Safety

The primary concern of every responsible boater is the wellbeing of the captain, crew, and passengers of his vessel. The best way to ensure this wellbeing is to keep your vessel well stocked with all of the appropriate safety equipment for the type of boating you are engaged in. No matter how careful you are and how much experience you have, dangerous situations can arise on the water. The preparations you make and equipment you have available in these situations can often make the difference in a successful fishing trip and a disaster. Every boat should have at least one life vest per person, visual distress signals, a fire extinguisher, and an appropriately equipped first aid kit. All vessels would also benefit from the addition of an emergency life raft and emergency locator beacon such as an EPIRB or PLB.

Inflatable Survival Craft Requirements

WHY I NEED A LIFE RAFT
• Stabilize a rescue situation
• Protect yourself and your crew from hypothermia and harsh marine elements
• Provide a visible target for search and rescue authorities

RAFT CATEGORIES
Commercial – Sometimes known as USCG/SOLAS or USCG rafts, these commercial rafts are mostly used on vessels carrying passengers for hire and mandated by government authorities.
Yachting – Used by recreational boaters where rafts are not mandated. Generally lowers cost by not paying for nonrequired certification.
Coastal – Pertains to boat operation where rescue can be performed in less than 2 hours.
Offshore – Involves areas where rescue can not be performed in less than 2 hours or where water temps subject you to hypothermic conditions below 70°. These rafts generally have insulated floors, a more extensive equipment pack, and self-erecting canopies and boarding platforms.

FEATURES AND DESIGNS
Round vs. Square – Square rafts allow the "pointy" ends to face the breaking waves (like the bow of a boat), whereas round and octagonal rafts always take waves broadside, creating a merry-go-round effect that can cause sea-sickness.
Double Tubes vs. Single Tubes – We vote for the back-up and redundancy of double-stacked buoyancy tubes, plus the added raft freeboard.

DEPLOYING A LIFE RAFT
Life rafts have self-contained inflation systems that use a cylinder pressurized with a mix of CO2 and Nitrogen that fully inflates the raft in generally less than 30 seconds. The inflation cylinder is activated by a painter line (the life raft word for "activation cord", like a rip cord on a parachute). The painter line is attached to a hard point on the vessel so that upon inflation, the raft is still tethered to the boat. A knife is usually affixed to the outside of the raft to allow a quick cut of that tether before the boat pulls the raft under. Life rafts also usually have a breakaway feature which releases the raft as the boat begins to sink.

SERVICING YOUR LIFE RAFT
Check-up and tune-up for your life raft is strongly recommended.
• Each manufacturer has their own recommended service intervals.
• The raft is opened, inflated, and inspected for air-holding integrity.
• The emergency equipment (flares, water, food, batteries, etc.) are governmentally code- dated and replaced with fresh supplies as needed.
• The raft is re-packed with a different fold pattern to prevent fatigue lines throughout the fold.

Container vs. Valise
Container rafts are almost always stored in a cradle (the life raft word for "bracket") and permanently affixed to the deck, hard top, etc. They look good, but aren’t always quickly accessible for crew members to launch. The cradle is usually fitted with a "Hydro" (Hydrostatic Release Unit) that will launch the canister free of the cradle when 10'-15' under water, but they have a quick-release capability for manual release before the vessel sinks. Valise (the life raft word for "suitcase") packed rafts are more portable. They can be moved from boat to boat or boat to cabin for security, and while underway, they can be stowed near the helm or in the cockpit for easy access and deployment.

EPIRBs & PLBs

Rescue Beacon technology has steadily improved from radio beacons and Automatic Direction Finders (ADF) to satellites and Global Positioning System (GPS). Today almost every corner of the world is covered by the COSPAS/SARSAT satellite systems. Beacon transmissions are picked up by the satellites, the position of the distress call is established, and Search and Rescue (SAR) is notified.

EPIRB – The Emergency Position Indicating Radio Beacon has been drastically reduced in both size and price over the last ten years – reduced to the point where no serious offshore enthusiast should be without one on their boat. It is the cheapest insurance policy that you will ever buy. EPIRBs work by emitting a unique coded signal that allows several satellites to triangulate the position of the source to within two nautical miles. SAR personnel use the EPIRB registry to identify the vessel in distress and determine the resources needed for rescue. The average time to SAR notification is one hour, and the search area can be located within 12.5 nm2.

GPS EPIRB – EPIRBs with built-in GPS or a GPS interface have a significant advantage in speeding rescue. The COSPAS/SARSAT system does not need the additional satellites and the time it takes to triangulate the position. The EPIRB simply transmits the GPS position and the first satellite to pick up the call can transmit the location to SAR. The GPS position is accurate to within 100 meters, and the EPIRB will update your location every 20 minutes. The average time to SAR notification is 5 minutes, and the search area can be located within .05 nm2.

PLB – The latest advance in Rescue Beacon technology is the Personal Locator Beacon. Think of the PLB as your personal EPIRB. When activated, the device sends a signal to the same COSPAS/SARSAT network. They can triangulate your location within 90 minutes and to within 3 nautical miles. PLBs are also available with built-in GPS (like the McMurdo Fastfind Plus) or GPS interface (like the ACR 2793) to provide SAR notification in as little as 3 minutes and in a search area less than 98 feet away. These devices are designed to be carried by boaters, hikers, hunters, and any outdoorsman who wants to protect himself in an emergency.

The federal government requires all hydrostatic release mechanisms to be replaced every two years. We have replacement hydrostatic releases in stock for most popular EPIRBs. Call us at 1-800-332-2628.