Our Avon eight-person liferaft was last inspected in 2020, and as it came from a charter boat its certification was only valid for one year, rather than a more usual three years.

With that in mind, we confidently didn’t put it in for inspection for three years.

Aside from the cost of a professional inspection and certification, sending it off takes time and the delivery can make the whole process add up to more than the cost of buying a used in-date replacement.

Relying on my experience of repacking emergency parachutes, I looked inside to see if I felt confident taking it offshore without a formal certification.

Opening up, I cut through the ribbon bands and peeled off the seam tape that made the hard case watertight.

Opening up the liferaft case revealed the liferaft had mould and was damp. Credit: Andy Pag

I could see the tape was damaged in places and expected some water ingress.

The liferaft itself is contained in a large see-through polyethylene bag. It’s completely sealed apart from a hole for the pull cord to pass through.

I could see mould and dampness in the box and mould on the liferaft inside the bag.

I carefully cut a straight line in the bag so that taping it up later would be easy.

Unfolding, I took photos after opening each fold so I’d have a record to reverse the process.

I’d chosen a covered area where I could leave the liferaft for 24 hours without rain or sunlight getting to it.

The liferaft is sealed in a polyethylene bag. Credit: Andy Pag

I’d carefully swept the floor before starting so I wouldn’t be introducing any dirt to the repacked raft that could abrade it over time.

Throughout, I was careful not to tug on the pull cord, although it was surprisingly long.

The CO2 canister is the heaviest part of the raft. I’d originally intended to remove the canister and weigh it.

They should have a loaded weight stamped on them so you can check they haven’t leaked.

However, I noticed this model has a pressure check inspection window on the regulator which was green so I reassured myself with that and didn’t disconnect any of the plumbing.

Andy took a photo after opening each fold of the liferaft so he could repack it. Credit: Andy Pag

Inside the entranceway are two valves, one for each of the rings that make up the hull of the raft.

I attached my paddleboard pump which didn’t quite match the fitting so Julie, my wife, kindly held it in place with enough force to make an airtight seal, while I pumped.

It took about 15 minutes to pump them both to full.

The CO2 canister contains more gas than is needed to fill the raft and the two chambers each have release valves which dump excess gas when the correct pressure is reached.

It ensures that the raft doesn’t over-pressurise in hot sunlight and burst a seam.

The pull cord for the liferaft. Credit: Andy Pag

I pumped until I heard the dump valves triggering and checked my watch to start the 24-hour test.

I’d pump it again a day later to get a measure of how much air it had lost.

Inside is a bag of survival equipment. A lot of the servicing cost is made up from the cost of replacing this equipment.

In our survival bag were: two paddles; a first aid kit including a burns kit, adhesive sutures, painkillers; seasickness tablets; five 500ml water packs; waterproof torch and spare batteries; two space blankets; a whistle; a pump; four flares; a puncture repair kit; a signalling mirror with instructions; a tethered drogue; some sick bags and plastic bags and a fabric bailer.

There was no nutrition or fishing line. Strapped to the entrance is a knife for cutting the tether.

The external dump valves prevent the raft from overinflating. Credit: Andy Pag

The foot pump had been squashed into the bag and lost shape, and with it, its ability to bounce back and work as a pump.

We were able to find a replacement from a friend who was scrapping their liferaft and we swapped the end fitting from ours onto theirs.

One of the torch’s C-cell batteries had oxidised and wasn’t conducting.

They are alkaline batteries so thankfully hadn’t leaked and damaged the torch innards. We replaced both batteries.

We looked through all the expiry dates on the flares, water packs and first aid kit and made a call on what urgently needed replacing compared with what we could source in time.

As we planned to get the raft properly inspected within 12 months we were quite lenient with the dates.

The contents of the survival bag which included water packs, a drogue and paddles. Credit: Andy Pag

Even though the first aid kit would expire, the replacement we got was not as well furnished with burn treatments.

One of the few reasons we might abandon ship to the raft is a boat fire, so in my mind, having burns treatments was really important and we chose to keep the older kit.

Although it’s an eight-person raft there were only five water packs in the raft.

They carry instructions advising you not to drink anything on the first day, and then only 500ml per day.

We rarely sail with more than four aboard and usually just two.

Nonetheless, we bought some more packs that were split into 10x50ml packs, a more useful way to drink water little and often.

Deflating the liferaft is difficult. Credit: Andy Pag

As the central arch inflates it pulls a light switch cord which illuminates the inside light and outside warning lights.

The cord fell away so I switched off the light for the 24-hour inflation test and made a note on my repacking checklist to reattach the cord when we deflated it.

Just sitting in the liferaft and looking through the survival bag really brought home what a terrible experience taking refuge in a liferaft would be.

It felt a bit like trying out your own coffin. I’d been worried about how stable the oversized raft would be with just two people, but I was surprised and in a way reassured by how small it was.

Despite the foreboding feelings, it was helpful to think through what we’d need to add to our grab bag: a hand fishing line and a small resealable bottle for water.

Initially, Andy used a chopstick in the valves before lying on it to get the air out. Credit: Andy Pag

But I really hoped I’d never have to see any of this stuff again.

I used dilute vinegar to clean off the mildew. I was nervous about using bleach in case it attacked the plastic.

Even after several attempts, there were still some traces and a large bag of descant silicon would have been a good addition during the repack.

I didn’t see any evidence that it was weakening the plastic or the seams.

It had the night to dry off, but repacking it was such a sweaty job that some moisture got back onto it. Eugh!

After 24 hours both chambers were just as full as they had been the day before.

We tested this by seeing how much air was required to trigger the dump valves.

Once deflated, you need to make sure the valve plugs are inserted. Credit: Andy Pag

One chamber fired on the first stroke of the pump, and the other one fired within a handful of pumps.

Getting the air out of the chambers was the hardest part of the whole operation.

It took about an hour, and even when we’d done everything we could there was still some residual air.

The ideal would be a deflation pump with an adapter that can keep the valves open while sucking the air out.

We used a chopstick to open the valve and lay on the chambers, and folded them up repeatedly to chase as much air out as we could.

After four attempts we had enough air out that we could fold it small enough to fit back in the hard case.

It’s important to leave everything how it was.

After deflation, Andy refolded the liferaft.
He made a checklist to make sure he folded everything back in place. Credit: Andy Pag

This means making sure the valve plugs are all inserted, the internal light is off but set to trigger, and the pull cord is carefully folded back in its pouch so it won’t catch or knot when pulled.

To reduce the chance of overlooking something, making a checklist as you open it up is a useful aid.

Following the folding pattern is important as the raft is designed to break its way out of the case using the leverage of its unfolding sections.

We couldn’t get the raft as small as it had been, but it was small enough to go back in the box. The box had been sealed with plastic ribbon tape.

We replaced that with four rounds of electrical tape, plus Gorilla tape to make a watertight seal.

Neither was as strong as the previous fasteners, so we have no concern that the raft won’t open up, but we’ll keep an eye on how the tape holds up to the UV and may need to re-wrap it periodically.

The case is tied to our boat’s rack so it has further support holding it closed.

Having seen the inside I feel more confident with it than I had done before, and although I hope never to use it, I feel more prepared in case we do.

• Editor’s note: It is recommended to get a professional to service your liferaft every three years, as cylinders need to be serviced, which can’t be done at home and requires specialist tools. DIY servicing will also invalidate warranty and insurance.

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