Equipment required

[Arek Pawelek]

Satellites yes, they will be turned off, but that (121,5) frequency will be still used by aeroplanes for SAR activities. Anyway, I agree, that spending 400 £ for epirb is not very appealing Especially as I know, that they may broke (as happened to my 406 Kannad, when I'd been capsized 900 miles offshore). But I'm still recommending to take epirb. On a Sydney2Hobart race every one member of the crew had personal eprib, on a yacht had been 2 epirbs, and on every liferaft (in a grab-bag) had been an epirb too. (I made that race in 2001) The race for most part is going along coast. What other alternative do we have? That just remind me! I think, that I'd seen handheld ICOM M15 with DMGSS function (but not sure), which is automatically sending distress signals. For shore ribing can be an alternative...

[Richard B]

If I remember correctly, they knew that that Tony Bullimore was still alive as he kept switching his EPIRB off and on every few hours.

[gingercoastie]

I am nervous of re-opening a can of worms here, but when ribbing in uk waters, especially along the south coast, I would suggest that DSC would be as useful as an Epirb, for indicating your distress, but has the advantage of having a built in 2 way comms.

Am Epirb though is an essential bit of equipment when going offshore, or in an area with less vhf coverage either from shore or afloat.

[Garygee]

Im with Gingercoastie on this.

A EPIRB is great, we carry one 406/121Mhz but belive that given the satalite/alert/processing time you be dead from hypothermia before they decide that you really need help. (unless you have a dry suit )

Great if you out of VHF range, but I would hope the rescue would be over and done with using VHF before they started the rescue from a EPIRB.

Regards Gary

[malcolm]

Whats an EPIRB?

[MeMe]

Malcom, that's a good question which, could be answered the long way or the short way. Why not do a quick web search and you'll find some very interesting items of interest I'm sure.

http://www.sartech.com/pages/info/epirbfaq.html

[Garygee]

Emergency Position Indicating Radio Beacon

[malcolm]

Its very quick this forum!

So if I have no wet weather gear, no life jackets, no safety gear I assume I will be spending more than £200!

I guess this getting kitted out (wife kidsx2) will cost 1K+?

[Garygee]

Hi Malcome

Yep this is the bit you never budgeted for

And I think you will find 1K does not go far if you start to but waterproofs etc.

You can save yourself a bit by trying to do a deal for all the stuff from one place, or given the time or year I would wait for the London boat show.

Not only can you get good prices you can try everything and see what works best for you all in one day.

Also look on Ebay or the boar jumbles. While I would not buy saftey critical (lifejackets etc) second hand you could save yourself a bit on other stuff.

Regards Gary

[Simon Guest]

The danger of asking for equipment lists is that it all escalates, as different people suggest what they have, and you're left thinking you need the sum total of all the suggestions.

I think you asked about essentials. Some of these were mentioned above. Then there's been talk of other things which are not essential at all (EPIRBs, etc).

You need to keep everyone afloat, warm and dry (this includes food and drink). You need to be able to avoid natural hazards and get home safely (chart & compass, etc). You need to be able to cope when things don't go according to plan (some sort of toolkit, rope, knife, anchor, etc).

And you need to be able to contact someone else when you can't cope on your own (2 independent forms of communication.)

While GPS and VHF are obviously useful, for your planned use they may not be essentials. For my use, I currently have neither, but have thought this through, and believe I am operating within an acceptable safety envelope. Think through some scenarios, and ask yourself, what would you do?

Hope that helps.

cheers,
Simon

[Simon Guest]

Think through some scenarios, and ask yourself, what would you do?

OK, now I'm warming up. Try these.

1. The weather deteriorates unexpectedly (wind, rain, or fog?)

2. A wave breaks over the boat, and someone or something gets soaked.

3. You drop something vital overboard (boat keys, phone?)

4. Someone falls overboard.

5. Engine failure.

With things like this, it's much more fun playing let's pretend.

cheers,
Simon

[chrisallse]

Interesting....EPIRB or Radio,.. If you have a breakdown etc then a radio is fine, but if you have a capsize what use would a radio be then? and this is a very real possibility in a very rough sea.

seems to me what you want is a dhsc radio that could be floated free with its own emegency power supply.....A Vhf EPIRB! perhaps i should design one.

[Richard B]

Originally posted by chrisallse
if you have a capsize what use would a radio be then?

That's why you need a waterproof hand-held vhf in a waterproof case attached to you.

[chrisallse]

who makes one that is that waterproof, i have an Alpeco 501+ but it is only weatherproof?

[Richard B]

D'oh! Am I going to have to write the thread again.... I'll make you write it out 100 times if I have to...

OK - here it is: http://rib.net/forum/showthread.php?...%26E#post29586

The raidio is supposed to be fully waterproof, but as my life might just depend on it, I've gone for the "belt-and-braces" approach.

[chrisallse]

Thanks Richard, Does anyone have any xperience with an Apelco 501+ (Raymarine)?

[The Jackeens]

stick it in a waterproof bag then one can use any

[Lester McCarthy]

Do'nt forget a radar reflector for tose foggy days.

[simmons0]

im asuming this is a first rib that you have bought and have little experience.
I was in the same position 2 years ago. be carful with the engine. Get it serviced straight away, if its running fine then use it for 10 hours or so close to shore or other boats. I trust my current engine so much now that i wouldnt even think about a reserve. More problems than they are worth if you already have a brilliant engine. If its not quite so good though then take out Seastart or buy an auxillary engine.

As for equipment life jackets are a must. NOT bouyancy aids, life jackets.
You will definatly need a VHF radio, at some point do the licenses but carry one all the time anyway both to transmit in an emergency or respond to someone else's mayday.

GPS i think is of lesser importance, however if you are cruising in unknown water then i would recomend a Garmin GPS 72. Its handheld, FLOATS! and there were some going for just over £100 at the SBS.

Get say 4 red parachute and 4 red smoke flares. Only for real emergencies.

a good pair of binos are always useful too.
added to that water proofs although rain and spray at 40 mph manages to find a way through nearly anything other than a drysuit.
Im quite happy at the moment wiht a dry top and water proof salapetes, not much water gets through that...

saying all that especially about the flares, if you ever think you might need them then don't go out in the first place.

[malcolm]

Thanks for the feedback, the engine is 3yrs old and it will be serviced on Monday.

Hopefully it should be reliable!

Malcolm