McMurdo PLB battery replacement....

[Simondjuk]

Talulah,

Yes, good, but more importantly, you do know the difference between a boat, a building and a person, don't you? Let's assume you do. Now go back and read posts 54, 55 and 56. Then look up the definition of 'out of left field'.

You say, you don't have anything against PLBs, Liferafts and fire blankets per se, but when people give the impression they are a 'must have' you take exception. I say, I don't have anything for them per se, but when people give the impression they are of limited value, I take exception. I'm repeating what I said just a few posts ago for your benefit by the way. Read back and ye shall see.

 

[Simondjuk]

+1 ... but with an added bit ..

when people give the impression they are a 'must NOT have' I would also take exception ...

Right kit for the right job ...

And I for one consider Tranona wading in giving the impression that they're a 'not worth having' to be close enough to that. Hence the reason, and the only reason, that I'm still posting on this infernal thread!

 

[Talulah]

I say, I don't have anything for them per se, but when people give the impression they are of limited value, I take exception. I'm repeating what I said just a few posts ago for your benefit by the way. Read back and ye shall see.

This is were we disagree. I would say they 'are' of limited value.
Which if I understand correctly is why you take exception.

 

[DAKA]

Ive got a McMurdo Fast Find PLB... the original one... and its battery... whilst still displaying life... needs replacing.

Apparently this needs to be done by a authorised service center...

Anyone had it done?
How much?

Ta

Does it look like this one ?

If so I have replaced mine twice, once under specific direction of Mcmurdo under a recall.

If you search the stinker site about a month ago someone took a mcmudo battery like th eone above to bits and found it full of eveready AAs,(lithium) although the pack had expired the AAs inside had 3-4 years left to run.

These are designed to be tested every day which will use a lot of battery life, if you only test it a few times a year then chances are your battery pack will be good for another year or two.

 

[Simondjuk]

Talulah,

No, you don't understand.

If you think that they're of limited value, that's none of my business and fine with me.

If you head towards talking people out of considering them without solicitation, as Tranona did early in this thread, you're potentially discouraging people from using the item in question. When we're talking about items which people have died for the want of, I take exception

Again, if you read back, I've already said the above.

 

[PhillM]

Please take a look at this link:

http://www.dft.gov.uk/mca/mcga07-ho...-releases.htm?id=BE275923E51569B2&m=10&y=2011

I think it makes a convincing case for an EPIRB. I dont have one yet, nor a liferaft and have been happy with a dingy, flares, radio x2 for sailing in the Solent. However, there is no way I am going to leave the Solent without both.

 

[Talulah]

Please take a look at this link:

http://www.dft.gov.uk/mca/mcga07-ho...-releases.htm?id=BE275923E51569B2&m=10&y=2011

I think it makes a convincing case for an EPIRB. I dont have one yet, nor a liferaft and have been happy with a dingy, flares, radio x2 for sailing in the Solent. However, there is no way I am going to leave the Solent without both.

It makes for an interesting read. The article highlights the EPIRB. But it could have been rewritten so many ways. The mobile phone for instance and the 999 call.
Had the Coastguard not received the 999 call I suspect they may have treated the whole incident differently. Initially they would have spent time trying to determine if the activation of the EPIRB was a false activation. There is no mention of a VHF Mayday? The article has too little information to form any opinion about the value of the EPIRB.

 

[photodog]

Does it look like this one ?

If so I have replaced mine twice, once under specific direction of Mcmurdo under a recall.

If you search the stinker site about a month ago someone took a mcmudo battery like th eone above to bits and found it full of eveready AAs,(lithium) although the pack had expired the AAs inside had 3-4 years left to run.

These are designed to be tested every day which will use a lot of battery life, if you only test it a few times a year then chances are your battery pack will be good for another year or two.

Thats the one!

The test light is still coming up good... so do ya reckon I should leave it until it shows dead?

The battery expiry date BTW is Sept. 2008... so its already well past!

I still have a 121.5 which I have in the grab bag... bought in about 98 and expired 7 or so years ago... its little light still comes on!

The problem with the original fast find is its too big to stick in a pocket... so it sits inside all the time...

I am inclined towards one of the new DCS AIS jobbies... which might be better on the crowded east coast...

 

[DAKA]

I tried to find the link on the mobo forum, it might be worth you asking , someone with a better memory than mine will find it.
2008 is pushing it a bit, however if yours is the same as the one that got dismantled the AAs inside could still be in date , just.

It is easy to replace DIY, just one machine screw and two O rings.

I got mine for solo cruises up/down the East coast and it gave/gives me a lot of confidence , the Solent cruisers are used to football size crowds and perhaps dont realize how lonely and remote the North sea swells can feel.

I have it permanently fixed to my life jacket belt, sort of on my tum just to the side and doesnt get in the way at all.

