1. AmelYachtOwners | Main
  2. Topics

[Amel Yacht Owners] Support for Liferaft on rails

Danny and Yvonne SIMMS
 

Hi Eric,

I know you've been there. Until you've been in one you just can't imagine the size the waves get to. We are fortunate to have avoided any storms in Ocean Pearl but I got caught in a full on weather bomb Pacific storm in my previous yacht. Not something you want to repeat. Henri put a heap of storage on the Amel for just this reason. We clutter our decks and rails at our own risk.

Regards

Danny

SM 299 Ocean Pearl

On 12 February 2018 at 10:11 "'sailormon' kimberlite@... [amelyachtowners]" <amelyachtowners@...> wrote:

 

 

That makes 3 of us.

I cannot imagine a rail mounted raft surviving a 40 or 50 foot wave crashing over our stern.

Fair Winds

Eric

Kimberlite Amel Super Maramu #376

 

 

From: amelyachtowners@... [mailto:amelyachtowners@...]
Sent: Sunday, February 11, 2018 3:38 PM
To: amelyachtowners@...
Subject: Re: [Amel Yacht Owners] Re: Support for Liferaft on rails

 

 

Hi Ian and Judy.

you and me too. 

Danny

SM 299 Ocean Pearl

On 12 February 2018 at 02:38 "Ian & Judy ianjudyjenkins@... [amelyachtowners]" <amelyachtowners@...> wrote:

 

 

hi All,

 

 For what it's worth, two of the most experienced sailors I have ever come across , one owning a Swan 57 with over 100,000 miles experience, the other having competed in the same boat in about 15 Sydney to Hobarts ,  plus sailed a couple of circumnavigations and the North West passage, both stowed their liferafts very securely on deck.

 

Both lost their liferafts in heavy weather.

 

The power of the sea sweeping a deck can be overwhelming.

 

 We keep ours in the locker..

 

Ian and Judy, Pen Azen, SM 302, Preveza, Greece

From: amelyachtowners@... <amelyachtowners@...> on behalf of greatketch@... [amelyachtowners] <amelyachtowners@...>
Sent: 10 February 2018 16:31:49
To: amelyachtowners@...
Subject: [Amel Yacht Owners] Re: Support for Liferaft on rails

 



As far as I know, every liferaft manufacturer makes a rail mount holder to fit the life rafts that they have packaged for exterior exposure.  Have you contacted them? Design of these isn’t always simple, especially if you use a hydrostatic release.

 

Our thinking on life rafts has slowly evolved as we have lived with one, and reading about those few cases where people actually needed to deploy one.  

 

On an Amel, with multiple watertight compartments, it seems the most likely reason for needing to take to the raft is an uncontrolled fire on board. With this in mind,  I do not consider storage below deck a good idea.

 

I have no issue with storage in the bottom of the Amel deep Port side deck locker.  Anything stored on top would just be thrown overboard in an emergency.  Yes, our four-man raft is heavy (80lbs/40kg) but not so heavy any single crew member could not lift it if they HAD to.  A 6 or 8 man raft changes that calculation a lot.  A 8 man raft is really heavy and awkward.  If I felt the need for 8 man raft capacity I would seriously consider using two four man rafts!

 

We have ended up with our valise packed raft in the cockpit locker as part of our ongoing effort to move weight as far starboard as possible.  I am liking it there for another reason, it gets looked at a lot!  It anything was going wrong, we would see it.

 

 

 


 

 

 


 
sailormon <kimberlite@...>
 

My raft is in the port cockpit locker, right next to the Jordan drogue.

Both inboard. My raft is a 6 person SLOP Winslow and very light weight.

Fair Winds

Eric

Kimberlite Amel Super Maramu #376

 

 

From: amelyachtowners@... [mailto:amelyachtowners@...]
Sent: Sunday, February 11, 2018 4:32 PM
To: amelyachtowners@...
Subject: Re: [Amel Yacht Owners] Support for Liferaft on rails

 

 

Hi Eric,

I know you've been there. Until you've been in one you just can't imagine the size the waves get to. We are fortunate to have avoided any storms in Ocean Pearl but I got caught in a full on weather bomb Pacific storm in my previous yacht. Not something you want to repeat. Henri put a heap of storage on the Amel for just this reason. We clutter our decks and rails at our own risk.

