Life Rafts for CD22

B

baboos_boat

New member
I am looking to add a life raft to my CD22 - I want the raft to fit under my radar arch. My boating is along the coast of Alaska (Valdez and Homer) and I want the ability to get ashore along rocky coasts in addition to the safety aspect of a raft.

Any suggestions and experiences would be appreciated.

gary
baboos boat
 
Hi Gary,

I have a dedicated Winslow Life Raft. It is small in size stows under the drivers seat. It weighs 65lbs. It has a 406Mhz EPIRB, and a thermal floor to protect against the cold waters. When and if I ever needed it; I throw the liferaft in a bag overboard and it would deploy on its own.

There are a number of companies that make dedicated liferafts for small boats, zodiac givens, winslow, and West Marine sells some as well.
 
Thanks Ron. My purpose is to use the raft to get grandkids up to shore for campfires and hot dog roasts. There are a multitude of neat places in Alaska to explore on land but getting ashore safely is the task. My thoughts are to use the raft with a 3 horse Johnson to ferry what generally is a short distance.

From your description of your raft I am guessing to use it for non-emergency activity may not be what it is made for? Or do you use your raft as a utility craft in addition to emergencies?
 
Sounds like what you are really talking about is an inflatable dinghy rather than a dedicated life raft...I have the 7'11" Mercury, spendy (about $600) but like it a lot - it will handle a 3 hp outboard easily, and would probably fit under your radar arch...On the other hand, Costco had a very substantial inflatable made by Intex that would do the trick too for about $69 or $79 (there is a picture of the Costco jobbie in my sig below)...I think Intex sells it directly for a bit over $100, maybe more, not sure. A few folks have Sevylors, some look cheap (like a kid's plastic swimming pool) but others look more substantial...there are a lot of choices out there.


baboos_boat":2f7jx9v9 said:
Thanks Ron. My purpose is to use the raft to get grandkids up to shore for campfires and hot dog roasts. There are a multitude of neat places in Alaska to explore on land but getting ashore safely is the task. My thoughts are to use the raft with a 3 horse Johnson to ferry what generally is a short distance.

From your description of your raft I am guessing to use it for non-emergency activity may not be what it is made for? Or do you use your raft as a utility craft in addition to emergencies?
Click to expand...
 
I have a 10 foot Achilles (similar to the Zodiac) which up to now I use for moose hunting. Do you tow it behind the boat? How does it effect the preformance of the CD?
 
I pump it up once I get to where I'm going. Its rather clumsy. Salty Cs has towed their Zodiac and it does bring down the fuel economy. I have not found the ideal solution yet. I must say once I get mine pumped up its great. I put my 8hp kicker on there and its fantastic.
 
We use an Innova inflatable kayak. It stays up in the berth, deflated, along with a two-piece paddle and a pump. It has three chambers and pumps up quickly by hand. The canister pump can also be used as an bilge pump in an emergency by switching the hose from 'out' to 'in.' When we are going to use the kayak repeatedly, I leave it inflated and strap it to the roof of the cabin to one side or the other of the anchor light. The Innova is a great kayak for wave surfing and paddling, but it is self draining, meaning that you will have a wet seat. There are other inflatable models out there that are dry if you want something you can use without getting your pants wet. Capacity for any inflatable kayak is probably limited to two adults or one adult and two little kids for short distances. For taking several folks at once, a small zodiac and motor is a better bet -- it just takes longer to inflate. You can see some pictures of our kayak in the Otter photo album.
 
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