Heck YES!!!!!!!
Perhaps we are not investigating loss of life, but why engine stalls, or how to fix a widget, clean/wax a boat, help with pitting of a prop , on and on and... with some renown experts too.
Jim...
Missing Sailor & Family, Sanibel Island
- Thread starter BigEasy
- Start date
Perhaps we are not investigating loss of life, but why engine stalls, or how to fix a widget, clean/wax a boat, help with pitting of a prop , on and on and... with some renown experts too.
Jim...
don't forget the mad scientist in that mobHeck YES!!!!!!!
Perhaps we are not investigating loss of life, but why engine stalls, or how to fix a widget, clean/wax a boat, help with pitting of a prop , on and on and... with some renown experts too.
Jim...
Brian from the Index Page this is what your posting looks like;
Missing Sailor & Family, Sanibel Island
Brian D at 12:08.........
LOL.
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More like crime scene speculators (with a dash of snap judgment ) than investigators
That is the silliest thing I have ever heard. The smaller the boat, the **MORE** you need an EPIRB or PLB!
OK: I'll bite on this issue. If you are in a larger vessel, you are more likely to survive a sudden squall. A larger vessel most likely has an inboard, and the engine is more likely to stay running in large swells. A typical outboard auxiliary on a sailboat (like this 29 footer) is more likely to get swamped and sputter out, loosing control. That is just one factor. If your sails/rigging are not in neglected tatter (which I suspect on this boat), you may be able to heave-to, and if you are smart and prepare for the 1000 possible things that can go wrong 30 miles offshore, you just happen to have a sea anchor to keep your bow into the wind. The newer VHFs are water resistant (good), but the older ones will fizzle upon water contact. A Still they may/may not work from a range perspective, especially if all you have is a hand-held. So, your cell phone is wet/useless, and your VHF is not functioning.
When all else fails you have your go-to safety device, your EPIRB, and the CG will know who you are and your position, all within a couple of minutes. It is also waterproof. Venturing offshore for 30 miles is just plain foolish without a functioning EPIRB, and sadly both fathers (the 2 teenagers who went fishing last year, and this father of 3) didn't recognize the value, --OR-- was not educated enough to have such a device on their boat. If either of these boats had an EPIRB, odds are all 5 of these kids would still be alive today and there would be no news story.
Personally, I have two (mounted and handheld), and all my kids know how/when to deploy them **WHEN** something goes horribly wrong. Just because I haven't needed one YET does not mean I don't need one. There is nobody on this forum that can talk me out of having an EPIRB, but I'm sure there are plenty who STILL THINK they can "buck the odds" and somehow justify in their own minds how "expensive", or "It's just a 25 footer", or "I never go out in bad weather", bla bla bla.... The marina is full of these guys. If you don't get an EPIRB for yourself, then get one for your kids.
sure, he could have bought a $600 Epirb plus a few hundred more for the hydrostatic release and tell the kids to eat that for the next 2 weeks or he might have been influenced by their desire to eat food.
The thing that still chafes me about this tragedy is why go off shore if you aren't rigged for it. Squalls along the Gulf Coast are a daily occurrence during summer months. It's not a question of if you are going to get caught in a thunderstorm; only a question of when. So you have to expect it and be prepared.
An ACR PLB is $250.
$250 for your kids' lives.
I think they would have preferred that over food.
Or kayaks.
Okay. One week's worth of food.
Be grateful if hopefully you never find yourself having to make that choice
Please. It's not a decision about food versus equipment. Feed the kids and stay put--that's it. If not equipped to go to sea; then don't. He had the ICW as an option. Also, mz4wheeler, refer to post #62-- most likely this boat was not sailing 30 n.mi. offshore, etc.