Regards

Danny

SM 299 Ocean Pearl

On 12 February 2018 at 10:11 "'sailormon' kimberlite@... [amelyachtowners]" <amelyachtowners@...> wrote:

 

 

That makes 3 of us.

I cannot imagine a rail mounted raft surviving a 40 or 50 foot wave crashing over our stern.

Fair Winds

Eric

Kimberlite Amel Super Maramu #376

 

 

From: amelyachtowners@... [mailto:amelyachtowners@...]
Sent: Sunday, February 11, 2018 3:38 PM
To: amelyachtowners@...
Subject: Re: [Amel Yacht Owners] Re: Support for Liferaft on rails

 

 

Hi Ian and Judy.

you and me too. 

Danny

SM 299 Ocean Pearl

On 12 February 2018 at 02:38 "Ian & Judy ianjudyjenkins@... [amelyachtowners]" <amelyachtowners@...> wrote:

 

 

hi All,

 

 For what it's worth, two of the most experienced sailors I have ever come across , one owning a Swan 57 with over 100,000 miles experience, the other having competed in the same boat in about 15 Sydney to Hobarts ,  plus sailed a couple of circumnavigations and the North West passage, both stowed their liferafts very securely on deck.

 

Both lost their liferafts in heavy weather.

 

The power of the sea sweeping a deck can be overwhelming.

 

 We keep ours in the locker..

 

Ian and Judy, Pen Azen, SM 302, Preveza, Greece

From: amelyachtowners@... <amelyachtowners@...> on behalf of greatketch@... [amelyachtowners] <amelyachtowners@...>
Sent: 10 February 2018 16:31:49
To: amelyachtowners@...
Subject: [Amel Yacht Owners] Re: Support for Liferaft on rails

 



As far as I know, every liferaft manufacturer makes a rail mount holder to fit the life rafts that they have packaged for exterior exposure.  Have you contacted them? Design of these isn’t always simple, especially if you use a hydrostatic release.

 

Our thinking on life rafts has slowly evolved as we have lived with one, and reading about those few cases where people actually needed to deploy one.  

 

On an Amel, with multiple watertight compartments, it seems the most likely reason for needing to take to the raft is an uncontrolled fire on board. With this in mind,  I do not consider storage below deck a good idea.

 

I have no issue with storage in the bottom of the Amel deep Port side deck locker.  Anything stored on top would just be thrown overboard in an emergency.  Yes, our four-man raft is heavy (80lbs/40kg) but not so heavy any single crew member could not lift it if they HAD to.  A 6 or 8 man raft changes that calculation a lot.  A 8 man raft is really heavy and awkward.  If I felt the need for 8 man raft capacity I would seriously consider using two four man rafts!

 

We have ended up with our valise packed raft in the cockpit locker as part of our ongoing effort to move weight as far starboard as possible.  I am liking it there for another reason, it gets looked at a lot!  It anything was going wrong, we would see it.

 

 

 


 

 

 


 
greatketch@...
 

We have always approached deck storage with the guideline that we never wanted to pull into a harbor and have the locals immediately think: “nice cruising boat.” We’d prefer they think “nice boat.”

While that is an aesthetic question, keeping the deck clear has many practical benefits. When we are on passage, only two things are on deck that we’re not there when Harmonie first left La Rochelle: Jerry jugs with gasoline for the dinghy are lashed to the starboard rail because there is no safe place below deck for flammable liquid storage, and the solar panel arch. Everything else is stowed out of weather. Being able to do this is truly one of the awesome things about owning an Amel.

We pretty much adhere to the rule, "If you wear it, or eat it, it is stored inside the cabin. Everything else is in one of the external lockers." While there are a few exceptions, they are few.

Bill Kinney
SM160, Harmonie
Freeport, Bahamas

1 - 3 of 3