Life Rafts??

Saltwater Offshore Discussion
1

Just wondering if many of you carry one of these?

New to me ride has dual VHF’s along with a handheld. EPIRB, Spot and Boat US policy as well as a Ditch Bag full of life saving/extending items.

Someone mentioned getting a liferaft to go along with everything else. I am limited on space but would like to know some of your thoughts on this please.

As far as going offshore I would probably not have more than 4 people aboard.

In the event of a “Worst Case Scenario” I just want everyone to survive. Hypothermia, sharks, ect!!

Would also need to be compact so Santa can fit it down the chimney…LOL

Thanks alot,
NN

07 23 Key West Twin 115 Yammys

www.joinrfa.org/

2

Yes!!! It is that piece of safety equipment on the boat that you"hope" you never have to use. I think mine will fit 4-6 people and can be carried on and off the boat with ease! Just a great piece of mind for a boat owner. I can’t imagine having an accident on the ocean and one of my friends not coming home… it appears that the price of the new units are coming down! Don’t make the mistake of buying a used outdated unit off of Craigslist /Ebay - most rafts need to be updated every 5 years. Buy it new and have no worries!! Just my .02

36 Contender Fisharound
Are We There Yet?

3

I also have one. It is a nice piece of mine. I have revere 6 person coastal commander valise. I got it through BOE marine shipped to my house in 3 days. I have now worries anymore about going deep.

Chad
Cobia 256 Express
Pulled by a Dodge Ram 3500

4

I also have one. It is a nice piece of mine. I have revere 6 person coastal commander valise. I got it through BOE marine shipped to my house in 3 days. I have now worries anymore about going deep.

Chad

Ditto - including BOE Marine

5

I think they meant “peace of mind” and not a piece of mine. :smiley:

“If the Arabs put down their weapons today, there would be no more violence. If the Jews put down their weapons today, there would be no more Israel .” Benjamin Netanyahu

Ecclesiastes 10:2

GW 205
F200 Yam

6

Yes you are correct. The baileys in my coffee is messing up my typing this morning!!!

quote:
Originally posted by sshaarda

I think they meant “peace of mind” and not a piece of mine. :smiley:

“If the Arabs put down their weapons today, there would be no more violence. If the Jews put down their weapons today, there would be no more Israel .” Benjamin Netanyahu

Ecclesiastes 10:2

GW 205
F200 Yam

Chad
Cobia 256 Express
Pulled by a Dodge Ram 3500

7
quote:
Originally posted by DownandOut

Don’t make the mistake of buying a used outdated unit off of Craigslist /Ebay - most rafts need to be updated every 5 years. Buy it new and have no worries!! Just my .02

36 Contender Fisharound
Are We There Yet?

Good advice…just about every used one I have seen is either due or past-due for an inspection and re-pack. It’ll cost at least $500 to do so…most likely much more. Once you figure that into the cost of a used raft, you’d be much better off buying new.

“Never argue with an idiot…he will drag you down to his level and beat you with experience.”

8

Another option for occasional use is to rent one. They are very reasonable to rent for a weekend.

Capt. Larry Teuton
Cracker Built Custom Boats
Marine Surveying & Repair

9

EPIRB and\or buddy boat over a life raft any day!!! We responded to an EPIRB a couple of years ago offshore. We asked the guys “How long from the time you cut on the EPIRB until we got here?”… Their response was “about 45 minutes”… You would probably not even have broken into your 1rst pack of beef jerky in your liferaft before someone get’s there…

That being said… I believe that they are more important the FURTHER offshore you get and if you plan on spending the NIGHT offshore (which increases the difficulty in finding you in a reasonable period of time)…

Also, I realize that I will catch some flak for this opinion, but I am not sure that I have ever known anyone who has actually used their liferaft on a day trip. I would rather spend the money on a backup EPIRB, spot or any other second device over a raft… Just my 0.02…

Also, hypothermia is not the #1 killer in cold water boating accidents. It’s drowning from muscle fatigue (no life jacket)… Even at waters that are close to freezing (say 33 degrees F), without a life jacket, you would be dead from drowning even before you had the chance to get hypothermia. If I recall, it takes around an hour or so to get hypothermia in cold water, but only about 10-15 minutes before your muscles cramp up to the point where you can’t physically swim…

None-the-less, almost all of this can be mitigated with a buddy boat within VHF range…

Anyway, if you have unlimited money and space, then by all means, go for the raft! But, honestly, I don’t think that they are THAT important for daytime fisherman with an EPIRB, backup distress device, VHF and a buddy boat in our region. Now, if you are sailing around the world by yourself, that’s a different story!!!

