National Safe Boating Week Post #4

This week we have been focusing on safe boating for National Safe Boating Week if you missed the first 3 post you can read them

Kick Off Post about PFDs (life vests)

Post #2 About EPIRBs and PLBs

Post #3 about Ditch Bags

Today in Post #4 I am going to write about life rafts which are crucial pieces of life saving gear. Also they are the number one defense against becoming shark food if your boat goes down. All right so that is probably not the nicest thing to say but the point is anything can happen!

If your boat sinks or capsizes how will you get out of the water. Did you know, that in addition to being at risk of injury from floating debris or drowning you are at risk of hypothermia even in warm water.

I know people believe that they have unsinkable boats, so did the owners of the Titanic..Remember how that went down (pun intended). Even if a boat is unsinkable it can still capsize. Attempting to hold on the hull of your capsized boat is hard enough but what if the seas are rough or you are injured then it is nearly impossible.

You need a life raft, as with any piece of equipment it does not guarantee you will survive but it improves your chances greatly. Getting out of the water can be crucial to your survival. 

A life raft is not a set it and forget it item either you need to service the raft as the manufacture instructs. The equipment in the life raft is dated and the CO2 cylinder needs to be checked, as that is what makes it so vital the fast inflation in an emergency.

Life rafts come in several options for person capacity, equipment pack and service intervals so don't be afraid to contact a professional like Triad Marine (us) or another life raft sales and service center. A place that services them as well as sells them will ultimately be more knowledgeable about the contents of the raft and how they work. We even offer people Demonstrations and will go through your raft with you the first time you get it serviced.

Be safe when boating buy the gear you need for the voyages you make. Ask for help in making the choices if you are unsure. Make choices with the worst in mind and the the best is even better.

Remember even the smallest craft like a canoe or kayak needs safety gear, so as the boat grows the list of safety gear should grow with it.

Spring Safety Checklist- Life Rafts

Starting the safety check list on life rafts ..Do you have a life raft? If not you should consider it a purchase for your Spring Boating needs. You can expect to pay between $1200.00 for a very simple single tubed life raft and up to $6000.00 or more for a top of the line offshore life raft.  Always access your boating needs and trips to determine which new life raft will best suit them. Different life raft manufactures require different servicing intervals on each life raft so that may be a consideration during purchasing as well.
 When purchasing a new life raft remember to consider the number of persons on your boat most of the time and try to match that number to the person capacity of the life raft.
Purchasing a life raft can be a tough decision so let someone help you.


Servicing a life raft is super important to the life of the life raft as well as the functionality. I have written other posts on servicing a life raft such as this one and this one and the point is always the same ...If you do not service the life raft you are taking a big risk that the life raft will not function properly. In one of the posts I highlighted the importance of servicing because the batteries in the flash light became corroded and battery acid leaked out all over the rest of the equipment. The raft had not been serviced one time in it's 10 year life... That particular raft should have been serviced 3 times. 

I don't know about you but I would hate to be the first one in that life raft after struggling in a desperate situation just to find out I had no flash light, no first aid kit, and no flares thanks to leaky batteries.... Can servicing always guarantee a working raft so every one is spared from the worst, no but it can up the odds a lot. Remember being safe on the water involves a lot of factors and having the best equipment and knowledge are your best defense against a bad situation.

Here is a good quality Made in the USA Life Raft
The Switlik MD-3
Offshore Life Raft
ISO-9650-1 approved
6 Person capacity
$5190.00 in a soft valise
$5255.00 in a hard fiberglass container

Life Raft Servicing is Important

In this post I discussed why you should service your life raft, Today I would like to touch on the subject of servicing again. Servicing the life raft is the life of the raft, we see several life rafts come in that have not been serviced in several years and many times this results in putting a really good life raft out of commission or a really high servicing bill.

Some things to keep in mind about serving is that when you bring a life raft to a service station a technician will open the life raft and inspect it for malfunctions, air tests will be performed and all parts of the life raft and equipment are inspected and replaced if they are deemed out of date or non-functioning. If your life raft cannot be certified as safe and usable it will be decommissioned.

Keep in mind there are items in a life raft they can cause problems, recently we opened a life raft that had corroded batteries in the flash light. The battery acid had eaten through the flash light and gotten all over much of the equipment. Imagine finding this out on the ocean instead of at the shop. This particular life raft was 7 years overdue for servicing.

Life rafts are as important to a boat as the brakes on a car and like the brakes they need to be serviced. For more information on life raft servicing or to visit our store and see an open life raft contact us. We are proud to support Maritime Safety and Education through community outreach; we take pride in not just selling and servicing a product but educating customers on how to use a product.

Thoughts for Thursday

LIfe Raft

Dinghy

Today’s Thursday thought will be about Life Rafts and Dinghies!

Many of our customers come through our doors ready to purchase a dinghy… Never once do they mention a life raft. I have gotten to where sometimes I just ask “Do you have a life raft on the boat?” And here are two common responses I get


1. Yes but I could not tell you when we last serviced it …it came with the boat


2. No we are going to use the dinghy if we get in trouble…..


So here are my thoughts on each of these responses


1. SO you don’t know when the life raft was serviced last…How do you know it works? I guess some people are willing to take the chance that the CO2 that is in the bottle will still be there and still fill up the life raft….So this happens now…what does the equipment inside look like…is the raft going to stay together… Well having it serviced to meet the manufactures guidelines you increase the chances of everything working correctly on the life raft. You are more likely to produce a positive result and you will feel better knowing this. There are never any guarantees when you are in a survival situation but I like to think upping the odds sure feels nice.


