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Another Case for one of my pet peeves:
I continue to feel that boats in most areas except remote inland lakes
should carry a VHF. Here's a story of a collision that could have been *easily* prevented if the boaters had a VHF. Or flares. The fact that the battery was dead on the boat makes a good case for a hand-held VHF on the smallest boats and a hand-held backup for larger craft. The tug and barge may have been technically wrong, but the other boaters could have been "dead right" without a couple of lucky breaks. Office of Public Affairs U.S. Coast Guard Thirteenth District Press Release Date: Sept. 7, 2005 Contact: LCDR Rick Rodriguez (206) 217-6065 COAST GUARD TO INVESTIGATE COLLISION NEAR POINT DEFIANCE, WASH. SEATTLE - The Coast Guard is investigating a suspected collision between a tugboat and a recreational vessel that occurred near Point Defiance, Wash., Tuesday night around 8:45 p.m. A 22-foot recreational vessel contacted Coast Guard Sector Seattle via cell phone reporting they were adrift with a dead battery. While a man onboard the vessel was on the phone with a commercial tug company arranging to be towed, he noticed a tug pushing a barge bearing down on them. One of the three people onboard the vessel tried to get the attention of the tug with a small flashlight but those attempts failed. The tug Island Storm then allegedly collided with the recreational boat, forcing the three people onboard to jump off into the water. The Coast Guard diverted an HH-60 Jayhawk helicopter from Coast Guard Group/Air Station Astoria, Ore., to assist in recovering the three people. Tacoma Police and Fire Department also responded. The Island Storm picked up all three people safely and transferred them to the commercial tugboat the recreational boaters had contacted earlier. The father, son and daughter-in-law were then transferred from the commercial tugboat to a Tacoma Police and Fire boat for examination. The winds at the time of the collision were 5-10 knots and visibility was reported as 10 miles. The Coast Guard recommends vessel operators they should have a global positioning system and a VHF marine band radio. A VHF marine band radio is essential for contacting the Coast Guard during an emergency. Also when a boater broadcasts a call for help on channel 16, they are heard by everyone around them that is also monitoring the radio. Compare this to a cell phone which only enables you to contact one person and cannot currently be tracked. Additional boating information can be found at http://www.uscgboating.org/index. For information regarding this case please contact Lt. Cmdr. Rick Rodriguez, Sector Seattle's Public Affairs Officer, at (206) 217-6065. ### The U.S. Coast Guard is a military, maritime, multi-mission service within the Department of Homeland Security dedicated to protecting the safety and security of America. |
on one hand I=B4d like to see VHF radios be mandatory equipment like
flares. on the other hand I am not keen for even more government interference in our lives... wrote: I continue to feel that boats in most areas except remote inland lakes should carry a VHF. Here's a story of a collision that could have been *easily* prevented if the boaters had a VHF. Or flares. The fact that the battery was dead on the boat makes a good case for a hand-held VHF on the smallest boats and a hand-held backup for larger craft. The tug and barge may have been technically wrong, but the other boaters could have been "dead right" without a couple of lucky breaks. Office of Public Affairs U.S. Coast Guard Thirteenth District Press Release Date: Sept. 7, 2005 Contact: LCDR Rick Rodriguez (206) 217-6065 COAST GUARD TO INVESTIGATE COLLISION NEAR POINT DEFIANCE, WASH. SEATTLE - The Coast Guard is investigating a suspected collision between a tugboat and a recreational vessel that occurred near Point Defiance, Wash., Tuesday night around 8:45 p.m. A 22-foot recreational vessel contacted Coast Guard Sector Seattle via cell phone reporting they were adrift with a dead battery. While a man onboard the vessel was on the phone with a commercial tug company arranging to be towed, he noticed a tug pushing a barge bearing down on them. One of the three people onboard the vessel tried to get the attention of the tug with a small flashlight but those attempts failed. The tug Island Storm then allegedly collided with the recreational boat, forcing the three people onboard to jump off into the