Hi all, I recently bought a used trawler for coastal cruising in the warmer months and a trip around the Great Loop. The vessel has an Avon 4 person life raft but it was last inspected and restocked in 1998 and may be over 10 years old. The dealer says there is a fee ($150) to open it up and prepare a cost estimated of what it costs to make it operable (maybe a BU)...and there is a chance that it has deteriorated to a point it cannot be made operable. What's the consensus? Will I need such a safety devise in coastal waters if I have a dinghy on the transom and the mate chooses when the weather is too rough? Any similar experiences to predict the usability of a raft in its box for such a long time? Mike Neumann Double Adventure Hatteras 42 LRC

Jim & Rita Ague
M/V Derreen, Monk 36
currently tied up in NMB, SC
ague@usa.net

I think this boils down to a personal decision. Our cruising goals match yours. Like you, we don't have one, and we do have a dinghy. We don't feel we need a life raft. If we were to go to the Bahamas, we would plan to cross the gulfstream with a group. -- Jim ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Jim & Rita Ague M/V Derreen, Monk 36 currently tied up in NMB, SC ague@usa.net ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Mike; We cruised the Caribbean for 6 yrs. (sail boat) and carried a life raft which we had repacked every 2 yrs. At one re-pack they found a hole where the inflation valve had chafed against the tube. The raft was in a canister stored on deck. I have a friend who bought a brand new raft (well known brand), used it one time on a trip to/from Bermuda and stored it in his basement for 5 yrs. Took it to a dealer for inspection to see if it was still good (he wanted to sell it). Several of the seams were bad (he inflated it with a vaccumn cleaner, no where near the inflation pressure of the CO2 tank that would be used in an emergency) and in many areas the tubes were cracked and rotted along the creases where it had been folded. The dealer said it would cost as much or more to repair the raft than to buy a new one! He also said one of the reasons to repack frequently was to fold the raft in different places so that it doesn't rot. That could have been a sales pitch to hype the re-packing business, I don't know. I have seen rubber rot along the outside of a fold often enough to know it happens regularly and it I saw it happen to my friends raft. The exception that proves the rule... I inspected a raft for a friend. It had not been opened in 8 years and had sailed around the world on his deck. It was in perfect shape! But, unless you're willing to spend the $200+ every 1-2 yrs. to maintain a raft, having it might provide a false sense of security. Additionally, for coastal cruising I'm of the opinion that an easily launched dinghy is probably adequate, but this is a personal decision based on your (and your crew's) risk tolerance. I sold my 10 yr. old raft when we sold the sail boat and now rely on the dinghy and life jackets. We typically only cruise warm waters, are rarely over 50 mi. from shore and are usually in well travelled areas. We carry a registered EPIRB and hope that should we ever have to abandon ship we'll a) be within VHF range of someone, b) will be able to launch the dinghy, c) the weather/seas won't be awful at the time (yeah, right!) and d) the EPIRB will bring help quickly. Lots of stuff to hope for - really hope we never have to rely on hope! Having said all that, it's no big deal to open and inflate/inspect the thing yourself. Lay it out on a nice grassy area and inflate with a shop vac. If it holds air overnight and you don't find any areas of chafe, replace the items that have expired, make sure you put a full bottle of suntan lotion in with the stores and re-fold/pack it yourself. Or, once you know it's serviceable, de-flate it and take it to a dealer to re-pack professionally. I've done two of them with the help of one other person - no problem at all. There's no legal requirement for an "official" inspection on a recreational vessel; frequent inspections just increase the odds that the raft will be there for you if you need it! Ray B. m/v MOJO Bebe Passagemaker 49-10 in steel > > I recently bought a used trawler for coastal cruising in the warmer months > and a trip around the Great Loop. The vessel has an Avon 4 person life raft but > it was last inspected and restocked in 1998 and may be over 10 years old. The > dealer says there is a fee ($150) to open it up and prepare a cost estimated > of what it costs to make it operable (maybe a BU)...and there is a chance that > it has deteriorated to a point it cannot be made operable. > > What's the consensus? Will I need such a safety devise in coastal waters if I > have a dinghy on the transom and the mate chooses when the weather is too > rough? Any similar experiences to predict the usability of a raft in its box for > such a long time? > > Mike Neumann > Double Adventure > Hatteras 42 LRC