Cheapest EPIRB

[Cyrus Safdari]

Originally Posted by Bash

Hmmmm. We've also heard, from none other than a USCG helicopter rescue pilot, that in 99.9% of rescue situations, a PLB would work fine.

Hmmmm.

The Coast Guard pilot was specifically referring to near-shore (100 miles) cases and I was talking about offshore, like as in the middle of the Indian Ocean. I wouldn't want to be treading water there thinking, "Eh, the Coast Guard will be by any minute now"

Look at it this way. Risk is product of the probability of a hazard resulting in an adverse event, times the severity of the event. As unlikely it is to have to need an EPIRB, the severity of needing one and not having it is pretty darn overwhelming! That's my 2 cents.

[Cyrus Safdari]

Originally Posted by barnakiel

Now imagine you have a limited budget. (yes, I know, hard to imagine;-). Say you can buy the plb/epirb OR a new set of turnbuckles. Say you go for the epirb (safety first!!!) then go on a passage and shake off the rig ...

I have seen too many boats with EPIRBs / liferafts / etcetera and poor condition standing rigging than one could ever wish for ... Some of them did not make it to the other side. Do not worry though - the crews have been rescued.

:-( ? :-) ?

b.

OR you buy an epirb AND turnbuckles, and if you can't afford them both, then you either simply don't go sailing offshore (no one said sailing was a cheap hobby) or at least do so consciously prepared to accept the potential consequences rather than pretending there are none.

[MarkJ]

Well, folks have a choice: Sit on the 8:06 am bus to work each morning or do what they can to get cruising (or doing what they want with their lives).

And remember this in your sums: I anint met no guy whose had a heart attack cruising. But at home I met lots who had one at their desk.

One job I did the first day at work I was given a desk and under the pad was defribulator packaging from the ambulance guys. The previous desk jockey had died at that very desk.

So my advice is not to be a tosser till you can be a tosser of lines. Do anything to cut the lines as quick as you can


Mark

[alaskamountainman]

"Need I spell it out? D-E-A-T-H. Now, how much is YOUR life worth?"

-----------Fear is a big seller and there's always a bull market------------

[MarkJ]

Originally Posted by alaskamountainman

-----------Fear is a big seller and there's always a bull market------------

"bull" is quite correct.

[Wotname]

Originally Posted by MarkJ

And remember this in your sums: I anint met no guy whose had a heart attack cruising. But at home I met lots who had one at their desk.

So I infer that a heart attack will cruising will be fatal but one at a desk isn't.

Originally Posted by MarkJ

So my advice is not to be a tosser till you can be a tosser of lines. Do anything to cut the lines as quick as you can

Great line, mind if I borrow it as required.

[MarkJ]

Originally Posted by Wotname

Great line, mind if I borrow it as required.

Sure. See my agent re royalties.

We are 9 miles off Anzac cove and its just gone dawn!

[barnakiel]

Originally Posted by Cyrus Safdari

... OR you buy an epirb AND turnbuckles, and if you can't afford them both, then you either simply don't go sailing offshore (...) or at least do so consciously prepared to accept the potential consequences ...

The 'AND' part is beside the point. I said only one possible.

Then, I go with good gear/sound boat minus the EPIRB and the liferaft and other such 'safety' items. Just imagine they did not exist only 100 years ago and this one century is just a drop in the ocean of the the history of sailing.

The 'potential consequence' of sailing without an EPIRB is 99.9% sailing, 0.1% accident. I do not see how the 0.1% can be used as an argument. What is the risk of falling of the bike? And yet we do not have airbags in the bike, do we.

The limit of all is D-E-A-T-H. With an EPIRB we have the chance of dying later, or at least safer.

barnie

[bewitched]

Vessel locators and means to call for help that were required in the last offshore race I did:
- fixed VHF
- handheld marine VHF
- HF Radio
- sat phone
- EPIRB
- AIS SART
- Satelite tracking system
- AIS Transponder

OK I concede that this isn't a race forum, but I think it tracks the weather change to the 'Oh sh*t it broke, I'll call for help' mentality that seems to be seeping into our conciousness.

All these items are of course, nice to have. There is even a remote chance that one of them may even save your life one day. But put in the context of things like experience, capability, fitness, a well maintained boat, reliable systems, access to weather information etc., they are small potatoes.

Luckily, in many regions of the world, such regulation hasn't percolated down and we are still free to take responsibility, live with our decisions and perhaps face the consequences one day.

Long may that remain

[barnakiel]

Originally Posted by bewitched

OK I concede that this isn't a race forum (...)

Yep. But racing has always been the source of sailing progress. Even if it was just racing of the pilot boats to get to the cargo vessel first, which gave us some very seaworthy and FAST designs.

I always look towards the racing crowd to see how they do things and see how I can benefit from this!

Spectra? Humbug! Us real sailors we only use hempen here ;-)))

b.

[MarkJ]

Originally Posted by barnakiel

Us real sailors we only use hempen here ;-)))

b.

Hemp?



Hmmmmmm


Smokin.

[osirissail]

Initial price is only one factor in the selection. Is the battery "user-replaceable?" If not, you will be paying close to the purchase price or buying a new one every 5+/- years.