Life Raft Essentials: Choosing & Using An Emergency Lifeboat
Discover the critical safety considerations for choosing, storing and deploying a life raft during an emergency at sea.
December 22, 2025
Most people assume life rafts are only for hardcore offshore sailors—the round-the-Cape, cross-the-Pacific types. But history (and more than a few tragic headlines) tells a different story. Plenty of serious marine emergencies happen close to shore, on what should’ve been simple day trips. The sudden sinking of the superyacht Bayesian while sitting calmly at anchor in Sardinia is a sobering reminder that weather, mechanical failures, and human error don’t wait for you to lose sight of land.
So whether you’re planning a big passage or just hopping from anchorage to anchorage along your favorite coastline, the truth is the same: you need the right safety gear, and you need to understand how it works. A life raft isn’t dramatic—it's responsible.
What Kind of Life Raft Do You Actually Need?
When you’re buying anything safety-related these days, you probably turn to online reviews. The issue? Very few boaters have firsthand experience deploying their life raft (thankfully), so crowd wisdom is… limited. Instead, life rafts are broken into three official categories:
Coastal Life Rafts
Offshore Life Rafts
Trans-oceanic Life Rafts
Offshore and trans-oceanic rafts offer sturdier construction, better weather protection, and more ballast pockets to keep the raft stable in ugly conditions. Coastal rafts are lighter and more compact, but they’re not designed for true bluewater situations.
Even if your country doesn’t require private vessels to carry a life raft, it’s one of the smartest investments you’ll ever make. And if your boat normally stays inshore, you can even rent a raft for longer trips or bigger crews.
Size Matters (And No, It’s Not About Your Boat)
Life rafts are sized by people, not by feet of vessel. A couple cruising on a 40-foot monohull doesn’t need the same raft capacity as eight guests lounging on a 40-foot cat.
Most experts recommend going one size up. If there are four people aboard, choose a six-person raft. But don’t jump too far—an under-filled raft is more likely to flip because it doesn’t have the body weight ballast it needs, and larger rafts are harder to keep warm in cold conditions. If your crew count changes often (common on larger yachts), carrying multiple smaller rafts can be the safest plan.
You’ll also choose between two packaging styles:
Hard canister
Soft valise
Each has clear strengths—your boat and your crew will dictate which is right.
Canister: Built Tough, Mounted Outside
Canister rafts come sealed inside a two-piece hard shell mounted on deck or the rail. They're weather-resistant, easy to deploy, and can be fitted with a hydrostatic release so they float free and self-inflate if the boat sinks.
They do, however, need a thoughtful location—away from rigging snags, sharp hardware, or anything that could interfere with an automatic release. And although weatherproof, the cases can still take on water over time, so regular inspections are a must.
Valise: Light, Portable, and… Heavy When It Counts
Valise rafts look like oversized duffel bags—smaller and lighter than canisters but more vulnerable to water damage. They must be kept in a dry, accessible locker, which is easier said than done on many cruising boats.
And here’s the part no one tells you: they’re heavy. A 4-person valise weighs 65–85 pounds. Hauling that up companionway steps in a swell is no joke—especially for smaller or less physically-strong crew. They also rely on manual deployment, so every crewmember needs to know exactly how to trigger inflation safely.
What’s Inside: Emergency Packs
Every life raft includes emergency supplies, but not all kits are created equal. Some brands label them as Under 24 Hours or Over 24 Hours; others call them Standard or Extended. Go for the extended pack—you’ll never wish you had less food, water, or medical gear in an emergency.
Expect essentials like:
Seasickness tablets
Water rations
Repair kit
Manual pump
Bailer and sponge
Flashlight and extra batteries
Mirror, whistle, and basic flares
Paddles
Upgraded packs may include food, first aid, rainwater collectors, drogues, and extra signaling devices. Always read the fine print.
If you want to see a raft in action before buying, visit a service center during a scheduled repack—they often let you watch the inflation process, and some even allow you to climb inside. It’s eye-opening.
Better yet, take a sea survival course. Nothing replaces the experience of flipping, boarding, and helping someone else into a raft in real water. It’s the kind of training you hope you’ll never need—but you’ll be grateful to have.