water. The Coast Guard diverted an HH-60 Jayhawk helicopter from Coast Guard Group/Air Station Astoria, Ore., to assist in recovering the three people. Tacoma Police and Fire Department also responded. The Island Storm picked up all three people safely and transferred them to the commercial tugboat the recreational boaters had contacted earlier. The father, son and daughter-in-law were then transferred from the commercial tugboat to a Tacoma Police and Fire boat for examination. The winds at the time of the collision were 5-10 knots and visibility was reported as 10 miles. The Coast Guard recommends vessel operators they should have a global positioning system and a VHF marine band radio. A VHF marine band radio is essential for contacting the Coast Guard during an emergency. Also when a boater broadcasts a call for help on channel 16, they are heard by everyone around them that is also monitoring the radio. Compare this to a cell phone which only enables you to contact one person and cannot currently be tracked. Additional boating information can be found at http://www.uscgboating.org/index. For information regarding this case please contact Lt. Cmdr. Rick Rodriguez, Sector Seattle's Public Affairs Officer, at (206) 217-6065. ### The U.S. Coast Guard is a military, maritime, multi-mission service within the Department of Homeland Security dedicated to protecting the safety and security of America. |
Chuck, that link you provided isnt good anymore. Can you check and see if
its correct or send me the website you got this from. Thanks Ed wrote in message oups.com... I continue to feel that boats in most areas except remote inland lakes should carry a VHF. Here's a story of a collision that could have been *easily* prevented if the boaters had a VHF. Or flares. The fact that the battery was dead on the boat makes a good case for a hand-held VHF on the smallest boats and a hand-held backup for larger craft. The tug and barge may have been technically wrong, but the other boaters could have been "dead right" without a couple of lucky breaks. Office of Public Affairs U.S. Coast Guard Thirteenth District Press Release Date: Sept. 7, 2005 Contact: LCDR Rick Rodriguez (206) 217-6065 COAST GUARD TO INVESTIGATE COLLISION NEAR POINT DEFIANCE, WASH. SEATTLE - The Coast Guard is investigating a suspected collision between a tugboat and a recreational vessel that occurred near Point Defiance, Wash., Tuesday night around 8:45 p.m. A 22-foot recreational vessel contacted Coast Guard Sector Seattle via cell phone reporting they were adrift with a dead battery. While a man onboard the vessel was on the phone with a commercial tug company arranging to be towed, he noticed a tug pushing a barge bearing down on them. One of the three people onboard the vessel tried to get the attention of the tug with a small flashlight but those attempts failed. The tug Island Storm then allegedly collided with the recreational boat, forcing the three people onboard to jump off into the water. The Coast Guard diverted an HH-60 Jayhawk helicopter from Coast Guard Group/Air Station Astoria, Ore., to assist in recovering the three people. Tacoma Police and Fire Department also responded. The Island Storm picked up all three people safely and transferred them to the commercial tugboat the recreational boaters had contacted earlier. The father, son and daughter-in-law were then transferred from the commercial tugboat to a Tacoma Police and Fire boat for examination. The winds at the time of the collision were 5-10 knots and visibility was reported as 10 miles. The Coast Guard recommends vessel operators they should have a global positioning system and a VHF marine band radio. A VHF marine band radio is essential for contacting the Coast Guard during an emergency. Also when a boater broadcasts a call for help on channel 16, they are heard by everyone around them that is also monitoring the radio. Compare this to a cell phone which only enables you to contact one person and cannot currently be tracked. Additional boating information can be found at http://www.uscgboating.org/index. For information regarding this case please contact Lt. Cmdr. Rick Rodriguez, Sector Seattle's Public Affairs Officer, at (206) 217-6065. ### The U.S. Coast Guard is a military, maritime, multi-mission service within the Department of Homeland Security dedicated to protecting the safety and security of America. |
