Lessons learned from overhead VHF 16 chatter

[sailaway78]

Excuses

Seems like Tom S wants to make excuses for stupidity. I do not know any of the circumstances concerning the distress call being talked about. But I do know this. I do quite a bit of offshoresailing, maybe you don't, but here is the real deal. On a recent trip across the Gulf, from Tampa - Houston, I will bet you 100 bucks that at any time, even if you had awakened me from a sound sleep, I could have given you an approximate location, without looking at anything. Maybe not an exact lat and lon, but x number of miles x degrees, of somewhere. I truly believe that any prudent skipper, or anyone who is helming the boat should be able to do this at any time. It is not a problem to keep up with an approximate location, and which direction is going to get you back, at least close to where you left. There were four of us on this trip, and I will bet another 100, that the other three could have given an approximate location, just as I could have. Everyone needs to remember that old mother ocean is wonderful to enjoy, but she is unforgiving. When you are offshore, being stupid can get you dead. Also as for the PFD's. On my boat there are PFD's hanging in a mesh bag, in the cockpit. Again, there is no excuse for not having these available at a moments notice.

 

[Tom S]

Oh man *o

I never said that the skipper in this instance was or wasn't wrong .Some of you people really need to step back, take a deep breath and examine the FACTS NONE of you know the details, but you are pretty damn Cock-Sure of everything. Maybe ya'll need to wait for the ALL THE FACTS before you make judgements.Even you Nice and Easy said " I do not know any of the circumstances concerning the distress call being talked about."How do you know that the skipper on the boat wasn't having trouble transmitting with his VHF? I heard the CG side of the conversation and it wasn't apparent that the boater in distress was able to even respond !!! How do YOU know he didn't say where he was !?! It sounded like the CG abruptly lost all radio transmission . It sounded like for a while no one could receive the distressed boater. Could it have been possible that the boaters were trying to respond with the location and there was an immediate problem they had to deal with. Plus as I said before I believe they DID acknowledge they had PFD's onAnd to that anonymous loser poster that doesn't have the balls or manhood to sign their own name I have to laugh . Maybe I should have started a new thread, but I was responding to a comment in the post by Clay and Ross about Cell phones services - it was off topic (and I said so) - I said it was a "side note" It sounds like you jumped the gun without reading all the posts or knowing all the facts. BTW. Whats the point of YOUR post other than showing that you are trying WAY too hard to act superior. *butt Funny we don't know who you are LOL . Makes sense - anyone that can't sign their own name isn't worth listening to anyway.I am the first to say there are too many idiots on the water that don't know what they are doing (go through the archives and search under my name) But some of you are sounding a bit pompous hell bent on determining your superiority. Read and respond to facts and add value after you know whats going onSigned Tom S. -- a LONG time boater thats smarter than to "Pre-Judge" a situation without KNOWING ALL THE FACTS !!!! *o

 

[John P12803]

2nd the GPS

I 2nd the use of a small handheld GPS. I sail on Lake Champlain in Northern NY, and where I keep my boat (Great Chazy River), it is a tad dificult to navigate from slip to the lake, due to shoals, reefs, canals, etc. I use my GPS to accurately determine where I am on the chart (I have not yet bought the charting software for the device, but merely use to find my coordinates) when I leave the river, and when I come back in. However, at any given time, I can turn it on and in about 30 seconds, find out exactly (+/- 3') where I am.Cheap insurance if you ask me.

 

[newsailor06]

You can see by my ID that

I am new at sailing. We had a powerboat when I was growing up and spent a lot of time on the inland waterways. We used to cruise in the Kentucky lake area. So basically, I am a newbie. I have taken a basic keelboat course and have an overall "basic" knowledge of what I am supposed to know. On board we have a VHF radio, fire extinguisher, throwable floating cushions, and a PFD for every person that we take. I too do not know what the outcome of this situation is/was, but I do have a general comment. In my earlier days, I used to do quite a bit of mountain climbing. Growing up in Colorado, we had the opportunity from very early on. In general, if you were a newbie, you got yourself in less trouble if you got yourself into trouble than if you were experienced. The feeling was that if you were experienced you should know better. It's not that the beginner was given a free pass, but there was more of an understanding that good people do stupid things all the time. The thought was that maybe, just maybe, the person or persons might learn a hard lesson, not that they should pay a huge price. Although some did pay the ultimate price for their stupidity.