"Frogwatch" wrote in message
...
On Oct 19, 2:03 am, "nom=de=plume" wrote:
"Mike" wrote in message

...
On Oct 18, 8:53?pm, "nom=de=plume" wrote:



"Frogwatch" wrote in message

...

At last, temps in the 60s, wind, real wind out of the north. ?So,
tommorow, I sail my 28' sloop 36 miles west to get her bottom painted
in prep for sailing southward. ?Everybody else is in school or working
so I am taking the day off and going alone. ?I got an EPIRB, Hand held
VHF, VHF, phone, etc.
See y'all tomorrow night.

Stay safe... wear your lifejacket!

--
Nom=de=Plume
Single handing is always a risk, don't forget your tether even if it
doesn't look bouncy starting out...
I am envious, I gotta work tomorrow, while your're having fun. Bah
Humbug!
Mike... !

If you have a tether, then I guess you don't need a lifejacket.

--
Nom=de=Plume

Did not go. Got to the coast and tried to start the engine, nothing,
even with compression relieved, she would barely turn over. Brought
both batteries back to town, had em checked, both refused to charge.
Replaced em, may try again tommorow if the tides are right.
BTW, I am a safety fanatic. If someone is on my boat, they are wearing
a life jacket unless they are below. I always wear a tether when
alone or at night. Also have an EPIRB w GPS on my auto-inflate jacket
and a strobe.


If you have a tether, why do you need a lifejacket? Seems like the tether
would keep you with the boat. Well, I guess if it sinks, then you would.

Do you have a satelite phone? I think I'd want one of those if I was out of
cell service.

--
Nom=de=Plume

On Oct 19, 3:12*pm, "nom=de=plume" wrote:
"Frogwatch" wrote in message

...
On Oct 19, 2:03 am, "nom=de=plume" wrote:



"Mike" wrote in message

....
On Oct 18, 8:53?pm, "nom=de=plume" wrote:

"Frogwatch" wrote in message

....

At last, temps in the 60s, wind, real wind out of the north. ?So,
tommorow, I sail my 28' sloop 36 miles west to get her bottom painted
in prep for sailing southward. ?Everybody else is in school or working
so I am taking the day off and going alone. ?I got an EPIRB, Hand held
VHF, VHF, phone, etc.
See y'all tomorrow night.

Stay safe... wear your lifejacket!

--
Nom=de=Plume
Single handing is always a risk, don't forget your tether even if it
doesn't look bouncy starting out...
I am envious, I gotta work tomorrow, while your're having fun. Bah
Humbug!
Mike... !

If you have a tether, then I guess you don't need a lifejacket.

--
Nom=de=Plume
Did not go. *Got to the coast and tried to start the engine, nothing,
even with compression relieved, she would barely turn over. *Brought
both batteries back to town, had em checked, both refused to charge.
Replaced em, may try again tommorow if the tides are right.
BTW, I am a safety fanatic. If someone is on my boat, they are wearing
a life jacket unless they are below. *I always wear a tether when
alone or at night. *Also have an EPIRB w GPS on my auto-inflate jacket
and a strobe.

If you have a tether, why do you need a lifejacket? Seems like the tether
would keep you with the boat. Well, I guess if it sinks, then you would.

Do you have a satelite phone? I think I'd want one of those if I was out of
cell service.

--
Nom=de=Plume

Cell phone service on the coast here is so spotty as to be useless or
at least not reliable. Later in the year when I sail across the Gulf
of Mexico, I'll rent a sat phone.
The auto-inflate jacket has a built in harness and is comfy to wear.

On Oct 19, 3:18*pm, Frogwatch wrote:
On Oct 19, 3:12*pm, "nom=de=plume" wrote:



"Frogwatch" wrote in message

....
On Oct 19, 2:03 am, "nom=de=plume" wrote:

"Mike" wrote in message

....
On Oct 18, 8:53?pm, "nom=de=plume" wrote:

"Frogwatch" wrote in message

...

At last, temps in the 60s, wind, real wind out of the north. ?So,
tommorow, I sail my 28' sloop 36 miles west to get her bottom painted
in prep for sailing southward. ?Everybody else is in school or working
so I am taking the day off and going alone. ?I got an EPIRB, Hand held
VHF, VHF, phone, etc.
See y'all tomorrow night.

Stay safe... wear your lifejacket!

--
Nom=de=Plume
Single handing is always a risk, don't forget your tether even if it
doesn't look bouncy starting out...
I am envious, I gotta work tomorrow, while your're having fun. Bah
Humbug!
Mike... !

If you have a tether, then I guess you don't need a lifejacket.

--
Nom=de=Plume
Did not go. *Got to the coast and tried to start the engine, nothing,
even with compression relieved, she would barely turn over. *Brought
both batteries back to town, had em checked, both refused to charge.
Replaced em, may try again tommorow if the tides are right.
BTW, I am a safety fanatic. If someone is on my boat, they are wearing
a life jacket unless they are below. *I always wear a tether when
alone or at night. *Also have an EPIRB w GPS on my auto-inflate jacket
and a strobe.

If you have a tether, why do you need a lifejacket? Seems like the tether
would keep you with the boat. Well, I guess if it sinks, then you would..

Do you have a satelite phone? I think I'd want one of those if I was out of
cell service.

--
Nom=de=Plume

Cell phone service on the coast here is so spotty as to be useless or
at least not reliable. *Later in the year when I sail across the Gulf
of Mexico, I'll rent a sat phone.
The auto-inflate jacket has a built in harness and is comfy to wear.

