<Scott wrote: I had my life raft repacked yesterday. I learned a lot, much of which was not as positive as I had hoped.> I wish I could say wow but over the years Scott's experience have matched ours. More often than not the liferaft's were basically condemned by our repacker in ST Thomas when sent for repack. Seams that had delaminated, tanks that were corroded, the list goes on. Our last go around was 3 Plastimos Oceans 8 man, 2 Beauforts, an Avon and a Zodiac. The oldest one was 6 years and all had been recertified at least once. Four different repackers were on the papers. All were hard cases that had been stored on deck in cradles. All had done at least one Trans-Atlantic or South Africa to the BVI voyage. The oldest had been recertified twice! Either the folks certifying them looked over their shoulders and if no one was looking put a quick stamp on the pack, signed the papers and shoved them out the door or they were blind. I have, as Scott did, watched many repackers do their job and do it well. We don't always get this opportunity so what you have is what you have. Better to be there and watch the repack than find this out when the need arise to deploy one. We no longer have the ability to fly liferafts so once away from a major port we are left with whatever facilities at hand. This make it even more important to be there, ask questions and observe your raft to make sure it holds air and is repacked with the kit you want. Then sealed correctly as Scott points out to avoid the intrusion of water and air. It's hard to believe that these items which cost anywhere for $4K to 7K for a six man ocean SOLAS raft and have such a short or even more scary, unusable life. A good quality life raft will cost you $1000/yr for the repacks plus the amortization of the initial cost. A lot of money for something that may or may not be used. BUT when you need it no cost is too much! Good on Scott from bringing this very important subject up! Cheers Dave & Nancy Swan Song Roughwater 58

I sent my Winslow back for repacking after about 4 years. It was fine, but the cost of replacing the expired items was surprisingly high. Specifically, a couple of batteries for the strobe were about $50 each (obviously specialty items) and the light sticks were a whopping $10 each or so. I think next time I'll see if I can just send them the items and have them put them in the repack for me, instead of buying all the stuff from them. I did have the raft vacuum packed, so it's good for at least three more years without a repack. It is in a valise in the saloon, stored indoors but quickly accessible. I saw someone suggest that you should inflate your liferaft right before the repack. While it's a good idea to become familiar with your raft before you need it, I've been told that you should never inflate it with the CO2 cylinder unless it's a true emergency. At the factory, they just use compressed air to inflate it slowly to pressure test it. I know Winslow welcomes you to the factory to see your re-pack (or original assembly) if you set up a schedule with them in advance. Keith _____ Life is short, make fun of it. ----- Original Message ----- From: "Dave Cooper" <swansong@gmn-usa.com> > > I wish I could say wow but over the years Scott's experience have matched > ours. More often than not the liferaft's were basically condemned by our > repacker in ST Thomas when sent for repack. Seams that had delaminated, > tanks that were corroded, the list goes on.