Anyway, I realize that because I disagree with the notion that everyone needs a life raft I will be met with a strong resistance, but at some point, I just have to look at the odds of needing one, versus spending money on other equipment that could make me get found faster… In the

10
quote:
Originally posted by skinneej

EPIRB and\or buddy boat over a life raft any day!!! We responded to an EPIRB a couple of years ago offshore. We asked the guys “How long from the time you cut on the EPIRB until we got here?”… Their response was “about 45 minutes”… You would probably not even have broken into your 1rst pack of beef jerky in your liferaft before someone get’s there…

That being said… I believe that they are more important the FURTHER offshore you get and if you plan on spending the NIGHT offshore (which increases the difficulty in finding you in a reasonable period of time)…

Also, I realize that I will catch some flak for this opinion, but I am not sure that I have ever known anyone who has actually used their liferaft on a day trip. I would rather spend the money on a backup EPIRB, spot or any other second device over a raft… Just my 0.02…

Also, hypothermia is not the #1 killer in cold water boating accidents. It’s drowning from muscle fatigue (no life jacket)… Even at waters that are close to freezing (say 33 degrees F), without a life jacket, you would be dead from drowning even before you had the chance to get hypothermia. If I recall, it takes around an hour or so to get hypothermia in cold water, but only about 10-15 minutes before your muscles cramp up to the point where you can’t physically swim…

None-the-less, almost all of this can be mitigated with a buddy boat within VHF range…

Anyway, if you have unlimited money and space, then by all means, go for the raft! But, honestly, I don’t think that they are THAT important for daytime fisherman with an EPIRB, backup distress device, VHF and a buddy boat in our region. Now, if you are sailing around the world by yourself, that’s a different story!!!

Anyway, I realize that because I disagree with the notion that everyone needs a life raft I will be met with a

11

Thanks everyone for your input.

I just wanted to get some thoughts on this as I don’t believe I have seen this topic before.

Already have everything (safety wise) except a raft. Do not have an unlimited budget and a good one is not cheap!!! If I did I would have ordered a Freeman…I wish! Also, space is limited for sure.

There will be no overnight trips (planned anyway).

Thanks again,
NN

07 23 Key West Twin 115 Yammys

www.joinrfa.org/

12
quote:
Originally posted by DoubleN

Thanks everyone for your input.

I just wanted to get some thoughts on this as I don’t believe I have seen this topic before.

Already have everything (safety wise) except a raft. Do not have an unlimited budget and a good one is not cheap!!! If I did I would have ordered a Freeman…I wish! Also, space is limited for sure.

There will be no overnight trips (planned anyway).

Thanks again,
NN

07 23 Key West Twin 115 Yammys

www.joinrfa.org/

You have a backup VHF (especially a hand held), a backup EPIRB (or SPOT), a backup GPS (hand held), and exposure suits? What does "everything" mean?

In my mind, you don’t have “everything” until you have TWO of “everything”… It’s VERY common to have malfunction in at least one of your other systems because of saltwater, wear and tear, and infrequency of use.

13

He has and epirb, 2 mounted radios on boat, handheld vhf as well, GPS, hand held GPS, radar, and a ditch bag like I’ve never seen before equipped for 4 people… He’s got it all pretty well covered. I’m sure he didn’t mean EVERYTHING. So let’s not get technical… BTW the topic is about life rafts

2007 Scout 221 150 Yamaha 4 stroke

14
quote:
Originally posted by xxmadfirexx

He has and epirb, 2 mounted radios on boat, handheld vhf as well, GPS, hand held GPS, radar, and a ditch bag like I’ve never seen before equipped for 4 people… He’s got it all pretty well covered. I’m sure he didn’t mean EVERYTHING. So let’s not get technical… BTW the topic is about life rafts

2007 Scout 221 150 Yamaha 4 stroke

Just looking for clarification. No need to get your panties in a wad... Again, what you consider "everything" and what I consider "everything" could be entirely two different things.

