EPIRB's

[Frank]

I recently tried to purchase an EPIRB from a stateside firm for use on my boat here in Europe. Although they only too happy to sell me one, their Customer Service Manager, sent me an e-mail informing me that if the boat was being used in Germany, I would have to purchase the item over here and register it here. I figured if it was registered with NOAA that would be sufficient for anywhere in the world. Otherwise how could you go on a world cruise and be covered?? Surely you don't have to register in every area of the world you are going to cruise in. Those things are designed to pick up distress signals and to relay them to the next ground station or Local User Terminals. " LUTs are located all over the world and provide the link between satellites and Mission Control Centers, which in turn inform the Rescue Control Center that is monitoring the area of the incident, whether it is the US Coast Guard or a foreign country's military, so the RCC can launch the Search and Rescue
effort. International rescue operations necessitate effective communication across borders, language barriers and agency limits and may take a little longer to launch depending on available resource" That last quote was taken verbatim from West Marine's Advisor on EPIRBs. So what is everyone's opinion? Should I purchase it anyway, and register it with NOAA, which was my original intention.
Purchasing the same model here in Europe would DOUBLE the cost. "Fair Winds and Following Seas"
sv Cin Cin, V-2184
Frank Gallardo Jr

 

[pelagicasd]

Buy it and register it in the states. Wait a short while and tell them the
boat is in Europe. NOAA lists my present home port as San Carlos, Mexico. I
wonder about their system though. The prior home port was La Paz. We
informed them last fall that we were moving the boat to San Carlos. A couple
of weeks ago I received an email from them wanting me to update the
information as they hadn't heard from me in 2 years. The background
inforrmation they wanted me to update was the what I sent them last fall.
Walt

 

[imbissfrank]

Walt,
I went ahead and bought a stateside one, and will register with NOAA.
I received the following from NOAA:

Dear Beacon Owner,

There are several things, which you should consider:
? Your vessel or aircraft registration should agree with the country coded into your beacon.
? Consider having your beacon and vessel registered in the country where you normally operate your vessel or aircraft. This will expedite the Search and Rescue response. Please check with that country's registry prior to recoding your beacon.
? If you decide to register your beacon in the country's registry where you live and normally operate your vessel (if one is available), you are encouraged to contact the beacon manufacturer to have your beacon recoded to the country where your beacon will be registered. If you decide to do this, please contact us of this change so we can mark this registration appropriately.
--
Thanks,
Apurve Mathur
SSAI - Support Contractor for the USMCC
Phone 301-457-5430 Ext. 157
Fax 301-457-5406
www.sarsat.noaa.gov
I made a lot of inquiries on the internet with SARSAT and US Coast Guard, and the EPIRB manufacturer. The bottom line is: register it in the states, and if it is activated and you are registered , you position can be pinpointed within 4 minutes !!! , regardless of where you are registered, and even if it is not registered with anyone, your position can be located within up to 2 hours anywhere in the world. I can live with that. Beats 76 days adrift.
P.S. One has to update their registration every two years or anytime there is a change in emergency POC, change in MMSI, change in boat, owner, etc.
walt/judy brown/allore bestvega@... wrote:
Buy it and register it in the states. Wait a short while and tell them the
boat is in Europe. NOAA lists my present home port as San Carlos, Mexico. I
wonder about their system though. The prior home port was La Paz. We
informed them last fall that we were moving the boat to San Carlos. A couple
of weeks ago I received an email from them wanting me to update the
information as they hadn't heard from me in 2 years. The background
inforrmation they wanted me to update was the what I sent them last fall.
Walt

 

[SVFlyAway]

I am currently refitting and upgrading a Vega I just purchased. Besides
spending too much money (and being way over budget) on necessary components
such as the rig, winches, sails, and thru-hulls (besides some much needed
repainting), I am considering the purchase of some new electronics and maybe
a new head.

So my questions:

1. Does anyone have any experience with the "Tactick" wireless wind, speed,
and depth instruments? I have an older Tacktick race master tactical compass
and find it quite well built. But I can't believe that a wind indicator at
the mast head, or a transmitter down in the bilge area could consistently
transmit a signal to the deck mounted readout with any reliability (seems
too good to be true). Also I am concerned about the how well the units, with
their solar power and batteries, will hold-up over the years.

2. Does anyone have any experience with the "Airhead" brand composting head?
I have read all I can find on it and again it seems too good to be true. The
boat has an almost new Lavac head, but no holding tank -- so I either add
the tank or do something such as the composting unit (I have had experience
with other, older composting heads and they weren't that good, but this new
design is intriguing -- I've also used the Lavac on another boat). The
holding tank system would be somewhat cheaper, but if the Airhead is as good
as the claims say, then it might be worth the extra money.

Both of these "investments" are rather pricey so I hope to get as much
information as I can before committing.

Thanks,

Chris Brown
Vega #2923

 

[bv0820]

Chris, there has been a number of articles recently written on "wireless" nav systems. I would check with the editors of SAIL and also Practical Sailor. Aside from that a question I would have is what type of sailing are you planning...offshore, coastal etc. It is just a question that I have started to ask myself when pondering an equipement purchase or when I am working with a client looking for a vessel.

Bob Vogel
Laughing Gull
Bob Vogel Yachts

Chris Brown svflyaway@... wrote:
I am currently refitting and upgrading a Vega I just purchased. Besides
spending too much money (and being way over budget) on necessary components
such as the rig, winches, sails, and thru-hulls (besides some much needed
repainting), I am considering the purchase of some new electronics and maybe
a new head.

So my questions:

1. Does anyone have any experience with the "Tactick" wireless wind, speed,
and depth instruments? I have an older Tacktick race master tactical compass
and find it quite well built. But I can't believe that a wind indicator at
the mast head, or a transmitter down in the bilge area could consistently
transmit a signal to the deck mounted readout with any reliability (seems
too good to be true). Also I am concerned about the how well the units, with
their solar power and batteries, will hold-up over the years.

2. Does anyone have any experience with the "Airhead" brand composting head?
I have read all I can find on it and again it seems too good to be true. The
boat has an almost new Lavac head, but no holding tank -- so I either add
the tank or do something such as the composting unit (I have had experience
with other, older composting heads and they weren't that good, but this new
design is intriguing -- I've also used the Lavac on another boat). The
holding tank system would be somewhat cheaper, but if the Airhead is as good
as the claims say, then it might be worth the extra money.

Both of these "investments" are rather pricey so I hope to get as much
information as I can before committing.

Thanks,

Chris Brown
Vega #2923

 

[moondance5003]

I agree with Bob. It depends on what you want to do. It sounds like
you've covered the most important issues if you already have good
ground tackle to go along with what you've already done. I think the
rest is preference.... I'll give an example... I've done and still
do coastal cruising with a porta potty and my only electronics are a
VHF and hand held GPS. We changed the head into lockers for more
storage. We are about to go cruising as live-boards in the Carib for
8 months and I'll be using the same equipment as before. I don't
even have one of those little wind indexes at the top of the mast.
BUT, if I were to rig my boat to race because that's what I was
going to do exclusively, then the electronics may give me an edge.

Robert