2. Ok so you want to use the dinghy as a life raft….Life rafts are designed to deploy in less than one minute….Good to know in a survival situation because seconds can make the difference… Lets say you are in a weather related disaster and the wind is up, seas are high and your dinghy is not even inflated…Well it takes someone about 12-15 minutes to inflate the average 9-10 foot dinghy with a foot pump. This is in favorable conditions…OK so it is inflated… You have to get it into the water! No easy process here….and every boat is different. Once you get in the dinghy in the water well like I said the seas are high and the wind is blowing hard so your dinghy will likely turn over…Hopefully it will not blow away when this happens…Why won’t the life raft turn over and blow away? Well it is the ballast bags under the life raft; once you deploy the raft and get it into the water the ballast bags fill with water and help hold the raft down against the wind. The ballast bags also help the raft from flipping over…So there you have my thoughts comparing a life raft and a dinghy are like comparing an apple and an orange…They are not one in the same and they both have a purpose and should have a place on your boat!

The Tale of Two Life Rafts

The tale of two rafts
Once upon a time in a factory far far away two life rafts were packed …twins in fact. Packed with care and shipped out to their new owners. One lucky raft got an owner who cared for him and serviced him according to the manufactures book. The other poor raft was tossed on the boat in a storage locker and never serviced. Twenty years and many safe trips later the good owner took his faithful well cared for raft to be serviced and as thing turned out a life raft ages when you inflate it with the CO2 gas. This would be his fourth time to get gas inflation, and as it turns out life raft years are not people years they are more like dog years. The poor life raft could not pass his inspection and so the good owner let him go and ordered a new one. The twin raft lived a much different life and had never been serviced. His owner took him off of the boat wiped off the years of dirt and grime and snapped a great picture. He then placed the picture on the internet with a for sale sign. Some poor shopper thought it was a great deal to pick up this fine piece of life saving equipment for only one fourth the costs of a new one. So after completing the sale the new owner noticed the inspection on the raft was not current and diligently to it to be serviced. After 20 long years of hanging out in the sun, rain, cold and wet the poor old raft was in terrible shape and was ashamed to even be opened in front of anyone for he knew he could save the life of no one. His valves did not work, his CO2 bottle only two thirds full his seems dried and aged. He knew he could not hold the air or even survive the CO2 inflation for this is hard on an old life raft. As the service tech fired the bottle and the raft inflated only half way and the seems were barely holding. All his equipment was old and unable to be used as it had been wet for many years causing it to mold and mildew. The smell oh he knew he would smell awful and was glad he could not cry tears for he would have many. Packed all those years ago with such love and care given a job like no other; possibly saving someone’s life oh how great he was. But the years of neglect were showing now and the new owner was in disbelief, how someone could sell him something so bad. As the new owner sign the condemnation he thought for a moment and though he was out some money at least he and his family would not be in the ocean when they discovered the poor old life raft was past his prime and unable to do the job of saving them.
THE END

Missing Boaters Please keep your eyes open if you are out this weekend

Anything helps and all eyes are needed if they are out there someone can find them. Please pass this on.

Missing boaters still not found!

I found something that has hit us in the safety business close to home. As much as we use safety equipment to make money we get a good feeling when someone walks out of our doors with and EPIRB, PLB or Life Raft. We are a small business and we try to be involved in our community and spread the good word about safety and the need for the proper equipment. Someone finally posted what we have been thinking for a while.

EPIRBs
If this doesn't make the case for requiring, by law, an EPIRB beyond the state water boundary, I don't know what would. I'll say another prayer for these men and their families.

This is from the fishing forum and I can't help but think about the way many of these situations could have ended differently.

A PLB is between $300.00 and $600.00 with a GPS on board the unit ....skip a weekend of fishing and use the $300.00 you would have spent for food, drinks, and fuel to buy a PLB! It could very well save your life!

Harvest Moon Regatta Demo 2009

One Demo Life Raft

One Lucky Volunteer

One inflatable PFD

One knowledgeable instructor

Learn to fire the raft

Saturday afternoon we made a trip to Lakewood Yacht Club to do a life raft demonstration for safety day. They are preparing racers for the up coming Harvest Moon Regatta to happen October 1st through the 3rd. Mike has done a demo for them for many years and we always love to take the opportunity to educate people on the proper use of safety equipment. Mike takes time to explain how the life raft deploys and how to use all the equipment inside. We certainly hope no one ever needs to use their life raft but if they do we feel better knowing that they will know how. These demonstrations also give us a chance to see new and old faces and perhaps meet potential customers or earn a repeat customer. In a day and age where everything can be bought from the Internet and a call center somewhere unknown to you answers all your questions it feels good to just see a face sometimes. I am a firm believer that knowledge is best gained through talking to someone knowledgeable!

We wish each race a fun and safe race! May the wind fill your sails!

Yet another good reason to be safe on the water

http://www.piersystem.com/go/doc/586/292475/

Read this article …even the Coast Guard says they are lucky. I wonder If we could sell them a life raft and an EPIRB?

Thank You for Your Business

Adrienne Rust

Triad Marine & Industrial Supply

1155 FM 518

Kemah,TX 77565

281-334-0815

Fax- 281-334-0041

arust@triadmarine.com

Life Raft Demo TMCA

We try to help our boating community stay say. A couple of weeks ago in all the crazy rain we did a life raft demonstration for the TMCA (Texas Mariners Cruising Association). We got to their location set off a raft and show them how to use it and the equipment provided in the raft. We have done these demos for fisherman, yacht clubs, boy scouts, sailing camps for kids and many other associations. At Triad Marine we strive to be part of the community , we are knowledgeable and experienced and we enjoy sharing it with others.