Typical Liferaft For Cruising Sailboat

Here are some things you should keep in a lifeboat or liferaft for long term survival.

As someone who once lived aboard a sailboat and made several long offshore passages I always considered what I might need in my lifeboat in case of emergency.  Thankfully I never had to use a liferaft or lifeboat but it was always there, inspected and packed in its container on deck.

Cruising sailboats that venture any distance offshore should have a lifeboat or liferaft. Some sailors prefer a dighy that has been converted to a lifeboat and equipped with a small sail so that they can actually sail toward a safe destination instead of blowing with the wind in an inflatable liferaft. If you have a lifeboat you can keep some of the items below stored inside. If you have an inflatable liferaft you may only be able to keep some of the smaller items inside but you can keep some extra items in a ditch bag, tied to a flotation device, that will float free of the boat and be recoverable to bring aboard the liferaft.

Things you might want to keep inside your liferaft or a “ditch bag” attached to the liferaft.

Food and Water To Keep In A Liferaft

1. Water jug or multiple bottles. Be careful with disposable water bottles since they may degrade and leak in a couple of months. Larger containers adding up to around five gallons are best.
2. Dried fruit such as prunes, dates, and other dried food items.   MRE meals, energy bars, canned soup and stews.  Note: Most MRE’s contain too much sodium to use in a “lost at sea” situation. A better solution are low sodium energy bars such as those seen here: Datrex Survival Bars
3. Small handheld watermaker.
4. Small fine net for catching plankton to eat. Fishing line, lures and hooks of several sizes.

Safety Gear To Keep In a Liferaft OrWaterproof Ditch Bag Attached

1. Every liferaft should carry an additional 406 Mhz. EPIRB or Emergency Position Indicating Beacon other than the ones used on the primary vessel.
2. Radar reflector and extension pole.
3. SOLAS flares, smoke signals, flare pistol with a couple dozen flare shells.
4. Handheld VHF radio.  Your VHF radio should be waterproof, packed in a waterproof offshore bag and be capable of using AA batteries which you keep several of.  (Some cruising sailors also carry aviation radios to signal planes, even though they may not have a valid license).
5. Waterproof. LED Flashlight that uses AAA batteries and a a couple large packs of batteries.  I kept a small LED flashlight with a laser which may be used to attract attention. Even better, if you can afford them are real marine laser flares.

Navigation and Safety Items To Keep In A Liferaft

1. Even though you may not be able to control which way you are blown in a liferaft you should keep a GPS onboard to indicate your position by VHF radio. Keep enough batteries for the GPS and VHF radio. There are combo VHF-GPS radios.
2. Waterproof binoculars.
3. Compass
4. Large scale chart of the area you are going to be sailing in.
5. Life Jacket.
6. Small sea anchor
7. Sunscreen
8. Extra shirt and pants in waterproof bag.
9. Space blankets.
10. Rain Gear
11. Duct tape.
12. Zip ties, sewing kit, electrical tape.
13. Patch kit for liferaft and inflation pump
14. Bailing bucket (doubles as toilet).
15. Multi-tool with knife.
16. Toilet tissue or paper towels..
17. Vitamin tablets
18. Oars
19. Sail and extra rudder (for lifeboat).
20. First aid kit.

This list is of course not all inclusive. You should think of your own needs when planning your ditch bag or liferaft supplies. Keep things inside that you may need to survive, such as extra medications which you depend on.

For a very good book on how to live aboard a sailboat see: All In The Same Boat by long time cruiser Tom Neale.

For more on living aboard a sailboat see: How To Live Aboard A Sailboat

You should always do your best to ensure your boat is sound, safe and plan to avoid dangerous conditions such as offshore storms. For those things you cannot plan for, a properly supplied liferaft or lifeboat is essential for the offshore sailor.