i am taking a week and heading north up the coast from Charleston, solo. just day sailing up the coast, getting a hotel (if applicable) or camping at night. i know one rogue wave could crush my boat or a bad storm could blow me out to sea. i will have two submersible vhf's, flares and cell phone. do i need an epirb. what's the range on a vhf anyway. are there cheap epirb's?

Down at the water level a hand held VHF will probably get 1-2 miles maybe better. With an elevated antenae you can get more because line of sight is farther. Along with filing a float plan you should consider renting an epirb if you're going to be off shore a good bit. I've heard that you can rent them instead of purchasing for short periods.

Cheap EPIRBs? When I purchased my first motorcycle I inquired about the price of a helmet. The answer was; what is your head worth! Dam it! Of course I bought the better helmet. (good salesman...)

Good luck, sounds like fun.

Clayton

Boat U.S. rents EPIRBS. You might want to have a cell phone along so you can call for help or just check out local vendors and services at each stop, or just for company. Remember to have the EPIRB on you - you cannot count on getting to it in an emergency if it is stored anywhere other than on your person.

My experience with EPIRB's has been primarily with larger, offshore vessels. The idea of carrying one on a beach cat is relatively new (to me). How common is their use among sailors on this forum?

And speaking of cell phones, we had an interesting incident the other day here on Lake Champlain. A woman wandered out onto the ice, some distance from land. She became disoriented and couldn't figure out how to get back to where she started. She was carrying a cell phone. She dialed 911. It took the "rescuers' a bit of time to find her, but she "survived".

When I hear stories like that, it just makes me wonder about all the folks who get themselves into trouble because they figure that all they have to do is load up on the latest electronics to be safe.

Moral of the story: The bulk of a sailor's investment should be in the development of good seamanship skills, well developed judgment, and a healthy dose of common sense.

Sail safe

$10 hat for a $10 head. Buy the expensive helmet...and the expensive EPIRB.

Boy, that little wrist worn EPIRB is really tempting.

For the 1998 Worrell 1000, I purchased a relatively inexpensive set of EPIRBs for our team (Team Datek). We tested them immediately pre-race as per the instructions (tuned to the car's FM radio) and they worked fine. Early in the race, off the coast of Florida, we were caught in a severe thunderstorm, were dismasted and my crew became separated from the boat. We both activated our EPIRBs and I called the Coast Guard on the waterproof VHF radio. I was rescued within the hour but the CG was unable to find my crew. I spent an awful couple of hours before word came that he swam a couple of miles to shore and presented himself to the fire department that was searching for him.

It turns out we were quite close to a CG station but the range on the EPIRBs was so limited, the CG was unable to pick them up in the parking lot of the station.

Based on this experience, I wouldn't scrimp on safety equipment in the future.

Mike