Life Raft Recommendation

Dani-Lu

Dani-Lu

Well-Known Member
Apr 20, 2007
1,352
Delray Beach, Fl
Boat Info
2001 410DA
Engines
3126 Cats
I am piloting my boat from NY to Florida this year and plan to cruise to the Bahamas and other destinations. I usually view my dinghy as an emergency liferaft, but it isn’t for many reasons, including where it is located, on the swim platform. G-d forbid a fire starts in the ER, that dinghy will be useless. If any of you have done the research, I would appreciate your input. I realize this is for worst case scenario, like insurance, but I would hate to save a grand, and then realize how stupid my decision was in a less than suitable liferaft 30+miles offshore.

Also, want to make sure the raft is big enough for 4 adults for 24 hours or possibly longer.

Thanks, Jeff
 
I’ve owned my Winslow Coastal raft for 12 years. It gets inspected/repacked every 3 years. So far, it’s been much more effective at preventing sinking, than carrying an umbrella is at preventing rain.
 
We also have a Winslow offshore. It's has a "soft" case so it stores easy and it's brought out whenever we make open water crossings.
 
Ditto on the Winslow with soft valise.
 
Holy crap, the Winslows are like $5k. This leads me to the big question: if I bought another brand like Revere, am I going to be sitting in a bathtub of water getting hypothermia, with leaking tubes, kicking myself for being a friggin idiot for risking my life by saving a couple thousand? Or worse, it does not open. Or, it is much heavier and more difficult to deploy in the worst of situations?

Lastly, how much is the annual inspection? I assume they deploy, examine and repack?

Thanks.
 
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