Quick post, but I wanted to share our liferaft plan for our trip north from Portland Oregon up to the Puget Sound. Because we’re planning to be in the Puget Sound area for the next 2-3 years, we didn’t want to purchase a new liferaft right now. We want to extend out the timeframe that our liferaft will last before needing to be reserviced once we do purchase it, and in the fairly protected waters of the Puget Sound, we don’t feel we NEED a liferaft once we’re up there. We have our dinghy and that should be just fine for any emergency in the Puget Sound.

But, the passage north, specifically from Astoria out on the ocean up to Neah Bay and then eastward into the sound, that we feel we need a liferaft, and plus, I read somewhere that it is required by law … I’m not certain on that point. Regardless, we want one along on our trip.

We do actually have an old liferaft that came with the boat when we purchased her. Problem is that we don’t know ANYTHING about it. It has no identifying marks that we’ve found and we don’t know how old it is, what condition, service history, etc. Now, before we go and buy a brand new liferaft several years from now when we plan to leave the pacific northwest, we will look into having that one serviced and repacked.

But for now, renting a liferaft for our trip north is the best option for us.

Cue the google search. We found a Seattle company online which rents liferafts: Marine Safety Services. We gave them a call and they were very easy to work with.

Here are the Details of Liferaft Rental Through Marine Safety Services in Seattle:

• 6 person coastal liferaft
• $295 for 2 weeks or
• $575 for 6 weeks
• We opted for the 6-week timeframe as we don’t have our weather window nailed down and don’t know exactly when we will be jumping north
• If we aren’t able to return it by the 6-week mark, they will simply pro-rate the additional time at the rate we picked
• We will be picking the liferaft up in Seattle on Friday, April 26th
• It will be due to return on Friday, June 7th

I don’t know exactly what liferaft they’ll be renting us and here’s hoping we never actually SEE the thing out of its case!

*Please note that these prices are in no way guaranteed and are only accurate as of our phone call on 4/12/19.