ed wrote: Chuck, that link you provided isnt good anymore. Can you check and see if its correct or send me the website you got this from. Thanks Ed The link was contained in the body of press release from the USCG. I cut and pasted the press release to the group, but I haven't tried the link. wrote in message oups.com... I continue to feel that boats in most areas except remote inland lakes should carry a VHF. Here's a story of a collision that could have been *easily* prevented if the boaters had a VHF. Or flares. The fact that the battery was dead on the boat makes a good case for a hand-held VHF on the smallest boats and a hand-held backup for larger craft. The tug and barge may have been technically wrong, but the other boaters could have been "dead right" without a couple of lucky breaks. Office of Public Affairs U.S. Coast Guard Thirteenth District Press Release Date: Sept. 7, 2005 Contact: LCDR Rick Rodriguez (206) 217-6065 COAST GUARD TO INVESTIGATE COLLISION NEAR POINT DEFIANCE, WASH. SEATTLE - The Coast Guard is investigating a suspected collision between a tugboat and a recreational vessel that occurred near Point Defiance, Wash., Tuesday night around 8:45 p.m. A 22-foot recreational vessel contacted Coast Guard Sector Seattle via cell phone reporting they were adrift with a dead battery. While a man onboard the vessel was on the phone with a commercial tug company arranging to be towed, he noticed a tug pushing a barge bearing down on them. One of the three people onboard the vessel tried to get the attention of the tug with a small flashlight but those attempts failed. The tug Island Storm then allegedly collided with the recreational boat, forcing the three people onboard to jump off into the water. The Coast Guard diverted an HH-60 Jayhawk helicopter from Coast Guard Group/Air Station Astoria, Ore., to assist in recovering the three people. Tacoma Police and Fire Department also responded. The Island Storm picked up all three people safely and transferred them to the commercial tugboat the recreational boaters had contacted earlier. The father, son and daughter-in-law were then transferred from the commercial tugboat to a Tacoma Police and Fire boat for examination. The winds at the time of the collision were 5-10 knots and visibility was reported as 10 miles. The Coast Guard recommends vessel operators they should have a global positioning system and a VHF marine band radio. A VHF marine band radio is essential for contacting the Coast Guard during an emergency. Also when a boater broadcasts a call for help on channel 16, they are heard by everyone around them that is also monitoring the radio. Compare this to a cell phone which only enables you to contact one person and cannot currently be tracked. Additional boating information can be found at http://www.uscgboating.org/index. For information regarding this case please contact Lt. Cmdr. Rick Rodriguez, Sector Seattle's Public Affairs Officer, at (206) 217-6065. ### The U.S. Coast Guard is a military, maritime, multi-mission service within the Department of Homeland Security dedicated to protecting the safety and security of America. |
Shortwave Sportfishing wrote: On 8 Sep 2005 20:50:49 -0700, wrote: I continue to feel that boats in most areas except remote inland lakes should carry a VHF. The problem is that it doesn't do any good once you are inland more than 10 miles or so. ????????????????? First I've ever heard that a VHF radio stops transmitting 10 miles from the coastline. :-) It's true that you might not reach the USCG, but the specific value of a VHF is that you can reach other boaters on the same body of water. Your cell phone may or may not work out in the country at Lake Whatchacallit. If most boats had VHF, you would hear that a guy at the other end of the lake needs a tow, hit a rock, lost somebody ob, etc, and be able to respond to help- whether or not the Coast Guard was ever involved. If you and I are in two different boats on the same lake and one of needs some help, we can comunicate with VHF. If we both have a cell phone we're still screwed unless we know the other person's cell phone number. |
wrote:
