For those sailors on the West Coast (in other words, sailing in the same or similar conditions to mine): If you were planning to sail outside the SF bay several times a year - coastwise, say down to Half Moon Bay or Santa Cruz or an equivalent distance north - would you get a life raft? How about an EPIRB? Would you consider those a necessity, an advidable option, what?
Liferaft and/or EPIRB?
- Thread starter John
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I sail the Pacific Coast between San Francisco and San Diego an average of 2000 miles a year. This is 2-3 week or longer trips a year and 3-4 day sails a month on the Monterey Bay.
I have a Viking Rescue You 4 man and an ACR GobalFix EPIRB. I would not be very comfortable without them. As far as I am concerned 2 miles off the beach is about the same as 200 miles off shore. I couldn't swim to the beach in either case.
There is an old saying, "Luck favors those who are well prepared".
I have a Viking Rescue You 4 man and an ACR GobalFix EPIRB. I would not be very comfortable without them. As far as I am concerned 2 miles off the beach is about the same as 200 miles off shore. I couldn't swim to the beach in either case.
There is an old saying, "Luck favors those who are well prepared".
Pppppp
or something like that. There are many options. You can consider your dinghy as an in shore 'raft. You can rent an EPIRB from WM (formerly BoatUS) if they still do that. You could buy a Spot and do what Ed Schenk did. You could buddy boat as we did in 2007 going Bay to HMB to SC to Monterey and back in a week. I did it in 1994, in our C25 w/one crew, overnight to Monterey out in the ocean without anything but the boat, but I was young and foolish. We've been out an awful lot in the past few years, so having your boat "ready" with everything up to snuff certainly is a prerequisite. We both know folks out in the Bay on boats that have trouble starting, sailing and stopping.
I'm not dismissing preparedness or essential safety gear for ocean sailing, but just feel near shore here has options. I defer, too, to Alex's superior experience, while we all know folks who have done SF to LA and back without life rafts.
or something like that. There are many options. You can consider your dinghy as an in shore 'raft. You can rent an EPIRB from WM (formerly BoatUS) if they still do that. You could buy a Spot and do what Ed Schenk did. You could buddy boat as we did in 2007 going Bay to HMB to SC to Monterey and back in a week. I did it in 1994, in our C25 w/one crew, overnight to Monterey out in the ocean without anything but the boat, but I was young and foolish. We've been out an awful lot in the past few years, so having your boat "ready" with everything up to snuff certainly is a prerequisite. We both know folks out in the Bay on boats that have trouble starting, sailing and stopping.
I'm not dismissing preparedness or essential safety gear for ocean sailing, but just feel near shore here has options. I defer, too, to Alex's superior experience, while we all know folks who have done SF to LA and back without life rafts.Okay, so next question: What do you think of some of the deals seen on Ebay? A new life raft is out of my range right now, but it seems that one can be had for maybe about $3-500 plus recertification on Ebay.
Sal's in Alameda rents liferafts. The deposit is equal to the purchase price but if you're only using it for a once a year trip it might be worth it.
http://www.salsinflatableservices.com/rentals.htm
http://www.salsinflatableservices.com/rentals.htm
Liferaft Cost
The cost to repack a liferaft is between $500-$800 depending on the model. The cost to rent a liferaft for a week is about $500. You can buy a new Viking 4 man offshore for $2000 and it has a 3 year repack. I feel that the value of having a lifraft is more than for just the 2-3 extended trips that I take in a year. I might feel diferently if most of my sailing was in the SF Bay where there is a lot of boat traffic about. I often daysail 8-10 miles off with nothing in sight.
The cost to repack a liferaft is between $500-$800 depending on the model. The cost to rent a liferaft for a week is about $500. You can buy a new Viking 4 man offshore for $2000 and it has a 3 year repack. I feel that the value of having a lifraft is more than for just the 2-3 extended trips that I take in a year. I might feel diferently if most of my sailing was in the SF Bay where there is a lot of boat traffic about. I often daysail 8-10 miles off with nothing in sight.
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