Understanding all of your safety equipment
Boating and the need to stay safe at sea has changed over the years and so has people’s perception of safety equipment and the necessity to have it. When I came into the industry nearly 30 years ago the sales of liferafts were very low compared to now. This was due to price, size and the fact many sailors didn’t see the point in having one. Seago have helped to change that over the last 20 years firstly by developing and bringing to the market an affordable liferaft nearly 3 quarters of the price of the average liferaft at the time from the mainstream brands. Seago also actively tried to design their liferafts so they would suit most people’s size requirements.
Winding on to the current time, boatbuilders make installation of liferafts a major part of the boat design, allowing for dedicated compartments for stowage of a liferaft or provide a cradle modelled around their OEM liferaft suppliers designs. A liferaft is now considered a must have by sailors which is a great step forward in the pursuit of safety at sea.
There are many more safety items that should be considered as standard equipment when boating. Lifejackets, AIS and EPIRB systems, Man overboard recovery, Marker buoys and signaling devices to name just a few. Having all of the above is great but if you or your crew have no idea where it is on the boat or how to use it in an emergency it becomes useless, it is extremely important to understand how it all works. Not everyone onboard a vessel will be an avid sailor so a quick introduction to the whereabouts of all the safety equipment is a great starting point. It will not be possible to teach everyone onboard how to use everything before setting sail but a very small induction of the fitting and use of a lifejacket and a liferaft is very manageable and simple enough to remember.
Correct fitting of lifejackets
Lifejackets are commonplace on vessels and while simple to use they need to be fitted correctly to get the desired performance from them when required. The standards for lifejackets has changed fromEN396 to ISO12402, this means that the materials used, the testing and the categorisation have been rewritten. All manufacturers had a period of time to change and retest all of their lifejackets to meet the new ISO standards. Part of the testing process is to have several people of varying sex, size and weight to wear a model of the lifejacket being tested. All of the subjects have to jump into the water and allow the jacket to inflate. The jacket should inflate within5 seconds and turn the wearer to a face up position. The freeboard of the lifejacket is then measured across all subjects to get the required average to pass.
If a lifejacket is not correctly fitted the dynamics of how it performs will be different. The most common mistake is not having the chest belt tight enough or the crotch strap connected.
Ready your liferaft
Liferafts typically come packaged ineither a valise (soft bag) or container (hard case) in the leisure sector of sailing. Now you have made the sound decision to invest in a liferaft you need to be thinking of where to stow it, depending on the packaging type you have purchased. The container versions are the best if you have the space for it, these usually will be fitted to a cradleof some type and stowed on the foredeck, coach roof or push-pit rail. Once these rafts are in position there is no need for lifting to deploy.
The valise models are a little more awkward because they are normally stowed below deck or in a locker making deploying them more difficult, a typical 4 person liferaft weighs about 28kg.The other thing to consider with a valise liferaft is that any knocks and bangs could rupture the vacuum seal, this will then allow the liferaft inside to expand a little. This is mainly a issue when stowed in a tight locker.
Both the valise and container liferafts work in the same way, a long painter line is connected to a firing pin, when pulled it will activate the inflator. Before setting off on any boat trip your liferaft needs to be ready to use. The painter line needs to be connected to a strong point such as a cleat. Many sailors that use a valise model will put it on deck near the transom and strap it down so that it is instantly accessible.
Instructions for use are always printed on the product case so familiarise yourself with what to do if needed. Click here to see how a liferaft works.
Service your equipment
You and your crew are all becoming experts at fitting and using your safety equipment it is almost second nature. There is one last thing to be aware of for all your equipment and that is the maintenance and servicing intervals. Most equipment will have a service date noted on the product in a fairly easy to see location, servicing is as important as knowing how to use the item, you need to know that if you need to rely on your lifesaving appliance it is going to work. Regular visual checks of your equipment is mandatory but this is no substitute for a manufacturers service. Most lifesaving appliances will have a lifecycle, it is important to renew your equipment when it reaches that time in it’s life even if the item looks good as new, materials breakdown eventually and this is why manufacturers will give an item a life term, lifejackets is normally 10 years and liferafts varies from 15-20 years depending on brand.
Closing comments
Seago always want the best for every sailor or watercraft user and hope that all of this information helps you to understand the importance of your equipment and the requirement to know what it does and how it works. If in doubt reach out to those that know. Happy boating.
