I'm wondering if any, or most of the costal cruisers in this group keep a
life raft on the boat or is this something that is used mostly by off shore
cruisers or maybe neither group uses them very much ?????

Mitch

I have one that I only bring for offshore stuff.

--
Dennis Gibbons
S/V Dark Lady
CN35-207
email: dennis dash gibbons at worldnet dot att dot net
"Mitch" wrote in message
s.com...
I'm wondering if any, or most of the costal cruisers in this group keep a
life raft on the boat or is this something that is used mostly by off
shore
cruisers or maybe neither group uses them very much ?????

Mitch

"Mitch" wrote in message
s.com...
I'm wondering if any, or most of the costal cruisers in this group keep a
life raft on the boat or is this something that is used mostly by off
shore
cruisers or maybe neither group uses them very much ?????

Depends on how small your vessel is, and how close you keep to shore.

I keep a small inflatable just in case, but I never hug the coast.

I have been offshore on a number of different boats, and have no idea which
boats -- if any -- had liferafts.

Mitch,

All my friends with boats have a liferaft onboard. even during coastal
and inshore sailing but we never hope to use it! The liferaft is the
last resort and you should realy wait with abandoning as your survival
chance is bigger when you stay onboard. My boat for instance is a 30
foot Nicholson cruiser racer. The sister ship "Gremalkin" was
abandoned in the fastnet race of 1978 with lose of life. When the
storm stopped, the boat was found in floating condition.

More usefull is good seamanship. Meaning to plan ahead and don't wait
to the last moment with taking proper action; listen to weather
forecasts, seafasten equipment in and outside the boat. Have life
lines rigged up and have a sea anchor for your type of boat with
sufficient line. Running with the sea instead of hove-to is dangerous
with small boats and should be avoided in storm conditions.Inform
coast guard or others in an early stage of developing situations and
keep contact as agreed.

Try not to become time pressed due to weather. If this happens you
planned it wrong. Profesionals stay in port. it's not worth to damage
and risk lifes.

Therefor if you have some money that you want to spend in safety
equipment, the VHF radio and a sea anchor are more usefull than the
liferaft. Just spent some time to make the interior of the boat
watertight and is safe to stay in. The boat than becomes your
lifeboat. A good life jacket and survival suit comes next.

I hope I didn't scared you to much. Sailing is big fun. Enjoy.

Ron


On Tue, 16 Dec 2003 04:55:14 GMT, "Mitch"
wrote:

I'm wondering if any, or most of the costal cruisers in this group keep a
life raft on the boat or is this something that is used mostly by off shore
cruisers or maybe neither group uses them very much ?????

Mitch