Last time I did this, having a cell phone got me in trouble due to bad
reception. When I got back to within sight of land, I managed to call
my wife to tell her my engine had crapped out and I was sailing in and
would be late and I'd call her. She somehow misheard this and thought
I was having trouble. So, a few hours later while I was pulling the
boat down the canal by rowing the dinghy (a pain in the ass), the
Marine Patrol shows up asking me if I was David OHara. Yes, Why I
ask. Wife was worried, "You said you'd call me". No reception makes
that difficult. It is best not to call until you are tied to the dock.

On Tue, 20 Oct 2009 00:51:31 -0400, wrote:

I don't know much about these new fangled digital phones but with a
good marine antenna you could get out on an AMPS66 phone all the way
from Marathon to Naples and not lose service. If I went very far
offshore I would be looking into a digital phone with provisions for
an external antenna. The last time I tried it my old analog phone was
still working anyway. They just wanted some ridiculous amount per
minute to use it.

Yeah, but they work and work well.

Wayne has used APRS - an amateur radio tracking system to great
success - combined with Google Maps and Earth (the only thing Google
is good for in my opinion). If you did run into trouble, folks
tracking you using the service would have a recent position report to
work off of. I plan on using it on the Grady when we move south.

Then again, I also have sat phone backup. It may be expensive to use
per minute, but what's expense when you're in trouble.

On Tue, 20 Oct 2009 02:59:15 -0400, Tom Francis - SWSports
wrote:

On Tue, 20 Oct 2009 00:51:31 -0400, wrote:

I don't know much about these new fangled digital phones but with a
good marine antenna you could get out on an AMPS66 phone all the way
from Marathon to Naples and not lose service. If I went very far
offshore I would be looking into a digital phone with provisions for
an external antenna. The last time I tried it my old analog phone was
still working anyway. They just wanted some ridiculous amount per
minute to use it.

Yeah, but they work and work well.

Wayne has used APRS - an amateur radio tracking system to great
success - combined with Google Maps and Earth (the only thing Google
is good for in my opinion). If you did run into trouble, folks
tracking you using the service would have a recent position report to
work off of. I plan on using it on the Grady when we move south.

Then again, I also have sat phone backup. It may be expensive to use
per minute, but what's expense when you're in trouble.

Another choice has become available in the last year or so, the SPOT
device. The SPOT is a handheld unit that combines a GPS with a
satellite uplink transmitter. You can use it to send "help" messages
or to send position reports every 10 minutes which can be displayed on
a web site. Priced at $150 or so, it's not really a replacement for
an EPIRB but can be used that way in an emergency.

http://www.findmespot.com/en/

We used one to track our trip to the Bahamas last June and it worked
well. There are a few operational tricks that need to be learned but
by and large it is easy to use and does what it is supposed to.

On Tue, 20 Oct 2009 07:23:50 -0400, Wayne.B
wrote:

On Tue, 20 Oct 2009 02:59:15 -0400, Tom Francis - SWSports
wrote:

On Tue, 20 Oct 2009 00:51:31 -0400, wrote:

I don't know much about these new fangled digital phones but with a
good marine antenna you could get out on an AMPS66 phone all the way
from Marathon to Naples and not lose service. If I went very far
offshore I would be looking into a digital phone with provisions for
an external antenna. The last time I tried it my old analog phone was
still working anyway. They just wanted some ridiculous amount per
minute to use it.

Yeah, but they work and work well.

Wayne has used APRS - an amateur radio tracking system to great
success - combined with Google Maps and Earth (the only thing Google
is good for in my opinion). If you did run into trouble, folks
tracking you using the service would have a recent position report to
work off of. I plan on using it on the Grady when we move south.

Then again, I also have sat phone backup. It may be expensive to use
per minute, but what's expense when you're in trouble.

Another choice has become available in the last year or so, the SPOT
device. The SPOT is a handheld unit that combines a GPS with a
satellite uplink transmitter. You can use it to send "help" messages
or to send position reports every 10 minutes which can be displayed on
a web site. Priced at $150 or so, it's not really a replacement for
an EPIRB but can be used that way in an emergency.

http://www.findmespot.com/en/

We used one to track our trip to the Bahamas last June and it worked
well. There are a few operational tricks that need to be learned but
by and large it is easy to use and does what it is supposed to.

I've looked at those - seems to be a neat device.

Does it track in real time like APRS does?

On Tue, 20 Oct 2009 12:08:46 -0400, Tom Francis - SWSports
wrote:

Another choice has become available in the last year or so, the SPOT
device. The SPOT is a handheld unit that combines a GPS with a
satellite uplink transmitter. You can use it to send "help" messages
or to send position reports every 10 minutes which can be displayed on
a web site. Priced at $150 or so, it's not really a replacement for
an EPIRB but can be used that way in an emergency.

http://www.findmespot.com/en/

We used one to track our trip to the Bahamas last June and it worked
well. There are a few operational tricks that need to be learned but
by and large it is easy to use and does what it is supposed to.

I've looked at those - seems to be a neat device.

Does it track in real time like APRS does?

Almost real time. It sends up a position report every 10 minutes and
the track on the web site is updated almost immediately.

Here's some real time data from Skip and Lydia. They are in the
Abacos on their sailboat "The Flying Pig".

http://share.findmespot.com/shared/faces/viewspots.jsp?glId=0sKGa9AJRCF45FaX5L5g6PLcZGvSb3n Me

or

http://tinyurl.com/yhs2uaw