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#1
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FS: Free to good home - Avon 6-man offshore canister life raft in St. Petersburg, FL
What's the catch? There's one, really, and then just info which you
may feel to be a catch, depending on how you view free stuff. The catch is that this raft is now sitting open, ready for certification, at SunCoast Inflatables. If someone wants it for the cost of putting it back into its case ($225), it's yours. It was opened this morning, and is rock hard - but they require them to hold air for 24 hours, so we won't have an answer on that until tomorrow. This is a very busy facility, and a week from today, it will have to be out of there one way or another. Free for the packing charge, or tossed, it's not going back to the boat. More below... Why is it available? It's an older raft, and the contents are expired. If you want to update all the contents, it's expensive (in relative terms compared to a new raft or one with current contents). It's a big raft, suitable for offshore use, and we don't need one that big. If you want it, I'll throw in the mounting brackets as they're unlikely to fit any other canister we might buy. Ditto the sunbrella cover. There's nothing wrong with it otherwise. It even has the log book, which the tech and the owner of the place tell me is nearly unheard of. The owner, who rents rafts for offshore racers (gotta have a raft to do the race, but the boats wouldn't ordinarily have one), said that if it were a valise (soft cover) type, he'd buy it from me, to rent. However, it's not a new raft, so it's not something he'd expect to rent out for the next 10 years. And, that's the reason it's not going back on the boat. Barring some catastrophe in our enthusiasm or life event, we're going to be on the boat the rest of our expected lives. Nearly never will we have more than 4 aboard, and we'll be aboard for a very long time - longer than the reasonable life expectancy of this raft. So... Want a raft on the cheap? Offshore and in a canister, with mounting rack and sunbrella cover? This thing is heavy (offshore is heavier than coastal, and there's more stuff), so to ship it would be fairly expensive - but still cheaper than buying one any other way. Or, you can come get it. If you want it, I'll keep it here if you pay the shop - because they'll not pack it without payment, and it has to leave their shop next Thursday. No takers will have it in the dumpster with all usable parts removed, and I'll pay the condemnation fee (not condemned, but the fee they get for taking it out and inspecting it without repacking)... MANY pictures, inside and out, including the log and the removal and inflation process, can be found in the April06 gallery, beginning at #130 (http://www.justpickone.org/skip/gall...06&s tart=129). All of these pictures can be clicked to enlarge very substantially in case there's something you'd like to more closely inspect. Please have a look if it's interesting to you - there's a VERY short fuse on this one... L8R Skip Morgan 461 #2 SV Flying Pig KI4MPC http://tinyurl.com/384p2 The vessel as Tehamana, as we bought her "Believe me, my young friend, there is *nothing*-absolutely nothing-half so much worth doing as simply messing, messing-about-in-boats; messing about in boats-or *with* boats. In or out of 'em, it doesn't matter. Nothing seems really to matter, that's the charm of it. Whether you get away, or whether you don't; whether you arrive at your destination or whether you reach somewhere else, or whether you never get anywhere at all, you're always busy, and you never do anything in particular; and when you've done it there's always something else to do, and you can do it if you like, but you'd much better not." ---------------------------------------------------------------------- rec.boats.marketplace is a moderated newsgroup. See rules and legal disclaimer at http://www.algebra.com/rbm |
#2
posted to rec.boats.marketplace
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FS: Free to good home - Avon 6-man offshore canister life raft in St. Petersburg, FL
This is an update and clarification on my offer to give away my raft.
