Flares and other Important Safety Equipment.

[Alistairr]

Serious Post from me for a change.

In our bid to move from Loch Lomond into the Clyde, we thought we'd buy a trailer and trailer the boat down there on a few occasions to see how we get on.
However before we do that i feel there is a few bits of extra safety gear required.

Flares..... What kind/colour or whatever do i need? and How many??
GPS....Once bought, do you always have to buy the chart to download onto it?
Almanac...Will go and buy.
Handheld VHF... I already have.

Please give an idea of all other essential that i'd best get.

And any advice or information will be much appreciated.

Cheers

Alistair.




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[BarryH]

Allistairr.......now your starting to sound like H1!!/forums/images/icons/laugh.gif

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[BrendanS]

Flares - best thing to do is buy an off the shelf Inshore, Coastal or Offshore pack (depending on where you are planning on going - if you are cruising to areas where there is not much population of boating activity, more flares are better) as they come complete with waterproof container.

Buy some additional white handheld flares. Get a thick gardening or leather glove and put it in the container - this will stop the flares rattling and getting damaged, and also stop your hands getting burnt if you need to actually let one off.

I also keep a torch and spare batteries for handlheld gps in this container as emergency backup.

You only need charts on gps if it is of the plotter/map variety. Many gps don;t have any map at all

<hr width=100% size=1>Me transmitte sursum, caledoni

 

[Alistairr]

Did i mention anything about a toaster and Genny????!!!!!!!

T'was a serious post, I am still new to this game, and i feel as if i took the easy option to start with, by starting in the Loch, and now i want to learn more and hopefully move into the Clyde.

So What flares???



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[BrendanS]

Have a look here
<A target="_blank" HREF=http://www.ybw.com/mbm/cruising_club/equip.html>http://www.ybw.com/mbm/cruising_club/equip.html</A>

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[Alistairr]

Good Reply, Thanks Brendan.

The GPS i have recently just got is the Garmin GPSMAP76.
I keep a torch and a Lantern on board, But good point about the spare batteries.
Thanks for the link also.

Did you here how the LL trip went? I sent Simon an e-mail saying i couldn't make it, and hoped they had a good trip. Didn't get a reply, so not sure if he got it.
I think the weather was piss poor.

Alistair.


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[jfm]

Good anchor, lots of string. Buys you time if engine busts with offshore wind /tide, or leeshore

Re GPS, a plotter is miles better than a h/h. In a fast powerboat a hh is getting on for useless. You would have to stop the boat and looksee where you are on the chart. What use is that? Whereas a plotter shows you where you are all the time, on a picture. So a decent colour plotter is definitely not summink to scrimp on, and you can take it to your next boat anyway

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[BrendanS]

gpsmap 76. Yes you can load bluechart charts onto this, and will give proper chart with bouys etc etc, instead of rough outline map. You'll probably find this quite useful.

You might want to think about upgrading to a small plotter like the 276c though if you plan to do any extensive cruising, as it will be much easier to read the charts, and keep the 76 as a backup for emergencies.

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[Alistairr]

I have a good anchor with 10m of chain and 30m rope, a few months back 3 were anchored in a bay, when the wind blew up, 1 bigger boat and 1 smaller boat both dragged, and i stayed putt. After that i went out and bought a second anchor for emergencies.

As for a Plotters, I was looking at the Garmin 276C, Is that a Plotter??

Thanks for the advice.

Alistair.



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[BrendanS]

Yes 276c is a full blown plotter, and very good too. Though not a huge screen, it works admirably well on small sportsboats where fitting a full sized screen would be impossible.


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[Nauti Fox]

Don't know what you already carry but a few engine spares.Stuff like a fuel filter,belts,impellor, that sort of thing.
al.

<hr width=100% size=1>No dear,the water goes in the other one.

 

[Alistairr]

I don't carry any spares!!!!!!/forums/images/icons/crazy.gif
I have a Petrol engine, so i'd hoped i wouldn't need to replace the filters and belts other than during a service, as for the impellor, i thought it was sittuated in the leg, and if so then theres no way of doing a repair while at sea.

Bit i do ALWAYS carry a Tool box, for any minor repairs.



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[wakeup]

You might want to carry a spare belt for water pump and alternator as they can and do go even on new engines, I have a merc 5.0 and I carry a spare belt.

<hr width=100% size=1>As independent as resources permit.

 

[Nauti Fox]

I had a merc 7.4 and the impellor was on the right lower side (you know,the bit you can never reach).Its awkward to know when to stop with spares as you can end up with half an engine!All I would suggest are easy things you can do on your own while being upside down in the engine bay.


<hr width=100% size=1>No dear,the water goes in the other one.

 

[powerskipper]

Alistair ,
just choose your weather carefully and do a bit of planning,
ie max distance you want to go that day etc
and any emergence places to stop,
tell someone on land where you are going,



and


Most important, don't worrie and enjoy it.

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Julie

 

[scottie]

sea water annodes will be required

as you will only be going from largs to holy loch you wont need much in the way of navigational aid


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[Alistairr]

To begin with we are hoping to do Largs - Rothesay, and Largs - Arran.



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[scottie]

largs to arran can be quite nasty at times



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[Alistairr]

Yes, so i gather. It amazes me though, it is only 16nm.



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[Alistairr]

Ok, I will get a spare belt.

Cheers

Alistair.

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