Advice needed on liferafts

[mike cunningham]

I said I'd report back on the liferaft. Here's what I learned. Not everything was obvious.

1. Sal from at Sal's Inflatables and Chris at Svendsen's says by far the most popular rafts are the Vikings. Sal said the RescYou Pro is worth the extra.
2. Sal was a real help through everything. He loaned us different models and empty containers for us to try different options.
3. The RescYou Pro is heavy with or without canister. Nearly 88 lb for container and 75 lb for valise and the container seems heavier when you try and lift it because there's nothing to grab on to. No way to get this model in container or valise out of the cabin in 15 seconds.
4. Sal would not let me mount it on the pushpit. Not nearly strong enough in bad conditions that you will need it. Facing outward you cant get to it, you risk losing it when you need it most and its really hard to mount even at the dock. Facing in you lose enormous amount of room in the cockpit. I couldn't mount it inside the cockpit because it would be in the way of the emergency tiller.
5. Chris wouldn't mount it anywhere but on deck, on the hatch garage. He took the garage off, built supports and a bolting plate scheme to take the cradle off without tearing the garage off again.
6. I'm not sure I trust the single seat belt around the canister. Might have to add some cargo tie downs with more quick-release.
7. I went back and forward so many times on canister or valise. One thing to note is that the Viking dimensions are off for the RescYou Pro valise. The RescYou Pro valise is bigger than the RescYou Ocean, but they just copied and pasted the dimensions from the RescYou Ocean to the RescYou Pro literature. Sal has told them about this after making a custom case that didn't fit, but the error is still there. I figured it out when I tried to fit a valise I borrowed from Sal into a cooler, thinking I could keep that on deck.
8. Be aware that the RescYou Pro canister is bigger than the RescYou Ocean canister for the same four-person size raft.
9. I signed up for Safety at Sea live course and I'll report back on what happens when you try and launch a raft. By all accounts its not easy.
10. I might still get an ISPLR for just in case.

Re item six. Once you are comfortable with the strap down system I would purchase a $5 ceramic knife+sheath to strap down right next to the strap downs. Cheap insurance. While the knives are inexpensive, they cut through strap downs like butter and don't corrode. I have had one strapped to my helm post since the 2015 Longpac and it is still bloody sharp, no pun intended. As a matter of fact, buy two and satisfy the cockpit knife requirement while you are at it.