Life Raft for $450 Two Years Past Inspection Date

[Phisher]

I have a chance to buy a 6 man Revere Coastal Commander Life Raft for $450.00 it is 2 years past inspection date. Is it worth it and what does a inspection cost?

Thanks,
Brian

[Charlie]

How old is it?

[capttman]

Only way to know is get it inspected. my last inspection ran me 450

[Sonosailor]

Is it stolen? Please say no. An inspection for that would definitely be under $300.

I just got a call at home from an inspection station in Trinidad, saying he had my 6 man coastal liferaft - I didn't even know it was missing. Two locals snuck it off my boat and out of a secure yard and offered it to a Frenchman for $100. He dragged them and the case to an inspection station and asked if it could be inspected. The inspector was no dummy. Even a 6 man coastal costs $2500+ to replace, so he said to leave it with him for the determination. Nobody came back, and he saw that they had attempted to scratch my boatname off the case, then taped up the mess they made. The paint must have had toluene or something in it as it had gone way into the gelcoat and glass. He found me by googling my boatname. Complimented us on our website too.

Lucky me. It needed inspection, and now it has been delivered.

[Sonosailor]

If your raft inspection cost $450, it must have included renewing all that survival stuff. We kind of decided to waive the survival stuff and sail with an EPIRB.

[capttman]

Yes I went totally through it and it is a vacuum packed hard cased raft so I skimp on the inspections I know bad me but oh well

[delmarrey]

Is this the coastal, off shore or SOLAS. Most makes vacuum seal their units. Make sure it's still sealed. A sealed unit would be preserved from moisture and chemicals, which causes decomp.

The re-cert can vari depending on what you replaced or added. All the water, batteries and SOLAS flares will need to be replaced and that'll be the biggest expense. The air cylinder will need to be re-cert.

A 6 man is pretty big. I've heard that if you don't have enough people/weight in these they can capsize easily.

if the seal is not broken it could be a good deal.

[Phisher]

It is not stolen. The owner of the marina took it as some type of payment. I was loading my boat today and he approached me wanting to sell it.

It is the coastal unit. How do I determine if the seal is intact?

[delmarrey]

Be sure to get a receipt if you do buy it.

It'll probably be in a carrying bag. You can pull it out to see if the inner clear bag has been opened.

The coastal unit will be less to recert due to the amount of equipment/supplies inside. I have a ditch bag that goes along with mine, which includes a handheld VHF/GPS radio w/extra batt., dried foods, some meds, hand pump water maker, fishing gear, extra signal flares and other necessities.