For Sale: Zodiac SY6 6 Person Liferaft

[captain Joe]

Zodiac 6 Person Liferaft in hard case and stainless steel cradle. It will need to be inspected. It can be yours for $300. Contact me at 727.612.5502 if interested.
Thanks, Joe

[hellosailor]

Joe-
The age may be crucial. Unless Zodiac has changed their policies, they were sticking to the French government rules that condemn their rafts at ten years of age. At that point they may be perfectly good, but no "authorized" repack agency will touch them. FWIW.

[captain Joe]

The raft is over 10 years old so thank you for the information.

[KD8NPB]

Originally Posted by hellosailor

Joe-
The age may be crucial. Unless Zodiac has changed their policies, they were sticking to the French government rules that condemn their rafts at ten years of age. At that point they may be perfectly good, but no "authorized" repack agency will touch them. FWIW.

French legislation regarding Class II / Class V liferaft requirements is 15 years.
So after 15 years, the raft is considered "Dead". ISO-9650 certified rafts are exempt, unlimited lifespan (as long as they pass all tests).

It's not a bad standard to go by, liferafts certainly don't get better with age.

[Sandy Mac]

Hi Joe!
Wondering what the shipping cost would be and if you would be able to ship to West Coast Canada.
Thanks, Craig

[svfraidknot]

their is a company in colon panama that certificates ??? life rafts ,, has been years but they opened, inflated and repacked one for i think was 300 bucks. i bought a used one 4 or 5 years ago .. just to have on board i dont need any frogs to tell me what is good and what is not . not for commercial use??

[robbievardon]

What is your life worth, or more importantly those of your crew/passengers who presume that in the event of trouble there is a chance of survival via the life raft.After 9 years living in France I certainly am not a great fan of the French,but they do produce some superb sailors and I certainly do not regard their regs ref liferafts stupid in fact I am surprised (having seen a few deployed liferafts) that it is so many years. I don't understand why anyone would want something on board just for show?

[hellosailor]

KD8-
It is nice to know the French have changed their policy. My information was from Zodiac-US, who were explaining (maybe 5 years ago?) that they could no longer service a ten year old Zodiac raft because Zodiac (France) prohibited them from doing so, as the French government required. Perhaps by now Zodiac has stopped using glued seams? Supposedly their ban was because the glued seams simply were coming unglued at too high a rate. Those seams that are properly fusion welded, of course, will never have such a problem. But many rafts, like dingies, apparently were using taped and glued seams.

I expect any raft using butyl tubes (SeaGo) would have to be using glued seams, since that can't be fusion welded.

[KD8NPB]

Originally Posted by hellosailor

KD8-
It is nice to know the French have changed their policy. My information was from Zodiac-US, who were explaining (maybe 5 years ago?) that they could no longer service a ten year old Zodiac raft because Zodiac (France) prohibited them from doing so, as the French government required. Perhaps by now Zodiac has stopped using glued seams? Supposedly their ban was because the glued seams simply were coming unglued at too high a rate. Those seams that are properly fusion welded, of course, will never have such a problem. But many rafts, like dingies, apparently were using taped and glued seams.

I expect any raft using butyl tubes (SeaGo) would have to be using glued seams, since that can't be fusion welded.

French lifespan requirements were just an agreement between manufacturers and the government as to the serviceable lifespan of a product. It's not a bad assumption either, as mentioned, life saving appliances don't get better with age. Even vacuum packed, material will continue to age. Under French Class II / Class V requirements, it is an annual service (yearly) with a 15 year lifespan. The first service was allowed to be a 3-year service, with a light inspection on years 1 and 2 to ensure the vacuum was stable.

Per the CLV repack manual:
"Le maintien en service de radeaux Classe 2 et 5 ne doit pas dépasser 15 ans (selon Article 333.2.12 de la réglementation française. Contrôle périodique des radeaux, Sécurité des navires) pendant lesquels ils doivent subir des révisions selon la périodicité indiquée dans le tableau."

Translated to : "The maintenance of Class 2 and 5 liferafts shall not exceed 15 years (according to Article 333.2.12 of the French regulations. Periodic inspection of liferafts, Safety of ships) during which they must undergo revisions according to the periodicity indicated in the table"

Elastomer (neoprene) rafts are all hand glued. Butyl is hand glued. PU and PVC can go either way.

From the Zodiac Leisure / Recreational line, Zodiac's current lineup of ISO9650-1, ISO9650-2, and "US Coastal" rafts are ~100% welded PVC (there's 4 dots of glue on the ISO9650-1 model to hold the floor insulation in place, but they're not structural or high stress). These rafts have orange tubes and a yellow canopy.

I digress though.

It would be good if the original poster posted the manufacture date of the raft to determine if it is servicable or not? If memory serves, the SY6/CLV models were discontinued in about 2010.