[cuzmondo]

For those of you that fish the Gulf, do you keep a "ditch bag" aboard? If so, what items do you consider absolutely essential?

An EPIRB?

Spare food and water? Lighter, lights, handheld GPS? Flares?

Perhaps we've been lucky all the years we've been boating, but since wetake lots of friends out, and of course the two most important things in my life, my wife and daughter I've been giving a lot of though lately as to whether or not I'm adequately equipped. I'd really hate to know I cost someone their life for lack of equipment. We have a 21' W/A cuddy boat, and I've always carried Tow Boat US unlimited coverage. Maybe I've been watching too many episodes of survivor and "I Shouldn't be Alive".......It's been a long winter.

 

[The Maintenance Shoppe]

Hanheld vhf to communicate with any in 5 mile range.



Shotgun Flares to bring attention to yourself. lots of shells.



Hand held flares are useless in the water.



Handheld GPS to communicate your exact coordinates.



Epirb for coastguard rescue.



Raft, any kind of raft if you can't afford a high end one.



WATER WATER WATER.



Shark repellant.

 

[Sea Monkey]

The OLE Here I Am, Get Me Out of Here.

Safety is the #1 priority of offshore fishing, at least it should be!!!! I bought me a EPIRB bout 7yrs. ago. Do your homework if you purchase an EPIRB. Technology has come along way since I bought mine. The EPIRB is not one piece ofsafety equipmentto skimp on. I have the ACR "Global Fix", the one with the internal GPS. Now there is basically 3 differentcapabilities of EPIRBS that ACR sells.

1. Sends out a distress signal, but location is not known. This is when a float plan comes in handy. I activacted on of these one time. It tokk 2 hours before the CG found us. The only way the CG knew where we were is after calling my contact numbers, I had left a float plan with my wife, let her know about the general area we would be fishing. That is how they found us from the information my wife gave to the CG. We were not in the water , just scared of the 5 or so water spouts coming at us. We had a dead battery and could not navigate at all, we were at anchor. All went well and Tow Boat US brought us a battery to save the day. Damn what an experience.

2. The "Rapid Fix" these EPIRB's need to interfaced to your GPS unit. It will update your current GPS location every 20 minutes, as long as it is still hooked up to your GPS. 20 minutes is along time and you can be along way from the last GPS update if you are running at X- MPH on the water. I have a friend that has this model.

3. The "Global Fix" this is the one I have. It has an interal GPS unit built in. This model is the only model I will ever own. If I ever have to hit the water I want the CG to know exactly where I'm at without having to make phone calls or know that I may be X-amount miles from the last GPS update

Now the price will vary from one EPIRB to the next, depending on the capabilities of the EPIRB. The batteries last 5yrs. on the EPIRBS. I had anew one installed on mine acouple of years ago. The cost for the new battery was$350.00.So you can say thatthe cost is bout $70.00 a year for the EPIRB to be up-to-date sort of speak.When purchase an EPIRB , you will have to give a list ofEmergency contact #'s,vessel discription and main port of entry.I recieved and update for my contacts#'s aboutevery 3 yrs. or so. They will mail you a updatewhen it is time. Once you register your EPIRB you are good to go. No monthly fees to pay, just keeping a good battery will be the only expense(every 5 yrs.) Each EPIRB has its own identity so the CG knows who youe are and what type of vessel you arein(if you register it, registration is free).

I'm speaking of the ACR manufacture when giving the capabilites of the EPIRBS. I do not keep up-to-date with all the new technology. So I'm speaking on my experience when I was shopping for an EPIRB.

 

[cuzmondo]

Yep, just like the old saying BOAT= Break out another Thousand.

I really don't have a much room for storing a raft and even finding a good suitable location for the ditch bag will be a challenge, but it does appear I need to bite the bullet and get a class II EPIRB. Thought about getting a little el-cheapo inflatable raft. Hey, anything is better than nothing right, and floating in a cheap raft is better than treading water.

Already have a handheld Garmin, and of course flares, so I guess the big expense is the EPIRB.

Thanks for the input.

 

[bluffman2]

cuzmondo (2/27/2010)Yep, just like the old saying BOAT= Break out another Thousand.

I really don't have a much room for storing a raft and even finding a good suitable location for the ditch bag will be a challenge, but it does appear I need to bite the bullet and get a class II EPIRB. Thought about getting a little el-cheapo inflatable raft. Hey, anything is better than nothing right, and floating in a cheap raft is better than treading water.

Already have a handheld Garmin, and of course flares, so I guess the big expense is the EPIRB.

Thanks for the input.

you can also get a Mcmurdo PLB for $250.00.......same as a class 2 epirb except it does not float....its water proof but it wont float ....its 406 mhz as well...

 

[cuzmondo]

Thanks bluff,

Is that what you use? Anybody had any first hand experience with one of these?

 

[bluffman2]

cuzmondo (2/27/2010)Thanks bluff,

Is that what you use? Anybody had any first hand experience with one of these?

i bought a class 1 epirb off here from corpsman and i have a PLB

epirb is registered to your boat....PLB is registered to you!

a PLB will only transmit for 24 hours where the epirb will transmit for 48......if your butt aint found in 24, more than likely you wont be found anyway..........for added security i HAVE both!

call Jim at BOE marine.....he will answer any and ALL questions you have!

shoot me a pm if you have any specific questions and we can talk!

EDIT: also George aka "speckulator" turned me on to the PLB....I think he knows more about them than i do!

 

[Runned Over]

I had an EPRIRB on the boat that needed a battery, $350.+- to change the battery. Did some research and discovered that MY epirb only updated every 20 min and would only transmit the last known postion.

With the idea of the boat going to the bottom and me and the crew drifting, I opted for the PLB that transmits the CURRENT position.

Recess taught me to brief new folks fishing with us,where the bag is, and that it needed to be retrieved at the first sign of trouble.

I still am wrestling with the Liferaft vs. Anti exposure suit question. I am leaning towards the AE suits but haven't pulled the trigger.

Also, I didn't go with SPOT because it seemed to be fairly new technology, and I didn't want the wife to know where I was!!!! :letsdrink