Shortwave Sportfishing wrote: On 8 Sep 2005 20:50:49 -0700, wrote: I continue to feel that boats in most areas except remote inland lakes should carry a VHF. The problem is that it doesn't do any good once you are inland more than 10 miles or so. ????????????????? First I've ever heard that a VHF radio stops transmitting 10 miles from the coastline. :-) It's true that you might not reach the USCG, but the specific value of a VHF is that you can reach other boaters on the same body of water. Your cell phone may or may not work out in the country at Lake Whatchacallit. If most boats had VHF, you would hear that a guy at the other end of the lake needs a tow, hit a rock, lost somebody ob, etc, and be able to respond to help- whether or not the Coast Guard was ever involved. If you and I are in two different boats on the same lake and one of needs some help, we can comunicate with VHF. If we both have a cell phone we're still screwed unless we know the other person's cell phone number. that's right..you reach everyone within rough 'line of sight' who has the VHF turned on and monitoring the channel you broadcast on. Two small boats can probably hear each other approx 5 miles away. On the coast, the authorities have towers on high land so the range is much better if talking to harbour master, coast guard, large ocean going ships etc. |
Around 9/9/2005 8:25 AM, wrote:
ed wrote: wrote in message oups.com... snip Additional boating information can be found at http://www.uscgboating.org/index. snip Chuck, that link you provided isnt good anymore. Can you check and see if its correct or send me the website you got this from. Thanks Ed The link was contained in the body of press release from the USCG. I cut and pasted the press release to the group, but I haven't tried the link. The file extension got snipped somehow. http://www.uscgboating.org/index.aspx will get you there. -- ~/Garth - 1966 Glastron V-142 Skiflite: "Blue-Boat" "There is nothing - absolutely nothing - half so much worth doing as simply messing about in boats." -Kenneth Grahame, The Wind in the Willows |
Around 9/8/2005 9:07 PM, JR North wrote:
Also a good case for one of the 1M CP rechargeable spotlights. I have one on board, and always make sure it's charged. They're cheap, and you sure couldn't miss THAT beam unless you were asleep at the helm. I agree with both of you completely; I've got both a radio (mounted) and a 1M CP spotlight, and my boat is only 14'... There are few good excuses for not having, at the very *least*, a handheld radio and a cheap waterproof flashlight. -- ~/Garth - 1966 Glastron V-142 Skiflite: "Blue-Boat" "There is nothing - absolutely nothing - half so much worth doing as simply messing about in boats." -Kenneth Grahame, The Wind in the Willows |
wrote in message oups.com... I continue to feel that boats in most areas except remote inland lakes should carry a VHF. Here's a story of a collision that could have been *easily* prevented if the boaters had a VHF. Or flares. The fact that the battery was dead on the boat makes a good case for a hand-held VHF on the smallest boats and a hand-held backup for larger craft. The tug and barge may have been technically wrong, but the other boaters could have been "dead right" without a couple of lucky breaks. I have struggled with the decision of whether or not to install a fixed mount VHF radio/antenna on my 20 footer. I have a pretty reliable Standard Horizon HX260S hand held VHF (subject to battery discharge and without the range of a fixed mount) and we always carry our cell phones when on the boat. We are near shore boaters on Lake Erie because of the size of the boat and do not go out when storms or bad seas are predicted. The $200 for the purchase of the fixed mount VHF and antenna/ratchet mount is not the concern...I just wonder if it is overkill for our situation considering the emergency communication hardware we already have. |
*JimH* wrote: wrote in message oups.com... I continue to feel that boats in most areas except remote inland lakes should carry a VHF. Here's a story of a collision that could have been *easily* prevented if the boaters had a VHF. Or flares. The fact that the battery was dead on the boat makes a good case for a hand-held VHF on the smallest boats and a hand-held backup for larger craft. The tug and barge may have been technically wrong, but the other boaters could have been "dead right" without a couple of lucky breaks. I have struggled with the decision of whether or not to install a fixed mount VHF radio/antenna on my 20 footer. I have a pretty reliable Standard Horizon HX260S hand held VHF (subject to battery discharge and without the range of a fixed mount) and we always carry our cell phones when on the boat. We are near shore boaters on Lake Erie because of the size of the boat and do not go out when storms or bad seas are predicted. The $200 for the purchase of the fixed mount VHF and antenna/ratchet