£74 over 5 years is under £20 season, about a tenner a year if pushing the boundaries to 7 years.

 

[mcframe]

Wouldn't make any difference to me, as I always put my phone (and keys and wallet) in the locker above the chart table as soon as I get on board. Don't like having bulky things in my pockets while sailing.

That's also in large part why I don't have a PLB, because I know in all honesty I wouldn't carry it.

I always thought keys, wallet & phone in the chart table were the skipper's prerogative ;-)

My PLB lives behind a webbing strap† at the top of the companionway, but I've got a LJ pouch†† for it - when solo, or maybe when conditions dictate.

Recent developments mean that PLBs are the cost of three tins of antifoul, or two decent meals ashore (or 2 H/H VHFs) - that's why I got one for, err, ~15% the cost of my spinny, but it's very much a "tool of last resort".

How about a cost/benefit comparison between a PLB and a full RORC flare pack - statically, when was the last time *every* (non-collision) flare in a RORC pack was fired?
We know which one was more use in the last Fastnet.

† With hex code and Falmouth phone number on a dymo label behind that - for easy cancellation of false alarm.
†† Next to the day/night flare, but no personal VHF.

 

[Sailfree]

I think it makes a convincing case for an EPIRB. I dont have one yet, nor a liferaft and have been happy with a dingy, flares, radio x2 for sailing in the Solent. However, there is no way I am going to leave the Solent without both.

Consider the sailing you do, the risks involved and the best use of available finance for safety gear but I do worry that we are bringing up a generation in this nanny state that never would have discovered America!!

 

[prv]

I always thought keys, wallet & phone in the chart table were the skipper's prerogative ;-)

And I am the skipper

Actually I don't like wallets and keys and sunglasses and cameras and so on and so forth jamming up the chart table itself. It's a stowage bin under the deck, next to the chart table, that I put my pocket junk in.

Pete

 

[LadyInBed]

. . . there is no way I am going to leave the Solent without both.

I would suggest that you poke your head out round the corner and feel the freedom!
To my mind, sailing in the Solent is much more hazardous, boats and ferries coming at you from all directions, hardly time to pop below to make a coffee let alone have a poo!
Away from the Solent you may see another yacht (mainly at weekends) but they will probably be going in the same direction (wind & tide and all that stuff).
I mainly sail alone, when the GPS-PLB became affordable I bought one (two years back) as I think they are a good aid of last resort, but previous to that it didn't stop me going X channel sometimes several times a year.
I have never carried a raft as I reckon that my dingy would do a job if my boat sank, given the conditions that I go out sailing in. When I cross Biscay and start doing >24Hr passages, then I will certainly have a LR.
IMO it is all down to how you perceive risk, at one end of the scale you have Simon, at the other you have people like Eddie 'the Eagle' and people who jump out of aeroplanes. I believe that there is a lot more risk venturing out onto UK roads than venturing out to sea.

 

[Simondjuk]

I love the logic, Lady In Bed!

Because I think that the PLB is a great little gadget that's likely to save your life when there's nothing else left that will, and not next to useless if you only sail in Europe as some seem keen to convince everyone, I must be at the incredibly risk averse end of the scale.



Consider the following scenario before jumping to conclusions about my psyche:

You're the only person on deck as your mate is below rousing the relief crew. From the helm you watch a crew member who is about to come on that watch rush up from below decks and throw themself up to the waist through the leeward guardwires to vomit over the side.

It's dark, raining, blowing a gale and rough enough that they'll be lost from sight within a boat length if they slip over the side - which is looking pretty bloody likely to happen before you can get near enough to grab the back of their lifejacket.

Just to make the whole situation focus the mind a little harder, you know the boat's engine cannot be started, so you'll be returning to them... Ha! Fat chance of it being that easy, they'll be gone from sight before the bow is through the wind. So lets not assume it'll be as simple as 'returning to them' and make that 'searching for them' instead, under sail alone.

You know you're out of VHF range of land and haven't seen any other vessels in the last 24 hours, so maybe you won't be able to raise any outside help.

The thought of how cold the water is and how short the survival time for anyone in it will be flashes through you mind, although you wish it hadn't.

You feel surges of guilt and shame run through you as you consider the possibility that you're about to be directly involved in the loss of crew member to the sea.

All these thoughts have taken place in the time it's taken you to move to the full reach of your lifeline. As it pulls your lifejacket tight around you and stops you, you reach full stretch with your arm and just manage to hook your fingers into the straps of the crew member's lifejacket. You drag them close to you, back into the cockpit, back to safety. They're still vommiting, not only over the boat and themself now, but over you too. You couldn't care less if they did so square into your face though, you're just glad to have hold of them, and be able to sit them down in the cockpit and take the end of their lifeline and clip it to the boat. They're slumped in their seat, throwing up over their boots and the cockpit sole now.

