink.
> 
> Les ended up living during the day in the life raft to get out of the sun,
> but he had to work steadily to keep it inflated and also bailed out.  It
> leaked through it's bottom.
> 
> The ancient Zodiac however, performed flawlessly and he slept in it at
> night.  Which was fine except when it rained in which case he really
> suffered.  
> 
> So what did I come away from that with?  Always observe the repack dates.
> And with regard to stowage - most certainly on-deck stowage is best with
> regard to getting the raft over the side; but beware the effect of the sun
> baking your raft while you're sailing.  I'd suggest only putting it out on
> deck when you're making a passage.
> 
> Well there's another long message, I hope it's interesting.
> 
> Gord #426 Surprise
> 
> On 25/11/13 1:23 PM, "gregr at nethere.com" <gregr at nethere.com> wrote:
> 
>> Hi Folks,
>> 
>> I'm in the process of adding a Viking RescYou 4 person life raft to Ayla.
>> What are the good locations to store it?
>> 
>> Aft Lazarette: Fairly easy access. I try to only load the aft compartment
>> with light stuff like cushions and fenders. Ayla already squats a bit due
>> to the Yanmar 2GM. I'm not sure that another 60lbs would make much of a
>> difference but it's going in the wrong direction...
>> 
>> Port Lazarette: Battery 2 in here to have it up higher to protect it. Also
>> used for 5 gal water jug and sails. The battery and water help to balance
>> the fuel on the Starboard side.
>> 
>> Starboard Lazarette: Original diesel tank. Boat maintenance stuff like
>> bucket, boat brush, etc... Try to not had weight to the ~90lbs of fuel.
>> 
>> Cabin top between mast and turtle: Might be tough to launch from here in
>> truly lousy conditions. Might further reduce visibility forward.
>> 
>> 
>> Regards,
>> 
>> Greg
>> 
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> 
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