[Public-List] Liferaft Storage

Mon Nov 25 12:24:51 PST 2013

Hi Gordo,  great story.  I bought a raft last spring for the single handed transpac and talked to a bunch or raft manufacturers.   Most all the manufacturers said the same thing you relate - heat from the  sun, particularly in the tropics, cooks the adhesive they use to glue the fabric rafts together.  Hence the two year repack requirement.  

Two or  three were made for commercial ocean serve mainly for the fishing industry, and appeared to have better longevity and service life.  One company, cant remember which, uses rubber rather than  hypolan fabric and says the vulcanizing process does not come apart like glued fabric.  Maybe thats why the old zodiacs and avons last so long.  These rafts were around $5k and up for a four man offshore self righting raft.  The cheaper rafts were around $2500 more or less all boat show prices... 

Regards
Glenn 
dolce 318

Sent from my iPad

On Nov 25, 2013, at 10:48 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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