Life Raft Maintenance

The Raft Opened

Life Rafts are required to have maintenance every five years. Since I want to stay alive and expect to do some more ocean crossing I decided to have my raft checked. I took it to Vane Brothers in Norfolk, VA. Tim and I took the raft up to Norfolk. When we dropped it off they asked if we would like to see it inflated. Of course we said yes. I got to pull the lanyard and off we went. You can see from the picture that the raft itself was in very good shape.

I turns out that opening and repacking a life raft is inexpensive, about $200. What it expensive is replacing all of the gear inside the raft - emergency food, first aid kit, flares (a big expense) and so forth. Total bill - $1700. Wow. At least I can feel that the thing will work if I need it.

Fair winds and following seas.