Dear Lazyweb,
My existing LIFEGUARD model liferaft didn't survive its last service -- the adhesive has failed and it's fallen apart, so I need a replacement.
The problem is that the liferaft is vertically stowed in a steel frame over the transom of my boat, with a lifting rig for easy stowage. The existing cannister is measures L 670 x W 480 x H 220 mm. Unless I re-make the frame (which involves more cutting and welding than I'd like), I need a liferaft in a cannister that is no wider or higher than my existing cannister. The 670mm length measurement can be a bit longer, because the long end of the cannister sticks up vertically out of the frame.
This is a fairly small cannister even for a 4 man liferaft. Liferafts for the European market are typically packed into this sized cannister because the emergency pack including food and water is kept separate to the liferaft itself rather than packed into the cannister. The Australian market liferafts seem to have the food and water packed into the liferaft. In any case I prefer the European model because the extra weight makes it harder to deploy the raft itself, and also because the water can go off within the service interval of the liferaft especially in tropical climates. Separate to the liferaft itself I have a transom mounted "string" of 5 x 5L water packs that can either be pulled off the transom of the boat from within the liferaft, or will float free.
So can someone here, and I'm thinking mostly the European readers, find a liferaft that's being sold in a cannister of approximately that size, and point me at the dealer/sales agent or whoever? Perhaps a similar size is also sold in the USA but I have no idea as to where to start looking.
Thanks,
Del
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