mount is not the concern...I just wonder if it is overkill for our situation considering the emergency communication hardware we already have. Even a hand-held would have been adequate in this situation. The tug probably monitors 16, and if that didn't get a response the bridge-to-bridge frequency (13) would be a good second choice. When the barge is a couple of hundred yards away and closing fast, you don't need a lot of range. I have a fixed mount VHF and a hand-held backup. The combo works well when my wife sets out in her little kayak. I don't kayak, but I am nervous about her paddling around without any communication so I always give her the handheld (set to channel 9) and I monitor 9 when she's kayaking around in a cove or a marina. If she got swept away in a current, lost her paddle, capsized or etc I could always launch the inflatable to go help her out. If you have a situation where anybody is going to be away from the boat for any reason, the hand-held and fixed mount makes sense and nobody is going to hassle you for using it as long as you stay off 16 and don't chatter like a magpie on 9. (Note, some CG districts use 9 for hailing and distress so if you live in one of those areas you would pick a different channel) |
On Fri, 9 Sep 2005 17:21:39 -0400, "*JimH*" wrote:
wrote in message roups.com... I continue to feel that boats in most areas except remote inland lakes should carry a VHF. Here's a story of a collision that could have been *easily* prevented if the boaters had a VHF. Or flares. The fact that the battery was dead on the boat makes a good case for a hand-held VHF on the smallest boats and a hand-held backup for larger craft. The tug and barge may have been technically wrong, but the other boaters could have been "dead right" without a couple of lucky breaks. I have struggled with the decision of whether or not to install a fixed mount VHF radio/antenna on my 20 footer. I have a pretty reliable Standard Horizon HX260S hand held VHF (subject to battery discharge and without the range of a fixed mount) and we always carry our cell phones when on the boat. We are near shore boaters on Lake Erie because of the size of the boat and do not go out when storms or bad seas are predicted. The $200 for the purchase of the fixed mount VHF and antenna/ratchet mount is not the concern...I just wonder if it is overkill for our situation considering the emergency communication hardware we already have. My last 'emergency' was made worse when the radio would transmit only about 1/2 mile and the battery in the cell phone died. Granted, it was all my fault, but that's my $0.02. -- John H "All decisions are the result of binary thinking." |
PocoLoco wrote: On Fri, 9 Sep 2005 17:21:39 -0400, "*JimH*" wrote: wrote in message roups.com... I continue to feel that boats in most areas except remote inland lakes should carry a VHF. Here's a story of a collision that could have been *easily* prevented if the boaters had a VHF. Or flares. The fact that the battery was dead on the boat makes a good case for a hand-held VHF on the smallest boats and a hand-held backup for larger craft. The tug and barge may have been technically wrong, but the other boaters could have been "dead right" without a couple of lucky breaks. I have struggled with the decision of whether or not to install a fixed mount VHF radio/antenna on my 20 footer. I have a pretty reliable Standard Horizon HX260S hand held VHF (subject to battery discharge and without the range of a fixed mount) and we always carry our cell phones when on the boat. We are near shore boaters on Lake Erie because of the size of the boat and do not go out when storms or bad seas are predicted. The $200 for the purchase of the fixed mount VHF and antenna/ratchet mount is not the concern...I just wonder if it is overkill for our situation considering the emergency communication hardware we already have. My last 'emergency' was made worse when the radio would transmit only about 1/2 mile and the battery in the cell phone died. Your point is what? You will henceforward boat with out a VHF radio or even a cell phone because they let you down last time out? Besides, John.....you would have no way of knowing that your VHF was transmiting a half mile unless somebody heard it from a half mile away. Wasn't that the whole idea? :-) (busted) Granted, it was all my fault, but that's my $0.02. -- John H "All decisions are the result of binary thinking." |
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