Satellite Phone rental recommendations

[RichW9603]

Hi all,
I am going to be taking my Hunter 33.5 on a trip which will involve a couple of days where I will likely be out of traditional cell reception, and not sure what the other boat traffic is so I don't want to rely on VHF in case I get into trouble. Some friends recommended renting a satellite phone for the week in case the crap hits the fan. I ran a google search and there are dozens of sat phone rental companies all promising the world. Have any of your rented a sat phone from a company you would recommend to others? I also wouldn't be against renting an EPIRB as well, but not sure how to rent those.
Thanks,
'Dubs

 

[Brian D]

I did a search on discussion (other forums) of sat phone rentals. Here is the link... https://www.google.com/search?q=discussion+of+sat+phone+rental+for+sailors&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8 Looks like there is quite a bit of chatter regarding rentals.

As far as EPIRB, I do not think that is possible. I believe EPIRBs are registered to the owner/boat. Like a MMSI is registered to a radio/boat and stays with the boat.

 

[Rick D]

Check with Boat US for an EPIRB rental: http://www.boatus.org/epirb/?gclid=...0zFSjnKssfXOrFQ0BROKjJxeZ4Y3WAYeJqBoCYNjw_wcB

 

[Brian D]

Well, @Rick D corrected my helm.

 

[dziedzicmj]

consider inReach Explorer (or Spot, though past discussions favoured inReach). This might be a more cost effective option, especially, if it is mostly for emergencies.

Marek

 

[Skipper]

You can get an ACR EPIRB PLB now for $250.
The beauty of the PLB is that you can use it on land too. Hiking, snow skiing, driving in remote areas(accident off road, emergency out of cell range, etc). It's about the size of a flip phone.
So if you're only looking for emergency response, no reason to rent anything.

On a side note: I've always been interested in offshore communication and especially weather reports. However, the costs for the satellite access are in my opinion enormous, when considering the actual usage time that the device will see.
For example the DeLorme or even the Spot; you would be sending/receiving tiny texts that take almost zero bandwidth, and you might use it for a couple weeks out of the year, and it's $400 a year to do it. That's above the initial cost of the unit. Even the "seasonal" rates that allow intermittent usage are actually not much better, with the associated specific fees.

So for emergencies I just bought a PLB. Done.

 

[Skipper]

Almost forgot the best reason for PLB:
It lives in my life vest pocket. When I put the vest on, there it is. So if I go overboard offshore, either single hand or unbeknownst to crew, I've got it.
Also you can take it on the dinghy, and a long list of other portable usability, even outside of boating.

 

[Benny17441]

I would get one of them tracking devices that can be activated in case of emergency. Before all these electronic gizmos we used to file a Float Plan with the USCG . We would give a copy to a friend and set up some check points where communications could be stablished. It was his job to contact the Coast Guard in case we were seriously overdue at any step along the way.