BlueChip
regular
Reged: 24/08/2004
Posts: 1514
Loc: Bucks/Gosport
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Liferaft now costs approx £500+, what price the lives of your family and friends?
Its like life insurance, you pay your premiums and hope your family never have to claim
A fire is as likely to happen inshore as on a cross channel crossing.
Life expectancy in the sea this time of the year- jut a few minutes?
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mikehibb
regular
Reged: 23/09/2007
Posts: 424
Loc: Turkey Azerbaijan and Georgia
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I Life raft is just like an insurance policy, something that costs extra and you hope you do not need it, but if you get into a situation where you need one you will regret not having one.
I am a med sailor (Coastal) an luckily my boat came with one, I would still have invested in one anyway.
UK sailing has much colder waters, it is not so much how far you sail from the shore, but how far you can swim in cold water espicially if injured or already tired after trying to save the boat.
Down to personal choice, my choice is to have one.
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steve_clayton
regular
Reged: 22/05/2003
Posts: 2482
Loc: king; I did RAF training there
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Do your own risk assessment.
1. What's the worst possible impact if you don't have a liferaft?
2. What's the likelihood of you having to use it?
3. Does the cost outweigh the worst possible impact above?
AND if you haven't done it then do do the sea survival 1 day course!!!
My answers:
1 .You, and others whose saftey is in your hands, die
2. Unless your answer is "never" then answer to no 1. over-rides your answer
3. What price do you put on life?
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Much work still remains to be done before I can announce my total failure to make any progress
www.seraph-sailing.com
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SAWDOC
regular
Reged: 24/02/2008
Posts: 148
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In the absence of a liferaft for whatever reason, I would not do any coastal cruising without an inflated dinghy or a solid dinghy towed astern.
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RGH
regular
Reged: 03/01/2005
Posts: 118
Loc: North Somerset.
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You see the orc 6 man cannister liferaft "plastimo" I have was new in 2002, cost to maintain in 2005 was £180, cost to maintain this month £486,( the magazines seem to say don`t buy the cheaper ones), so approx. cost to date of this particular one inc.purchase is £1,866 over 6 years so far, and yes what price safety, I did ask what do you do and I bet the vast majority don`t have one.
However, thanks for your replies.
RGH
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Searush
regular
Reged: 14/10/2006
Posts: 3956
Loc: k up if caught.
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I have never had or required one in 35 years of Irish Sea cruising. Mostly inshore/ coastal (where the rocks are!) lots of strong tides (11m springs) overfalls and even a traffic separation zone. Have done passages to Ireland & IoM and not felt a need for one.
Yes, the consequences of sinking without one are dire. But yacht sinkings on shortish passages - like mine, are rare, very rare. I can live (or die) with that. Why do we have to get emotional blackmail to buy liferafts? Aside of oceanic passages, has anyone on here ever used one in earnest (ignoring pool sessions)?
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Boaty junk clogging up your shed or lockers? Chuck it in Marinaskip
Want a used bike, spares or repairs in Staffordshire? Visit http://back2bikes.org.uk/
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Tranona
regular
Reged: 10/11/2007
Posts: 1377
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Not suggesting you are. I can only assume that the capsize was the charter boat that was overwhelmed in the Needles Channel. One crew survived in the boat. A liferaft was not deployed and it is unlikely that a liferaft would have made any difference to the outcome because two of the crew were swept overboard and the other drowned by being trapped underwater in the boat which stayed afloat and was washed ashore.
Still interested in the Thames estuary incident as it does not sseem to appear on any MAIB report.
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Login_name
regular
Reged: 07/05/2008
Posts: 555
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That's much how I feel about it too.
In the Fastnet didn't more people die in liferafts than died on boats? Possibly a false sense of security?
In any event, by all accounts people who have spent any time in a liferaft in real conditions always say that they wish they were dead!
Of course a liferaft is desirable, but I think the implication that it is essential in all situations is a little O.T.T.
I wonder how many of those who reckon a liferaft is essential have not had theirs serviced this year, or don't carry an EPIRB, or who have out of date flares, or have taken a short cut on maintenance, or have not filed a passage plan etc etc. All of these things could be argued as being "essential".
Safety can't be 100%, but it can be managed.
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peterb
regular
Reged: 16/05/2001
Posts: 2085
Loc: Radlett, Herts
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Don't forget the Ouzo. The MAIB report says that if they had had a liferaft they would probably have survived. And don't forget the Wahkuna. They did have a liferaft, and used it. They were spotted by a ferry some 6 hours later (if I remember correctly) and survived. Without that liferaft would they have survived to be spotted? Would they have been spotted at all?
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Tranona
regular
Reged: 10/11/2007
Posts: 1377
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The Ouzo comment is overstating the case. This was almost certainly a catastrophic event and it is unlikely that a liferaft would have been deployed effectively. There are no reported cases in MAIB reports where a raft was successful in such (very rare) incidents.
Wakhuna is a very different case as she took some (relative) time to sink and the abandon ship was in an organised manner. It was also almost calm and in daylight. However, in a similar case (Megawat) which also sank slowly after a structural failure, the raft failed to inflate. Fortunately there was another yacht close by which rescued the crew.
Leave you to draw your own conclusions
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