life raft location

[stimmy]

I closed on my 1990 65 enclosed bridge and am adding a life raft. It is a 10 person round canister and weighs about 200 lbs.
Is it reasonable to put it on the flybridge roof? The bow is cluttered enough with a davit and tender.
Is the bridge roof structurally strong enough and would the extra weight so high affect stability?
Everyone on this site has more experience on Hatteras than I do, but I hope to learn.

 

[Glory]

That is high up for 200#s, although given the likely 100k#s of a 65 it might not be detected. But consider if you had to deploy the raft on poor conditions from the hard top the stability may challenging. Not to mention tossing the raft from the hard too it may have started to inflate and travel with the wind on the way down. Then passing down the line to some one else with antennas possibly fouling up the hand off.

I think the for deck is a better platform to deploy from and then you can turn your attention to getting the dunk off the boat.

I hope you never need more than a drill!!

 

[capttonyf]

That boat would never know it's up there. It woun't effect the handleing in any way and the roof is plenty strong enough to handle it. The only issue would be getting it up there and back down for maintenence or in rough sees if the boat is sinking or on fire etc. I've seen a few 65's with it mounted there so it shouldn't be an issue other then having to get to it. Does your boat have a tower? If so that would make it easier.

Tony

 

[Walter P]

Safety equipment is/was designed to save lives not look good or be put out of sight. My 2 cents (which is what my opinion is worth) says find a place either on the forward deck or someplace else that the raft can be deployed under nasty conditions. When the boat sinks or burns you really don't give much of a damn about anything except how available the equipment is to save your life.

Walt

 

[Pascal]

In a sinking situation it probably doesn't make much of difference but my primary concern is a fire a raft won't do you any good if it inflates close to the fire so that it either burns or you can't get to it

If you look at images of boats on fire the bow tends to stay clear longer and upwind of the smoke and flames.

This is why I always keep a batch of life jackets in the anchor locker...

 

[stimmy]

Thanks for the thoughts; I only considered sinking, not fire. The raft has a hydro release which would let it go if the flybridge roof submerged, but the raft would likely burn up long before that happened during a fire. It would also likely be out of reach during a fire, rendering it useless.
The raft wouldn't do much good as a melted lump when it hit the water..
Still not sure where I'll tuck it in on the bow, though, with the davit and tender so close to the windshield. The raft will have to go forward of the tender.
My dad always said 2 heads are better than one, and on this site, you get hundreds.

 

[brico]

I've done 19 years on ocean going oil tanker ships and feel I am somewhat qualified to chip in on this topic. Commercial vessels keep their lifeboats and life rafts next to the accommodation on each side. One on each side, not because they would need both as capacity of one is sufficient for the whole crew, but because of fire and potential listing of the vessel to one side rendering the other side unusable. Rare exceptions are those that have single free fall lifeboat on he stern of the vessel. However the life rafts are always on the side just outside the accommodation next to the open railing with hydrostatic release should the vessel sink. They are intended to be free fallen over the side, or pushed over the side. Once they hit the water they do not inflate automatically but by pulling/tugging on the painter line which also keeps it alongside the vessel so people can board by using the Jacob's ladder or jumping in the water and swimming towards it. Liferafts require regular inspection and maintenance by certified companies. You cannot do it yourself. Unless the boat you intend to fit it on has to have it by regulation (which I doubt) and unless you intend to go deep sea (several hundred miles offshore) I also do not see the need for it. staying inside the life raft in anything over 6 feet waves is a major torture and would induce serious sea sickness and reduce the likelihood of survival. But your body is likely to be found For the waters most of use use our boats in, a good RIB with outboard would be as good as liferaft, if not better and I always go by an old saying, 'your ships is your best lifeboat' so the abandonment would be something like Titanic. When it comes to fires, inflatable liferafts do not have much chance. In heavy winds and swell they are useless too.

 

[stimmy]

Thanks, Brico; you are far more qualified to opine than I am, about life rafts.
Now that I've bought the life raft, I will install it on the bow, and it will be right next to my RIB tender. I guess I'll have to choose in the event of a catastrophe.

 

[Fish Tales]

I have a 65c. I have 2 inflatable rafts on the bow. Port and starboard in front of each deck hatch, just aft of the cradle. The stern of the tender rides above the inflatables. There is a picture of it on the profile page. My son wants to locate them on the bridge roof, but for safety, they are staying put.

 

[kjcampos]

when we bought our Life Raft 2 years ago at the Ft. lauderdale boat show the sales man asked us one question where we would be installing it and could we get to it if the boat was on fire so we installed ours on the side deck of the Fly Bridge which i think would be high enough to be able to get to in a fire and if the boat is sinking we want to stay on the boat as long as possible to the last minute and hope that help comes and if not i want to climb up into the Life Raft not down....

 

[Colwyn D]

Chose the same place, flybridge. Figured that's where the main Vhf is and last place to actually sink so most likely where I'll be. I'm not sure about the foredeck as in bad weather, at least on a convertible, it would be hard to get to it.
Same reason I have a remote windlass control and a snubber bridle that automatically releases from the chain so when the anchor drags, at night in driving rain and 40kt winds, I can retrieve it and move off without going forward. That one came from experience!

 

[Dreamboat]

I'm Intrigued by your snubber that automatically releases. Can you provide a picture or more details of how It works?
Much appreciated.

 

[krush]

Try climbing into a liferaft in a gumpy (survial suit)......I was exhausted and I'm in decent shape!

 

[brico]

I'm Intrigued by your snubber that automatically releases. Can you provide a picture or more details of how It works?
Much appreciated.

check this out:

[FONT=arial, sans-serif]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vsWUKG3qZ5c[/FONT]

[FONT=arial, sans-serif]this line is connected to a hydrostatic release mechanism that would let the liferaft float free if the ship/boat sinks but will not inflate it unless someone/something tugs on it.[/FONT]

 

[Colwyn D]

Gary, I previously used a chain hook but that just gets snarled up in the pulpit when retrieving. It is the weight forward of the chain bite point that makes it work. As soon as the chain is tensioned the plate drops off and sits under the boat. Of course normally I recover the bridle straight away but if an emergency would steam off with it under the boat.

 

[Dreamboat]

Thanks Colwyn. That explains it. Great idea.

 

[doc g]

Is that available commercially or did you have that made ?

 

[Colwyn D]

I made it. Piece of 3/8 stainless plate. Choose the plate thickness to fit between your chain links.

It also doesn't twist around the chain like I see other snubbers doing, works well.

 

[brico]

Gary, I previously used a chain hook but that just gets snarled up in the pulpit when retrieving. It is the weight forward of the chain bite point that makes it work. As soon as the chain is tensioned the plate drops off and sits under the boat. Of course normally I recover the bridle straight away but if an emergency would steam off with it under the boat.


View attachment 21678View attachment 21679

Shouldn't the plate drop off the anchor chain when the chain tension eases off and when the anchor chain tension increases the plate bites between two links and the bridle takes up the load? At least this is what I see on the first photo.

 

[Colwyn D]

The chain has a loop of slack behind the plate. When no tension is on the anchor rode then the chain simply hangs over the plate. When the chain tension increases then the strain is between the plate and the anchor. Only when the loop of slack is taken up from behind the plate does the tension release and the plate drops off.
I realize I'm not too hot on the explanation front, ask my wife, but it does work.