Inflatable Life Raft Inspection

[Teej]

We are 2 weeks from heading out for our 5+month cruising season in the the Bahamas and beyond and running down the checklist of "still to do" things. One item in the safety category is to have our 4 year old, never used life raft inspected to satisfy ourselves it is fully operable. Is anyone aware of a service in either Naples, Florida (our home port) or Ft Lauderdale (our Bahamas jumping off spot) where I could get a legitimate inspection of our life raft? We're thinking that the raft has been sitting in its case since original purchase it may not be fully operable. I don't want to wait for an emergency to find out that it is not fully functional.
Thank you,
teej

[Laidback]

4 years in a plastic box in the sun ?????????????? $$$$$$$$$$$
Click Lifeline Inflatable Services, Inc. - Liferafts

[mobetah]

Teej,
We just had our switlik raft inspected and repacked in Tampa at Solutions One. We were told that it would take 2 weeks .... it ended up taking them 6 weeks .......... Hopefully, whoever does your raft is faster than the folks who did ours! By the way, our raft was 8 years old, in a plastic box, in the sun and was in perfect shape! Switlik had a recall on a valve so they replaced that and also some strobe batteries.
Good Luck, Bill A.

www.mobetah.blogspot.com

[mobetah]

Teej,
You didn't say what brand of liferaft you have ........ Whatever brand you have, you might check their website for service centers. Almost everyone has a service center in Ft. Lauderdale (if you need a part a service center for your particular brank would be more likely to have it in stock.... I would guess that almost no one has a service center in Naples.
Again, Good Luck, Bill A.

www.mobetah.blogspot.com

[Hud3]

Whoever you choose, you really do need to make an appointment ASAP. The turn-around takes time, and they'll pay more attention to their commercial clientele than a one-time yachtie. This isn't something to leave 'til the last minute!

[FSMike]

Teej -
I'm curious as to why you feel the need to have a life raft on a cat. I'm not familiar with your design of cat. Does it not have positive flotation?
If this subject has been hashed over for months and I'm not aware of it I apologize.

[Teej]

Originally Posted by FSMike

Teej -
I'm curious as to why you feel the need to have a life raft on a cat. I'm not familiar with your design of cat. Does it not have positive flotation?
If this subject has been hashed over for months and I'm not aware of it I apologize.

FSMike, my catamaran came fully equipped from the previous (original) owner, and that full list of equipment included the liferaft. My Admiral 38 was sailed across the Atlantic on its own bottom and cruised as a liveaboard in the Caribbean for a year and a half before we bought it. The life raft has never been deployed and I fully expect that we will not need to do so either but in the interests of absolute safety I thought it would be a good idea to have it inspected ....you know, an ounce of prevention etc. Positive flotation is one thing but, shudder the thought, the need to abandon ship from fire would be one good reason to have a fully operational life raft.
teej
s/v afLOAT