Survival raft, suit or yacht saver?

[docrn]

I am in the process of refitting my Cascade 29 and am considering which type of safety gear I'll need. Mostly I'll be day sailing off of the Oregon coast with the hopes of some future trips to the San Juans and maybe an inside passage trip up to Alaska and back (I hope).

I like the idea of the Yacht Saver (bladders inside the boat that can be inflated to keep the boat afloat). This keeps myself and my crew with the boat and all of my supplies rather than abandoning the craft and letting it go to the bottom. My other options are survival suits (more within my budget) and of course, a life raft. My only issue with the life raft is the initial expense and the cost of repacks every so many years.

I am contemplating initially purchasing the survival suits and using them in addition to a small zodiac I plan to keep inflated on the foredeck. I admit almost all of my 23years of sailing has been on the Columbia river and this is my first venture into offshore and coastal cruising so this is relatively new territory for me.

If anyone can share some ideas it would be greatly appreciated as the safety of myself and more importantly my crew are my utmost priority but funds are limited at the present time. A new radar and GPS map are really putting the hurt on the bank account right now.

[scottyt]

one thing to think about with the bladders is when and if you need them when the the coast guard gets there they will get you off the boat which is still floating, they will not try to save the boat. now the boat is a hazard, and almost worthless due to flooding if it gets bad enought to need them.

as for a life raft the waters cold up there if you get in the water not in a suit you most likely wont be able to get in the raft.

my votes are suits and a raft

[badsanta]

I dont know how you would stay in the boat with the bladders inflated. Would the boat not sink to the deck with the bladders floating inside the boat. But if I got rescued off a sinking boat the last thing I would worry about then is the cost of the boat. Its already a hazzard.

[billyruffn]

The three things you are considering are designed to do different things: Bladders to keep the boat from sinking but will not protect the crew from hypothermia if there is lots of water in the boat; a raft is a place to go when the boat can not be saved, but in cold waters a raft without survival suits while helpful probably won't extend survival times that much; survival suits protect crew from hypothermia due to immersion in cold water, but they provide zero shelter from wind and wave.

What you need very much depends on where you are going (water temperature) and how long it may take assistance to arrive. A bladder, survival suits and an inflatable dinghy will probably be OK for coastal sailing in the PNW and BC, but in remote areas of AK or offshore you should think very seriously adding an offshore raft to the mix of survival technologies. When you do buy a raft make sure it has an inflatable floor.

[MedSailor]

Originally Posted by docrn

I am in the process of refitting my Cascade 29 and am considering which type of safety gear I'll need. Mostly I'll be day sailing off of the Oregon coast with the hopes of some future trips to the San Juans and maybe an inside passage trip up to Alaska and back (I hope).

I like the idea of the Yacht Saver (bladders inside the boat that can be inflated to keep the boat afloat). This keeps myself and my crew with the boat and all of my supplies rather than abandoning the craft and letting it go to the bottom. My other options are survival suits (more within my budget) and of course, a life raft. My only issue with the life raft is the initial expense and the cost of repacks every so many years.

I am contemplating initially purchasing the survival suits and using them in addition to a small zodiac I plan to keep inflated on the foredeck. I admit almost all of my 23years of sailing has been on the Columbia river and this is my first venture into offshore and coastal cruising so this is relatively new territory for me.

If anyone can share some ideas it would be greatly appreciated as the safety of myself and more importantly my crew are my utmost priority but funds are limited at the present time. A new radar and GPS map are really putting the hurt on the bank account right now.

Portland Pudgy multifunction dinghy -- the fun boat that could save your life! (solid liferaft, great dingy, no repacks)

I looked into yachtsavers and simmilar products. They're quite difficult to size, set up properly, and when they work, your decks will likely still be awash so you'll still have quite a bit of damage and an unusable and uninhabitable boat until rescue.

MedSailor

[Vasco]

The problem with yacht savers is that it takes up too much precious storage space.

[sailingSammy]

Yachtsaver won't do any good if there is a fire on board, I'd go with a liferaft ans most importantly an EPRIB

[docrn]

Originally Posted by sailingSammy

Yachtsaver won't do any good if there is a fire on board, I'd go with a liferaft ans most importantly an EPRIB

Wow. I can't beleive I didn't think of a fire onboard. Points well taken guys!

[MedSailor]

Originally Posted by docrn

Wow. I can't beleive I didn't think of a fire onboard. Points well taken guys!

Not to worry. It only burns until you sink, then it goes out.

MedSailor (go for the pudgy!)