EPIRB choices, installations

[high&dry]

Looking to add a new EPIRB for offshore use (offshore being outside the inlet for me and more than 3 or so miles from shoreline). We already have a Spot service. One of the choices that gets argued over is Manual or Auto deployment. I can see Auto deployment in a larger vessel that is sinkable and which will likely sink right side up (sink meaning it will depart the surface and head to the bottom). But, in an UN-sinkable boat like our BW Nantucket I think a Manual deploy would be better and wiser. My reasoning is that unsinkable or not it can capsize (upside down and remain on the surface) and that outboard boats do tend to capsize if sufficiently flooded though BWs are particularly resistant to it, physics being the heavy engine above the CG, there is a rolling tendency unlike a true inboard (with a bilge that can flood). So in such a boat, the EPIRB must haver a clear path to deploy to the surface, sink deep enough to activate the Auto deploy and release. In our boat I figure being unsinkable but capsize-able the EPIRB would not deploy and might be trapped, unactivated, under the hull. So might as well have a Manual deploy?

Anybody have their solution or thoughts on EPIRB installs in sub 20 foot boats?

J

 

[theteacher]

Mine is manual deploy and it's in my ditch bag, always right beside me at the helm.

 

[Tassie 1]

Over 30ft fb cruiser so outside the brief,
two epirbs
one hard mounted
other near the bag,

other 5.7 boat has manual ( all manual ) loose

but what l really wanna know is where l can get one of them unsinkable boats lol

 

[MTboatguy]

I have never seen an unsinkable boat in the over 30 years I have been doing this?

 

[high&dry]

Since you guys cannot stay on topic, if you can show me a sunken Boston Whaler or an Edgewater or similar construction boat, please do. Any photos of a sunken BW would be appreciated. Indeed, for quite a few years now, all boats below 20 feet must have level flotation, just some brands go well above and beyond. You cannot sink a surfboard and a BW is nothing but a surfboard (glass and foam from stem to stern and keel to gunwale) with sides on it. I think perhaps you should familiarize yourselves with the definition of sunken vs. capsized or flooded, regardless of how many years you been doing this.

Thanks for the info on the EPIRB however, confirms my thoughts that for our purpose a Manual deploy would be best.

J

 

[MTboatguy]

Since you guys cannot stay on topic, if you can show me a sunken Boston Whaler or an Edgewater or similar construction boat, please do. Any photos of a sunken BW would be appreciated. Indeed, for quite a few years now, all boats below 20 feet must have level flotation, just some brands go well above and beyond. You cannot sink a surfboard and a BW is nothing but a surfboard (glass and foam from stem to stern and keel to gunwale) with sides on it. I think perhaps you should familiarize yourselves with the definition of sunken vs. capsized or flooded, regardless of how many years you been doing this.

Thanks for the info on the EPIRB however, confirms my thoughts that for our purpose a Manual deploy would be best.

J

What the heck is going on with the new guys around here lately?

I was stationed in Hawaii for several years and I have seen just about any boat you can think of sunk.

If the right set of conditions strike a boat, it will sink, so don't ever believe what the manufactures tell you, take your safety precautions, but don't ever get so smug you don't think it can happen.

We must have a new generation of boaters on here.

As far as the EPIRB, get a manual, it will better serve you

 

[high&dry]

What the heck is going on with the new guys around here lately?

I was stationed in Hawaii for several years and I have seen just about any boat you can think of sunk.

If the right set of conditions strike a boat, it will sink, so don't ever believe what the manufactures tell you, take your safety precautions, but don't ever get so smug you don't think it can happen.

We must have a new generation of boaters on here.

As far as the EPIRB, get a manual, it will better serve you

Again, a if you can present evidence of a sunken BW I would surely like to see it. Exactly how would you sink a chunk of foam and glass that is less dense than the water it displaces? As far as what is going on, I would rather think the same concerning you, I asked a simple question about EPIRBS for unsinkable boats as to the best deployment scheme and instead we go down this path yet again.

I am 64 yers old, grew up fishing and diving and boating on the GOM, I rather suspect you are the new generation, not me, and that a review of high school physics is in order.

I ordered the ACR 2831 with Manual deployment and a second Spot to secure to my wife's inflatable. I will mount the new ACR inside the console adjacent to the access door. It will be handy there even if I do have to dive under a capsized boat to retrieve it in some odd circumstance. I had thought to purchase the deployable unit and mount it to the starboard side of the console behind my dive ladder until it became apparent from study that a minimum depth was required to deploy it and the most likely bad circumstance would result in a capsized boat and insufficient depth to deploy and if it did deploy it might get lost under the boat. Better if I have to go under the boat to retrieve it that I at least know where it might be in the console.



Probably go here, on the side of the tackle center, immediately inside the console:



J

 

[MTboatguy]

As I said, manual will work better for you based on your description. I hope you never find yourself in a situation that you are required to use it.

Be careful and have fun.

 

[Tassie 1]

Hi and dry,
you should address your complaint re staying on track to me instead of mtboatguy as l originally brought it up,
though l believe many readers would have been silently asking the same question,
I apologize for attempting to inject a bit of humor into your post on this cold winter day.
it won't happen again...l think

 

[dingbat]

Out in Baltimore Canyon last week with a 1,000 of my closest friends. Tuna.....

Offshore AIS and SAT phones rule. A PLB is sufficient for small boat use

A VHF is sufficient within sight of land