First, the owner of the certification facility is unwilling to pack the raft as it was. Regardless of what any other inspection station might be willing to do (other interested parties have said their local facility'd put it back like I got it), he will require a refit/recertification. Until it's finished, he doesn't have a hard number on the cost for that. However, it will be 1000-1200 expected, he says. Virtually anything which can age, which causes inflation to happen, plus all the consumables, will be replaced. In the case of the inflation bottle, it will be hydrotested, and either refilled or replaced, which is what I assume to be the cost variant. It also must pass inspection - but given that it's held air for all but the last couple of hours of the time required, and were it a valise style, something he'd buy to rent, it seems likely that it will. Until they have a financial commitment, they'll not proceed. However, they're snowed under with work; please don't call them until you're ready to commit to the recert. If it weren't for the fact that it's aging, and we expect to be on the boat for a very long time, I'd do it. I'd not have taken it in to begin with, knowing the expense, otherwise; I fully expected it to either fail, in which case I'd pay the condemnation fee, or pay whatever it was to recertify. At worst, the cost would be only a fraction of what a new one would cost - and even, if I were to step down, as I intend, now, only a significant fraction of a valise-style coastal 4-person. What I didn't know was the aging, vs failed-to-hold, component. He'd not have offered to buy it were it a valise if it weren't usable for some years - but we'll be out there for what might be 20... Second, if it requires shipping, the bottle makes it hazmat, which is more expensive than simple weight-for-distance. They can do that, for the extra charge. Same deal as to value received. Please note that in no case do I get a dime. This is just to return to the groups which have helped me in the past. But I would not have offered a pig in a poke by not having it tested. A life raft which doesn't inflate is worse than none, because you were expecting it to work and didn't make other arrangements. So, that's the bottom line. It will cost a significant sum for a free raft - but minimally as much as a new one, and it will be certified the day you get it. Finally, here's a longer exposition on my decision: What I didn't (know to) expect, but on reflection, led to my decision to abandon it, is that, while it's still good for several years, the rubber is starting to age. If you rub the exterior (why not the interior, I can't figure), it isn't all smooth like the one inflated on the floor next to mine. If you work at it, you can make it shred a bit of stuff. If we expected 5 or so years' cruising, I'd have gone for it. He said it certainly (assuming it holds air and passes the inspection) would be fine through the next inspection 3 years later. However, at some point, the inspection will fail, and it will be condemned. It's also 6-person, and offshore, neither of which are on our horizon. Given that new ones have 10 year warranties, and we expect to be out there for more than that, I made the decision to go for a new 4-person, coastal one, which will take up significantly less room, and cost only a (significant) fraction more than recertification. We'll have to see about where we'd store it as to valise or canister. Ideally, one could pack a valise - if you had one, as we do - into a canister, but the guy tells me it's somehow a different raft, and not just a different repack pattern. The cost differential over the valise model for a canister model is significant, and the rack is even more so. So, I'd considered getting a valise style but keeping the can and rack. No such luck... Knowing all I did today, I still would not have simply offered it for free - because I have yet to see that it will pass inspection. I would not offer a raft which could not pass inspection free or otherwise. Now, having seen the realities of shipping, it gives me pause to consider even an eBay or other source for my replacement, as I assume they'd have the same issues - and, I'd not purchase one which wasn't recently certified. That's probably more than you wanted to know :{)) Again, please don't call them until you're ready to commit. They're extremely busy... L8R Skip Morgan 461 #2 SV Flying Pig KI4MPC http://tinyurl.com/384p2 The vessel as Tehamana, as we bought her "Believe me, my young friend, there is *nothing*-absolutely nothing-half so much worth doing as simply messing, messing-about-in-boats; messing about in boats-or *with* boats. In or out of 'em, it doesn't matter. Nothing seems really to matter, that's the charm of it. Whether you get away, or whether you don't; whether you arrive at your destination or whether you reach somewhere else, or whether you never get anywhere at all, you're always busy, and you never do anything in particular; and when you've done it there's always something else to do, and you can do it if you like, but you'd much better not." ---------------------------------------------------------------------- rec.boats.marketplace is a moderated newsgroup. See rules and legal disclaimer at http://www.algebra.com/rbm |
#3
posted to rec.boats.marketplace
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FS: Free to good home - Avon 6-man offshore canister life raft in St. Petersburg, FL
gone...
L8R Skip Morgan 461 #2 SV Flying Pig KI4MPC http://tinyurl.com/384p2 The vessel as Tehamana, as we bought her "Believe me, my young friend, there is *nothing*-absolutely nothing-half so much worth doing as simply messing, messing-about-in-boats; messing about in boats-or *with* boats. In or out of 'em, it doesn't matter. Nothing seems really to matter, that's the charm of it. Whether you get away, or whether you don't; whether you arrive at your destination or whether you reach somewhere else, or whether you never get anywhere at all, you're always busy, and you never do anything in particular; and when you've done it there's always something else to do, and you can do it if you like, but you'd much better not." ---------------------------------------------------------------------- rec.boats.marketplace is a moderated newsgroup. See rules and legal disclaimer at http://www.algebra.com/rbm |
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