Again, my own personal belief is that there are a lot of “everything” that I would get BEFORE considering a life raft. 2xEPIRBS or (1 EPIRB + 1 SPOT) would be one of those…

15

He has a SPOT as well…

2007 Scout 221 150 Yamaha 4 stroke

16

Gotcha. I didn’t catch that earlier. Only read xxmadfirexx’s summary of equipment before making that statement.

17

…we have two epirbs…one for the boat and one personal size one. .a spot device. A VHF radio as well as a portable one with a hand held gps in a floating box and our boats’ fish finder/gps is tied into our VHF radio. A ditch. Bag with first aid and other stuff we might need such as food,water,extra set clothes(vacuum sealed) and as well as a small bright orange tarp. Offshore life jackets with the safety attachments. Two flare kits and three packages of flares. Hand warmer packs. Couple "pop"ice packs. A waterproof disposable camers, paper and a pen. Couple packs of those pop glow sticks…might want to catch a swordfish while we wait… :wink:

Now here is where you can go ahead and start laughing. These are my crazy extras. I have four life rafts… You know the long thick pool types. I bought bright neon colors…and on the bottom in a very wide sharpie I wrote SOS on allof them…and the name of our boat. Then vaccum sealed them after rolling them into a smaller size package I figure if I’m floating in the water I can blow them up…even use them as a SOS sign if needed…or as a cover .i have four packages of large bright neon balloons and a roll of twine…another way to signal for help. BLow them up…string them together. Attach to where we are. Two pocket knives…snd I have 6 of those solar outside lights like you stick in a flower bed, smaller ones about the size of a large baby food jar…vacuum sealed to keep dry…the sun will charge them by day for light at night…no batteries needed. … and great if we are still on boat and lights fail. One of those orange canister things. Then there’s a sabiki rig and a hand line , i will catch and eat fish if I get hungry from my raft. All of this is separated andvaccum sealed in a ditch bag…with a buoy and extra life jacket attached to it with a small rope and clip …and surprisingly takes up very little room. It stays on deck in a hold for easy access if needed.

we file a float plan…and

Oh yeah…and

18

I bought a life raft for my boat this past year. Obviously, I hope I will never need it but since my kids are with me I am not taking any chance

Bought from BOE an inflatable 6 man valise pack that I carry when going on friends boats as well. It is small and fits in an easy to get to spot without getting in the way.

For the price (I think it was around 1100 bucks) I appreciate the peace of mind.

Also carry an EPIRB with internal GPS, DSC radio, handheld vhf and a ditch bag stocked with water, sunscreen, signalling devices, sea rescue streamer, extra PFDs, signalling mirrors and other stuff

If the shi* hits the fan, I am not going without a fight.

One other option to buying or renting is borrowing. We all know someone with a raft and I loan mine out to friends who don’t have one if they are going without me

Squid Row 2
22 Shamrock WA

Flounder Pounder 2
16 Sandpiper Skiff

19

I have a Zodiac 6 man life raft, and I’m with everyone else in that I hope to goodness I never have to deploy that thing. A friend of ours who owns TowBoat US down in Pensacola has a saying that comes to mind when I think about life rafts and any type of marine safety gear, “What’s your life worth?”

31 Contender
Carolina Skiff J16

20
quote:
A friend of ours who owns TowBoat US down in Pensacola has a saying that comes to mind when I think about life rafts and any type of marine safety gear, "What's your life worth?"

After you ask what your life is worth, or your kids’, ask yourself how long you can tread water, especially in the winter, and how long can your kids?

Capt. Larry Teuton
Cracker Built Custom Boats
Marine Surveying & Repair