You among a few others have posted a lot of sense but unfortunately people get blinded by a certain viewpoint.
A liferaft is a sensible safety feature I carry 2! Its a charter boat so an 8 man for the coding and a 4 man with hydrostatic release when there is only 2 of us. In itself though a Liferaft would not be high on my list of priorities in listing safety accessories.
Someone on here mentioned the Ouzo incident. On X channel I ask crew to buy a simple pack of 10 handheld parachute flares and carry them in their salopette pocket- cost about £35. That may have made all the difference in the sad Ouzo affair. Next would be a waterproof handheld VHF clipped to your lifejacket. One person survived much longer in the water than the other 2 as he had crotch straps on his LJ - cost £7. As personal GPS EPIRBS are now down to £325 I think that would be next (I keep one attached to my LJ) and lastly a Liferaft is good and would have a higher priority if I sailed in cold waters with very limited immersion survival time. If on a limited budget I think I might put Radar a higher priority than a Liferaft.
I do wish more people really thought about the risks and took the appropriate safety measures for their circumstances rather than this one size fits all.
I also like to sail in a way (hence the priority for Radar) with correct preparation that results in all this being unnecessary and a total waste of money!
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Re: "Liferaft" is it needed for coastal cruising in UK
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