On Tue, 19 Aug 2008 23:46:58 -0400, Wayne.B
wrote:

On Tue, 19 Aug 2008 21:20:07 -0500, Vic Smith
wrote:

There was a Carolina Skiff guy who did that trip - maybe multiple
times. Think he had a 20.' Flat water, and he was moving pretty
good. But he started on the mainland - Everglades City?

Just about any kind of trip like that is possible on the right day.
The fun starts when things start going wrong and cascade out of
control. What if you break down out there 50 miles from the mainland?
Your cell phone and VHF don't have enough range. If you can reach
another boat on the radio, and they can relay a message to SeaTow,
they might come out and get you - at a very steep price, probably in
the thousands. Free towing only goes 25 miles. USCG will do almost
anything to avoid coming out for you - you'll have to convince someone
that lives are at stake, and that's if you can get through to them at

That's for sure. Even if you set off an EPIRB, they'll ask for other
people to try and confirm it's a real emergency before they send
anything out. With all those boats in south Florida, do you know how
many false alarms they get? There's no way they can send out
resources to all of them without confirmation.

Although you might have a better chance if it goes off 50 miles from
shore in bad weather than in a marina.

Steve