Ahhh Billy sex crime,
Yes I have seen a life raft all bagged up, and have intimate knowledge of the westwind too, and the rafts that pelair use for that matter! I assure you every time I did a trip it would fit in the cabin. and if it wouldnt I would make room for it,(it never had to sit in the aisle) with all the overwater flying pelair does the life raft was very important and I always wanted it to be the first thing thrown out the door should we need to ditch, Luckily I never needed to use it but I assure you before ditching I would have had the lanyard attached to the base of the front chair and the raft secured there too so it would be ready to go. a ditching should be a planned procedure when needed and things like life jackets and life raft positioning before the final approach to ditch are very important. flying the procedure is only a very small part of ditching
And no you cant access the baggage compartment from the cabin, which is why I couldn't believe they would put it in there.