Stern life raft locker dimensions

[Matthew Clark]

Hi all, 

First, thanks for the amazing resource. Second, this is my first post so a quick introduction. Myself (Matt Clark), my wife Mindi and our 12 year old son Owen purchased Thylacine, ex. Dolphin, from Noah Peffer about 1 year ago.  She in now named Stout Heart, and is currently on the hard in LaPaz. We will be transitioning from winters in Baja to more or less full time cruising for a couple years beginning 2024. Hope to be able to contribute more here as we spend more time on projects, on on the boat in general.

Now on to the actual subject. We are researching either repacking our life raft in a soft valise, or getting a new raft that will fit in the stern (life raft) stowage compartment. I forgot to measure it before we left the boat this spring. Any chance someone out there can give me internal dimensions for max life raft storage space?  Also, any other tips or experiences with raft storage there would be appreciated.

Thanks again for the great community here, it’s been a huge help since we first started researching J boats.

Matt

[Tom Keffer]

Mine measures 32 x 18.5 x 14.5.

My Zodiac Open Sea 6P fits perfectly.

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[William Stellin]

We had a soft valise 4 person life raft stored in the aft locker. I can’t remember who made the life raft (20 years ago). It fit nicely with room for spare dock lines as well. The tub is a great  feature of J/42’s. Keeps the deck uncluttered plus when you don’t need to carry a life raft it provides a lot of hand storage. 

Bill #6

Sent from my iPhone

On Aug 24, 2023, at 10:41 AM, Tom Keffer <tke...@gmail.com> wrote:



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[Matthew Clark]

Thank you!

[Robert Thuss]

Congrats on your boat! Dolphin was legendary in the Bermuda Racing community. In the 20026, 2010 and 2012 races, whenever we wanted to gauge how we were doing, we would simply ask "Where's Dolphin?"

If you want a bigger raft, we have a Viking RescYou Pro on J/42 #63 that I bought from LRSE. It's a beast at 101# but it fits perfectly in the stern bin.

https://www.lrse.com/collections/recreational-life-rafts/products/viking-rescyou-pro?variant=23947596803

Viking Life Rafts
		L	W	H
	Locker per J spec	33.0"	19.0"	16.0"
		L	W	H
	RescYou Pro 8-man	30"	18"	16"
	Compare	-3.0"	-1.0"	0.0"
		L	W	H
	RescYou Pro 6-man	30"	14"	16"
	Compare	-3.0"	-5.0"	0.0"

Robert Thuss 

J/42 USA 51663 #63 Lucy Belle

Atlantic Highlands, NJ

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[Joe Murli]

We have a soft Val ice raft right now.  But I’m seriously considering stern rail mounted hard valice mounted for quick deployment.   Cruising our J44 we find storage space down below is at a premium and I’m forever removing stuff from on top of our soft valice so that we can get to it easily if needed.  

If anyone is seriously interested in a two man soft valice raft please let me know 

Joe Murli

Sirena Bella

Sent from my iPhone

On Aug 24, 2023, at 11:54 AM, William Stellin <wste...@hotmail.com> wrote:

 We had a soft valise 4 person life raft stored in the aft locker. I can’t remember who made the life raft (20 years ago). It fit nicely with room for spare dock lines as well. The tub is a great  feature of J/42’s. Keeps the deck uncluttered plus when you don’t need to carry a life raft it provides a lot of hand storage. 

To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/j4x-owners-group/BLAPR19MB45803E43762E38B67B917AC2DD1DA%40BLAPR19MB4580.namprd19.prod.outlook.com.

[Todd Stevens]

FWIW, earlier this year I splurged on a new hard-case life raft and rail mount.  It fits on the outside of the pushpit.  I’ve gotten used to it now, but it is a bit in harms way from pilings, lock walls, etc. Especially with the hydrostatic release hanging out. It does not fit on the inside of the rail without interfering with the locker hatches.  Oh well. Can’t get much easier to deploy than that.

A problem of my own creation, since the dedicated liferaft locker is where the scuba compressor and docking stuff live.  

To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/j4x-owners-group/892B706D-2435-4A02-9484-BA3D69FB963F%40gmail.com.

[Anthony Iacono]

Matt Mindi

Hare are two photographs of the 8 person life raft I use. It fits comfortably into the aft, lazarette of my J 42 with some room to spare. 

Tony Affinity #26

Sent from my iPhone

On Aug 24, 2023, at 11:54 AM, William Stellin <wste...@hotmail.com> wrote:

 We had a soft valise 4 person life raft stored in the aft locker. I can’t remember who made the life raft (20 years ago). It fit nicely with room for spare dock lines as well. The tub is a great  feature of J/42’s. Keeps the deck uncluttered plus when you don’t need to carry a life raft it provides a lot of hand storage. 

To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/j4x-owners-group/BLAPR19MB45803E43762E38B67B917AC2DD1DA%40BLAPR19MB4580.namprd19.prod.outlook.com.

[William Stellin]

Did you raise your water line. That’s a lot of weight including the arch

Bill #6

Sent from my iPhone

On Aug 25, 2023, at 11:31 AM, 'Todd Stevens' via J/4X Owner's Group <j4x-owne...@googlegroups.com> wrote:

 FWIW, earlier this year I splurged on a new hard-case life raft and rail mount.  It fits on the outside of the pushpit.  I’ve gotten used to it now, but it is a bit in harms way from pilings, lock walls, etc. Especially with the hydrostatic release hanging out. It does not fit on the inside of the rail without interfering with the locker hatches.  Oh well. Can’t get much easier to deploy than that.

A problem of my own creation, since the dedicated liferaft locker is where the scuba compressor and docking stuff live.  

To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/j4x-owners-group/5D549D30-C01F-410C-92FE-9D02C859A197%40me.com.

[Todd Stevens]

Yes, a lot of weight, but I’m living aboard.  It gets a little better in salt water. BTW the boat always “squatted” a bit toward the stern anyway, which I attributed to usually empty tanks forward.  (?) It’s the equivalent of having two or three hefty crew hanging out in the cockpit.

Sorry for veering off topic.

Todd

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[Joe Murli]

Robert

Let’s take this off line.  Please write me directly at Joe...@aol.com

I’ll need a few days to respond but I will get back to you 

Joe

Sent from my iPhone

On Aug 25, 2023, at 11:48 AM, William Stellin <wste...@hotmail.com> wrote:

 Did you raise your water line. That’s a lot of weight including the arch

To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/j4x-owners-group/BLAPR19MB4580A069B7EBAA50CEEA0A10DDE3A%40BLAPR19MB4580.namprd19.prod.outlook.com.