UnNeeded (for now) Offshore Safety Equipment

[LasrSlr]

A few years ago, we fell in love with and bought a Hylas-like offshore boat. In those years, we've learned a lot about the boat, but also various life situations have made it clear to us that we will not see blue water for the next ~5 years. We are OK with this, still love the boat, and will continue to use it for weekend use around the Chesapeake in the interim.

This presents a question of what to do with the offshore safety equipment on board, to wit:

-Switlik life raft in hard case with hydro-static mounting on foredeck. Circa 2005, last serviced ~2010, stored outside year-round.
-Epirb. Circa 2005, last serviced ~2010. Deck-mounted with hydro-dingus.
-Switlik MOM-9, circa 2005, last serviced 2017.
-4 heavy-duty fire extinguishers, serviced annually.

All of this stuff is unneeded for puttering around in generally fair weather in the Bay. However, it presents a damned if you do, damned if you don't scenario because it all seems to require constant service & re-certification, all at great expense. We maintain a storage unit, so the scenario I'm considering is to take this all off to the storage unit, leave one of the extinguishers aboard, and buy a horseshoe buoy for local sailing. Return them to the boat when blue water re-enters the equation. Questions:

Are these pieces worth keeping? Would it be better to just sell them and acquire new ones when needed? Can they sit for multi-year periods and then just be re-certified and used, or do they just...fall apart?

What would you do if faced with a scenario where this stuff has sat for a few years now mostly untouched, and is forecast to be un-needed for about another 5 years? Thanks for your thoughts.

[Tillsbury]

I certainly wouldn’t lose any fire extinguishers, nor let them get out of date. Even docked you never know when you might need them immediately to hand wherever you are. If you have a dinghy permanently mounted and ready to go then you could probably get rid of the liferaft if it’s in the way. I can’t see the point in getting rid of the epirb. Why do you want to?

I wouldn’t bother storing any of them. Sell them for what you can get while they still have a little value left. Buy new ones before you set off for distant shores. In 2023 you won’t want to be relying on a 2005 liferaft.

[BigBoater917]

That's pretty much exactly what I would do. Definitely keep the extinguishers, they don't last nearly as long as you might expect when you need them. The other stuff will only lose value or be completely worthless (if it's not already) sitting in storage.

[tinger]

Is the liferaft for sale? I need one

[captain465]

Tinger, I have an AVON ,6 person coastal life raft in a valise for sale.
Manufactured in 2006 and has never been re-certiified, as I am not a commercial vessel.
It is available in Fort Lauderdale.
Asking $500.00 US.
If you need it shipped, that would be an extra, weight is about 50 pounds.

[tinger]

Do you have an email, I have a few more questions.......

[captain465]

My email is : f.vaneverdingen@att.net