Death of a VHF

[ianwright]

I was going to wait a year or so yet, what with Digital selctamawhatsitan'stuff, but my old (not that old) Icom M55 just died, "beyond economical repair" they said,so,,,,,,,,,,,,,,
Do I buy a decent stand alone non-dsc vhf, buy one of the few and expensive dsc sets or make do with a decent hand held until the (DSC) choice is wider and prices lower?
Bang goes my new sail budget,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

IanW

 

[Twister_Ken]

Theoretically you can no longer buy a new non-DSC plumbed-in set. Who mentioned boat jumbles?

DSC sets are divided into two part models, and integrated. You can buy the non-DSC half of a DSC compliant set like the Simrad (or whatever it's called this week) 1400 for about the price of a mid-range non-DSC set, then upgrade it to 'proper DSC' later for extra boating vouchers. Or you can go the whole hog now and buy a one-piece set, accepting a bread and water diet for the next season.

Unless you're not planning on sailing more than 5 miles from a coastguard aerial, a h/held for urgency calls wouldn't be entirely sensible.

 

[ianwright]

>You can buy the non-DSC half of a DSC compliant set <
,,,,,, but I bet if I did by the time I could afford the other half the half I had would be an "old model, Sir, sorry".
I wonder how naughty I would feel going without for a season or so. After all N over C and a box of flares were good enough for many of us 25 years ago,,,,, why not now?

IanW.

 

[Bergman]

Have a guess

What percentage of people could recognise N over C nowadays.

My estimate 10% and I'm an optimist.

Try the next Boat Jumble and see how things develop.

 

[Mirelle]

Do without one

the only thing you need it for is getting Dutch bridges to lift, so if you go somewhere else next year you wont need one at all!

 

[ianwright]

Re: Do without one

,,,,,,,, and the bridges lift anyway,,,,,,, Hmm,,,,,,you know I think that together we have saved me spending new sail money. Patience will have a new tow forsail after all,,,,,,,and stuff vhf.....!

IanW ;-)

 

[Guest]

...and drown like an Englishman?

Providing that you and your loved ones are prepared to live with the consequences, the choice is, of course, yours. I think, though, that you have to have thought through all of the consequences of not having one.

Chris Enstone, Rival Spirit

 

[ianwright]

Re: ...and drown like an Englishman?

Of course,,,,,, logic must come into the argument,,,,,how much safety will (say) £500 buy?Is it better to have good sound sails and gear or a radio to summon help when the old gear, past it's sell by date, fails?
Fine if you can afford both,,,,,,,, I can't. A sound boat with good gear might I hope, make the notional vhf a little less essential.
It is not my intention to drown at all, but if I do I have no option but to do so as an Englishman.

 

[bedouin]

Re: Purchasing safety

That raises some very difficult questions about to what extent one can, or should, try to purchase safety. If you list all the items that could contribute either to avoiding an accident, or improving the chance of surviving and accident, the list is extensive. It would certainly include: Fixed VHF with DSC, Handheld VHF, Navtex, Liferaft, EPRIB, PLBs for the crew, Dry/Survival suits, Radar, Radar reflectors, Active radar transponders, Forward looking echo sounders, high capacity bilge pumps...

Very few people carry all that.

There is risk inherent in sailing, and I suspect that is part of the fun for some of us. We are called on to make value judgements as to the degree of extra safety each purchase will buy us.

I must admit I tend towards the cautious side. I have visions (nightmares?) of floating in the middle of the Channel (or whereever you sail) sans boat, in serious danger of dying thinking "If only I had bought a (Liferaft/Radar/Lifejacket/...)". Or conversely trying to explain to the nearest and dearest of someone who had met with an accident on my boat why I hadn't spent that extra £500 that might have saved his life...

 

[Mirelle]

Re: ...and drown like an Englishman?

I've just ordered a blue one (tow foresail, that is, the old one was cotton and dated from the 1950's. I suspect). I think dark blue goes with dressed sails.

If I had spent what I have just spent on renewing floors, keelbolts, mast step, frames, seacocks and strengthening the stem area on safety equipment, I could have carried all the gear Bedouin lists - and had a boat that might have called on me to use it!

 

[chrisc]

or put an ariel on top of your mast to plug into your
mobile phone -will give about same horizontal coverage as
VHF ?

 

[pugwash]

At my radio course in April somebody had an American-made DSCC radio bought new for about £140 I think through the West marine website. Sounds good but are there pitfalls?

 

[Guest]

See this month's MBY. It's fine, just not legal to sell over here as it hasn't got the right approvals stamp...

 

[duncan]

Saw that but couldn't quite glean wether there were any practical flaws or just that silly little legal thing.
I bought a Hummingbird VHF (at the boat show in London a year ago) and it doesn't have M1 & M2 but otherwise works having both US and International bands.
Where is the legal issue anyway - if you buy in the US and then decide later to transfer to your 'other boat' in the UK for example?
Come on you closet lawyers!!!

 

[Adrian_Morgan]

Re: Purchasing safety

Re safety: the engine has been claimed as the best piece of safety gear. But more boats have been lost through having an engine than not having an engine fitted. That is, relying on one, when you should have been more careful. Maria Asumpta comes to mind.

That came from a highly experienced yachtsman who has sailed without an engine for many years and many thousands of miles. From the RNLI statistics on call outs for engine failures, he would seem to speak the truth. How many yachts have been lost through not having an engine? Engineless boats tend to contain highly competent, and cautious, skippers.

 

[ianwright]

Re: Purchasing safety

Sorry the engine stays. This is the first season EVER that the bloody thing has been problem and oil leak free,,,,,,,,,but the very first time it blows up, out it goes ,and the patent home drawn yuloh rowlock will be ordered.
Close quarter sailing practice anyone?

IanW.

 

[duncan]

Re: Purchasing safety

Wouldn't that make highly competent and cautious skipper in a well equiped and maintained boat with both engine and sails even safer still?
And isn't that the message both the RNLI and the RYA are trying to get over?

 

[LadyInBed]

I see you can get a portable Satellite phone for £295+vat . . . and be a real poser!

 

[steve]

My VHF is on the blink and I sailed for the first time without one this summer (Mediterranean Spain). I found that I could get a berth in crowded marinas for the first time, since I couldn't call ahead for them to tell me no. Once inside they always managed to find a place. As for emergencies, if you're anywhere near the coast and talking about calling the Coast Guard and not another boat, a mobile telephone is a lot cheaper and just as effective.