I have and I am sure Bose-x has been soaking wet, submerged on an off for a couple of hours at a time for upwards of 12 hours in one day in water temps down to 4 degs and wind chills down to - 10deg. And after 12 hours straight down the pub stinking of baby talc and sweaty arm pits, although as he is a tecky boy he proberly use KY jelly
. There have been cases of divers lost at night for 18+ hours in suits. And the only casulty being the boat driver who left them out there after greeting them on the pad when they got back, broken nose I think.
You are kidding yourself if you think that a raft gives you anywhere near the same protection as a suit. What about matey boy down in the south sea capsizing, 4 days. Your not going to tell me he would have survived that in a pair jeans t-shirt and a fleece in a raft. Jeans t-shirt and a fleece in a suit he did submerged.
Without protection in a raft unless you are dry you will be lucky to get 2 hours without being dead. You actually when wet cool down faster on the surface with the air/wind evaporating the water off you than you do when submerged. It's more about keeping the layer of clothing next to your skin dry or wind free than anything else.
A EPIRB especially if switched on when the problems occur, coupled to a Mayday on 121.5 will have the helicopter turning before you have touched the water. They will have a straight line intercept for your position. The coastguard can DF you. Before you have even touched the water channel 16 will be.
"All stations, all stations, Mayday Mayday Mayday in progress, aircraft ditching lat.... long.... report any sightings. Dover ferry xxx turn port 30 degrees report."
All the british Ferrys for P&O are half payed for in grants off the goverment and have war roles. They have to responed to and have to do training for emergency rescues. And all boats in British waters have to respond to a call an emergency on channel 16 and they had better have a very good reason to refuse to help.
Just tell D&D what your going to do ie straight ahead or circle down in your present position. In the channel you are not going to be more than 30mins after splash before there a boat or a chopper plucking you out of the drink.
And if a plane stays afloat long enough for you to step into the raft with the aircrat sinking behind you. You will more than likely not need the raft at all. The fuel tanks with the fuel being lighter than water provide the bouyancy not the cabin. So if your in a low wing you can sit on the roof. If you in a high wing you are doing the swim and escape thing which means you are more than likely going to loose the raft and are already 20mins into the dead thing. The kids in the back are dead anyway.
Its the fact that D&D know your precise postion which saves you not that you are in raft.
edited to add.
I really do think Life rafts are pish compared to suits and the inflatable type which are now being phased out now because they are pish in marine circles are the worst. Unless you have a suit on your dead anyway and there isn't much time difference between in raft and out in british waters. And for cross channel stuff totally inadequate for what people report them to save you from. Kids are Knackard anyway because of there surface area to volume ratio. Why do you think its a legal requirement for all off shore crews to wear emersion suits and carry beacons. When they train you they virtually tell you your not going have a raft and to link arms and stay together.
I really don't think you will have a chance in hell getting out of cold water into a raft unless you have any training / experence operating in the sea. I struggled like hell with 800 dives under my belt most of which involved grabbing boats in various levels of sea with twin tanks and a couple of ponys hung of the side.
The only thing rafts do is keep people together for recovery when they are in suits and extend your exposure. Without suits they only stop the bodies floating off if you get into them in the first place.
And IO I can garantee without doing the life raft course you will flip that wendy house before the first person has got in. If you do ever have to use it anger you need people on the oppersite side to that which the first person is boarding. And I presume it doesn't have handles on the backside which poeple with hyperthermia can actually hold in thier hands. The proper ones have foot grips so you can stand on them so the whole thing doesn't go over.