After the discussions on the T&T lists, I installed the Ovatek 7 on Anjumal. One aspect of the pod type raft is it takes more room. This isn't a problem on the 65. It may be tighter on a 47. The Ovatek only weighs a few hundred pounds and could be put on the top deck, or pilot house roof. We put some thought into what conditions could cause us to need to abandon ship. This could be fire, hitting a whale or cargo container, or disastrous weather. In the case weather related conditions it is hard to imagine how to get into an inflatable, if it even works after all the time in the container, or doesn't blow away in the storm. We were thinking about this while visiting the shipyard and observed that the North Atlantic fishing fleets being serviced out of the yard are shifting to the Ovatek enclosed rigid life capsule shown in the picture - http://www.anjumal.com/images/Port%20in%20harbor_close.jpg As Bob, said, the life-cycle cost is less than a maintained inflatable. Added benefits are numerous. Survival gear can be kept inside, yet still be regularly maintained. A redundant hydrostatic/manual release enables crew to wait out a threatening situation in the lifeboat and only deploy if the ship actually goes down. Of course the rigidity and buoyancy of this design makes it much more likely to survive a storm that has claimed the mother ship. Ovatek sent us videos of the SOLAS testing where it was filled with concrete and dropped into the water and another where it was slammed into a wall. It had to survive both of these tests to be certified. We'll mounted this with the hatch just steps away from the pilot house door. It is close enough to have the passengers remain tethered from the time they exit the pilot house to getting into the raft about 5 steps later. If the ultimate disaster were to be encountered, this will give us a real chance of surviving. Bob wrote: >There are alternatives to life rafts: Look at: >http://www.ovatek.com/index2.html This is a fiberglass rescue pod The >Ovatek 4 is a 4 person pod which is 6'9" long, by 51"wide and 44" >high.Weight 250 lbs. The Cost is about $5600. >The Ovatek 7 is a 7 person pod 9' 3 long, 51" wide and 54" high, weight >400 lbs. Over the life of a raft the cost is less for the fiberglass pod. >Over the 20 year life expectancy of the pod, the cost is half that of a >life raft. Wray West M/V Anjumal (Cape Horn 65) Portsmouth, NH www.anjumal.com