If you were buying a new EPIRB today, which one would you get? What features are important? Where would you mount it on the boat? (keeping it below decks seems to defeat the purpose) Thanks for your comments in advance. Ed
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Rent the latest model.
My plan has always been to rent from BoatUS. Since I never planned to be out for more than a few months at a time why own one? It would be the rail mount, self-activating, type I(406) I guess. And yes there is still a BoatUS.
My plan has always been to rent from BoatUS. Since I never planned to be out for more than a few months at a time why own one? It would be the rail mount, self-activating, type I(406) I guess. And yes there is still a BoatUS.
Rental not cost effective for me
I want to have it on the boat during the three months I live aboard during the summer. Boat US charges $50/week with a 6 week maxixmum, so I think in the long run cheaper to buy one. Ed
I want to have it on the boat during the three months I live aboard during the summer. Boat US charges $50/week with a 6 week maxixmum, so I think in the long run cheaper to buy one. Ed
epirb
rental isn't really cost effective on a long term basis-if you hunt around you can find a 406 epirb-like an ACR, for around $775 for the manual, non GPS version-which is fine for coastal cruising-the battery is rated for 10 years, recommended 5 year replacement. The epirb then is registered to you directly-I assume that if you use a rental from boatus and set it off, they call boat us to find out who has it? anybody know? that's a potential delay. there's also a history of non-registered epirb alerts being ignored as false...
rental isn't really cost effective on a long term basis-if you hunt around you can find a 406 epirb-like an ACR, for around $775 for the manual, non GPS version-which is fine for coastal cruising-the battery is rated for 10 years, recommended 5 year replacement. The epirb then is registered to you directly-I assume that if you use a rental from boatus and set it off, they call boat us to find out who has it? anybody know? that's a potential delay. there's also a history of non-registered epirb alerts being ignored as false...
Epirb purchase
We have a 406 Acer Epirb and we mounted it inside just above the nav station. It updates from the GPS for position. If we were runover and sunk before we could get to the hatch, it isn't going to be of much help. Since we consider that prospect low, we are satisfied with the installation. Dan Jonas (S/V Feije II)
We have a 406 Acer Epirb and we mounted it inside just above the nav station. It updates from the GPS for position. If we were runover and sunk before we could get to the hatch, it isn't going to be of much help. Since we consider that prospect low, we are satisfied with the installation. Dan Jonas (S/V Feije II)
EPIRB
We've got the ACR 406, non GPS, mounted in the same position as Dan-I agree that there is some risk, but it's readily grabable if you need to abandon ship, and if you're sheltering below you can trigger it without going topsides. the auto cockpit mounts are a theft temptation and have been known to be lost in a capsize or heavy seas. Even though they are not supposed to open until they're under 10ft of water, they have tripped when you don't want them to. I would get either the GPS linked unit Dan has, or the one with the built in GPS-the main diff is that the linked unit updates from your GPS, so it always knows your boat position. The built in must do a cold start for the GPS, which can take several minutes before it has a position to transmit-otoh, it's a stand alone unit. You save a couple hundred $ by getting the non GPS unit-I'm told that it may take up to 45 minutes for the satellite sytem to generate an approx position for the non gps unit, and it's a much larger search area. I'd spend the money if I didn't already have the earlier model
We've got the ACR 406, non GPS, mounted in the same position as Dan-I agree that there is some risk, but it's readily grabable if you need to abandon ship, and if you're sheltering below you can trigger it without going topsides. the auto cockpit mounts are a theft temptation and have been known to be lost in a capsize or heavy seas. Even though they are not supposed to open until they're under 10ft of water, they have tripped when you don't want them to. I would get either the GPS linked unit Dan has, or the one with the built in GPS-the main diff is that the linked unit updates from your GPS, so it always knows your boat position. The built in must do a cold start for the GPS, which can take several minutes before it has a position to transmit-otoh, it's a stand alone unit. You save a couple hundred $ by getting the non GPS unit-I'm told that it may take up to 45 minutes for the satellite sytem to generate an approx position for the non gps unit, and it's a much larger search area. I'd spend the money if I didn't already have the earlier model
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