Buying a 6-Person Liferaft In Cannister

[Sonosailor]

I'm shopping for a 6-person liferaft in cannister here in NB, Canada, before returning to the Caribbean . I want the liferaft new and freshly packed. My route is via Newport, Bermuda, BVI, and the raft will not be back to be repacked by any local dealer for as long as I can see. Here is what I have found. I would enjoy comments about the price range, sources, appropriateness, quality, etc.:

Locally Supplied

Zodiac Coastal $3082
Viking Coastal $3267
Plastimo Offshore $3067

Internet Prices

Plastimo Cruiser ORC (Shoplocal.com - Boatersworld) $2400
Revere Offshore Ocean (Online Marine) $1660
Avon Coastline (LRSE.com) $2350
Avon Ocean (LRSE.com) $2800
Revere Offshore Ocean (Landfallnav.com) $2525
Zodiac Coastal (West Marine) $2199
Plastimo Offshore Plus (West Marine) $2999


In anticipation of your questions, I don't have any ideas yet about shipping, customs charges, or where the beast will be repacked again. I am removing my 1999 10-person, Eurovinil raft and selling it on Ebay. It's old, heavy, needs repacking, and the locals will not repack it. The boat is a FP Tobago 35 that is registered with the French gov't as unsinkable, and will likely carry 3-4 people aboard on the two ocean-crossing pieces of the trip. After we get to the BVI, we intend to limit our sailing up and down the crescent of Windwards and Leewards. We sail with an EPIRB.

As always, I solicit and will enjoy all your comments.

Oh...and thanks for the Birthday Greeting, Gord

[Charlie]

I know that Winslow offers 3 year repacking on their liferafts. Some of the others might as well. Practical Sailor recently did a report on Life rafts. It would be worth reading. Since you are going thru the US on the way why not buy it on the way.

[witzgall]

Where do you see that Revere price at Online Marine? I see it at $2509 on their website.

Chris

[Southern Star]

Sonosailor, I've also been pricing out 6 person offshore rafts in Canada and have decided to buy from the US over the internet. The best price for the Revere Offshore Ocean 6 valise seems to be fromwww.rivermarinesupply.com at $2195.00.

I don't expect that you should be stuck with any duties as they are made in the US - you will, of course, have to pay shipping plus PST and GST. It will have to be ground shipped (hazmat regs.), but any of the internet vendors should be able to quote you shipping charges. If you have a choice, I would avoid UPS - they charge a 'brokerage fee' for the border crossing which you can generally get for free through USPS.

As to repacking at least every 3 years - I don't see any way around it, even if you opt for vacuum packing.

Brad

[Sonosailor]

Originally Posted by witzgall

Where do you see that Revere price at Online Marine? I see it at $2509 on their website.

Chris

Sorry, Chris: These prices were collected over the last month or so. They may have changed it or I may have screwed up. Thanks for the correction.

[bottleinamessage]

We have a Viking Rescue Pro 4 person self righting raft.
Did a fair amount of research before buying. Price was $3200 delivered to the Annapolis show. It's a vacumn packed raft with a 3 year certification.

Visited their service center in Miami for a valve recall. Very impressive!
The handle about 80% of the cruise ship business.

They replaced the valves, (several manufacturers use the same valves and all were recalled because a few leaked) tested the unit, repacked, recertified for another 3 years and gave me a very good deal on the hydrostatic release.

[Hope Light]

Having been in the liferaft packing business in a Coast Guard Licenced and Approved facility I have some perspective. Be very careful who you trust enough to purchase a liferaft from. A valid North American (ie in the USA or Canada) is the ONLY way to go. I know these things are very expensive but its your life. There is a huge difference from manufacturer to manufacturer and design to design. My first choice without doing a lot of recent research is Viking for initial quality and reliability. But dont forget these rafts need to last a long time in a marine environment and the heat of the tropics in many cases. Another make mentioned here would never be on my boat. Rafts will last much longer if kept below in a dry place rather than lashed on deck exposed to the heat of the sun. The horror stories of liferaft service in far away countries is scary. I have unpacked such rafts belonging to trusting sailors and seen the results. A couple just desintegrated. Be careful. A good raft carefully properly packed will last a long time.

[David M]

I would have a look at the quality of the rafts between the different manufacturers. I was at the Oakland boat show a couple months ago and was surprised by the differences in quality of materials, design and workmanship between the different raft manufacturers and these were not minor differences. I don't want to trash any one particular company, but there is one manufacturer who I would never consider buying a raft from, given what I saw at the boat show. Lets just say it looked pool toy quality. It was obvious that what they were doing was to cut back on quality in order to keep the price down.

Probably the best deal is going with a raft somewhere between pool toy quality and the most expensive raft you can purchase. What good is purchasing a cheapo life raft going to do you if it does not work when you need it?