Valise vs canister

[ogalili]

I have a 1999 Manta 40 and I am buying a life raft
I am torn between canister (where to put it) to valise (May be to heavy in emergency)
The life raft is Viking recuyou pro 6 people

Any thoughts?

[CapnSparky]

I had exactly the same question which I posed to the Raft folks when I bought mine. They said...good question...If you mount your raft on deck you risk having it swept away by heavy seas. Also, the tending line tied off to your boat is like a wick and has a tendency to draw moisture in through the braided line and it could degrade it faster. They also said that I would have no problem "throwing" the raft, (at 95 lbs for a six man ocean valise raft) literally from below, with no problem, in an emergency. I was living near the mouth of the Columbia River near their shop at the time, a retired surfman from the Coast Guard and planning a circumnavigation. They had my undivided attention. Put it anywhere reasonable below.

[fxykty]

That’s a big raft - presumably you’ve right-sized it for your needs?

The key thing with a life raft for a catamaran is that it should be accessible above the waterline whether the boat is upside down or right side up. Keeping it in the salon is great, until you invert. Keeping it in a hull near an escape hatch is also great, until you have a fire and can’t reach that hull, plus the weight to lug it up the steps.

We had a canister raft mounted in a frame located in the cutout of one of our front trampolines. That got washed away during a rough passage when the frame broke, so we’re thinking about whether and how to replace it. We are leaning towards a valise that we’ll store in a cockpit locker, after we cut a hatch in the bottom of the locker so we can access it from below. When no liferaft in there we could use it to more easily unload groceries or fuel from the dinghy.

[ogalili]

Thank you, same thoughts here