You return to the helm and bring the boat back on course. Everything's fine again, but you have a knot in the pit of your stomach. You feel sick suddenly, but it's not seasickness or because you've just been puked on. It's a mix of fear and anger. Fear brought on by believing you were about to watch someone vanish into the cold November sea forever, and anger about how easily they could have let that happen.

By the time they've finished throwing up, your anger and fear have subsided. A few moments ago you'd have shaken them, now you just ask them if they're ok. A few minutes later the other member of the new watch comes on deck and you hand the boat over to them. As you pass the sick crew member to let them to the wheel, you put your arm round their shoulders and give them a squeeze, leaning in to their ear so they can hear you over the wind and waves. 'Do me a favour', you say, 'next time you feel like throwing yourself halfway off the boat, clip on first.' As you move away, you make eye contact with them and smile. They look back at you for a moment, not returning your smile, then slowly nod, and you can see that they've realised what could have just happened and how much it frightened you.

You head for the companion way, using the rain and spay to help you squeege the remaining vomit from your oilies with your hand as you go. Below you lean against the galley top, alone in the dark, your watch mate having already turned in. You utter an obscenity, then chuckle. It really could have gone that bad that easily, but it didn't, so it must be a good day.

Once in your bunk, you think it through more fully and decide that although today was a good day, you don't ever want to be part of a bad day. Trouble is, you've just seen how fine the line between one and the other can be and how easily people can end up on the wrong side of it. Suddenly, using whatever might give the best chance when it really is the last chance seems like a good idea.


If you ever have one of those 'pit of the stomach' moments, which I hope you don't, you'll know it and perhaps then understand why I feel the way I feel about PLBs.





Incidentally, I've also jumped out of a perfectly good aircraft, but perhaps it doesn't count as I was strapped to someone else.

 

[Talulah]

I love the logic, Lady In Bed!
Because I think that the PLB is a great little gadget that's likely to save your life when there's nothing else left that will, and not next to useless if you only sail in Europe as some seem keen to convince everyone, I must be at the incredibly risk averse end of the scale.

Given the scenario above how do you think the PLB would have helped?

 

[fireball]

If your sailing watches in a gale at night then perhaps you should seriously consider one. But for the vast majority the closest they'll get to a gale is a pint in a local pub let alone sailing watches through one.

 

[fireball]

Given the scenario above how do you think the PLB would have helped?

He raymarine life tags might be a little more appropriate along with personal flares. But probably best to ensure ppl are
Clipped on before coming on deck.

Don't plan to save the stupid. Plan to avoid the stupidity

 

[PhillM]

I would suggest that you poke your head out round the corner and feel the freedom!
To my mind, sailing in the Solent is much more hazardous, boats and ferries coming at you from all directions, hardly time to pop below to make a coffee let alone have a poo!
Away from the Solent you may see another yacht (mainly at weekends) but they will probably be going in the same direction (wind & tide and all that stuff).
I mainly sail alone, when the GPS-PLB became affordable I bought one (two years back) as I think they are a good aid of last resort, but previous to that it didn't stop me going X channel sometimes several times a year.
I have never carried a raft as I reckon that my dingy would do a job if my boat sank, given the conditions that I go out sailing in. When I cross Biscay and start doing >24Hr passages, then I will certainly have a LR.
IMO it is all down to how you perceive risk, at one end of the scale you have Simon, at the other you have people like Eddie 'the Eagle' and people who jump out of aeroplanes. I believe that there is a lot more risk venturing out onto UK roads than venturing out to sea.

If I am honest, I don’t want the safety gear because I am afraid of risk but I am afraid of guilt.

To go out sailing with my family and to come back without some or all would be awful. I don’t know if I could live with myself if I had not taken what I am told to by experts like the Coastguard, RNLI and RYA suggest are proper precautions.

I do think that risk assessment should be left to the individual. I don’t condemn that you choose to sail without some gear. I am a novice so I need to listen and learn. You are clearly experienced and have thought about it and come to an adult decision. Each to their own.

 

[fireball]

Yet you take a greater risk (IMHO) everytime you drive them in the car. Far more accidents and fatalities happen in cars than leisure boats in the uk.

I can understand your concern, the choice is always down to the skipper but you're over limiting yourself by needing the kit (unless you can afford it). The anxiety will be there for the first trips out but confidence in your ability and the capabilities of the boat will grow as you do them. So long as u sail well within both then it won't be an issue. Of course a lr would help as would an epirb. But you can all but eliminate the need by your other actions.

 

[Simondjuk]

Given the scenario above how do you think the PLB would have helped?

Do you mean in terms the technicalities of how the COSPAS-SARSAT system works or an exhaustive list of the possible mechanisms which might be put into motion to best effect a rescue once the COSPAS-SARSAT system has delivered the alert to the authority with which the PLB is registered?