Seven Spades
Well-Known Member
Do I buy two, or should I get my wife some life insurance instead?
PLB Dilemma advice needed
- Thread starter Seven Spades
- Start date
Scotty_Tradewind
Well-Known Member
Stemar
Well-Known Member
Dead man walking.
You'll know your wife read the post when you see her checking your life insurance policies...
You'll know your wife read the post when you see her checking your life insurance policies...
Cardo
Well-Known Member
Darn! That's where I went wrong!
nigelmercier
RIP
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- Live in Kent, boat in Canary Islands
Depends how much you like her. You could buy two, and take the battery out of her one and keep it as a spare.
Dave99
Well-Known Member
Just bought a load of AIS MOB devices for all the lifejackets onboard. Quite good although the range is only a few miles and on some chart plotters they display as ships instead of MOB devices!
Rossynant
Well-Known Member
Could You say which one and on which chart plotters, please? Thinking of electronics upgrade myself.
Still need to teach my girl how to pick me up, in case...
Still need to teach my girl how to pick me up, in case...
Paddingtonbear
Well-Known Member
An AIS device is far superior in most normal cases as it is 'instant' and the normal PLB sometimes takes time to get all the ducks in a row. Range is less of an issue in most MOB cases. They are both miraculous in there own ways. Yes I have got my tin hat on and am well dug in.
grumpy_o_g
Well-Known Member
OK, incoming
. I don't think it's superior, just different.If you are the only person on the boat that can sail it and there's no-one else in AIS range with a receiver then you're better off with a PLB - at least you'll be rescued in a few hours or so. If there's someone on the boat who can't helm very well but can use a VHF to place a Mayday then it's even better as presumably you'd reduce the time taken to confirm who it was and if it wasn't a false alarm, etc.
If you have a competent crew on the boat who can use the AIS to get back to you then you've just saved yourself a good few hours in the water so the AIS is better - unless the crew saw you go over and had you spotted anyway of course in which case you've gained nothing.
The best answer is to try not to go over the side in the first place but that's not what's asked of course. The other thing is to make sure you can get back on the boat, which isn't easy. I struggle boarding some boats from a tender so Lord knows what it would be like from the 'oggin when freezing cold with a load of wet clothes on.
onesea
Well-Known Member
When I left SWMBO on watch solo for the first time I got her to wear a LJ and clip on, she asked me why did not do this. She had pointed out I had just sailed half the night without either...
My answer was if I went over the side people would say "he should if known better", if she went over the side "he should of taught her better". Not much help really double her insurance and buy two?
Zagato
Well-Known Member
So if you sail single handed and end up in the drink a PLB is better?
AMCD300
Well-Known Member
Were I sailing offshore or across the Atlantic I would have both fitted.
But that's the engineer in me - safety first........
But that's the engineer in me - safety first........
duncan99210
Well-Known Member
AIS is only of any use if there's another AIS fitted vessel within range. Fine if you're in the Solent where there's a pretty good chance some vessel will pick up the alarm and may actually be bothered to act on it. If you're anywhere else, the chances of actually having a vessel pick up the alarm and act on it are pretty small. PLB is the way to go with this sort of kit, as it works no matter where you happen to be if you set it off.
Scotty_Tradewind
Well-Known Member
To see an MOB via a PLB on AIS would be a great advantage I reckon.
I think PLB's are my next safety consideration, some interesting points being made in this thread, I'll have to increase Mrs S' Insurance value..
One thing to ensure is that if you do go overboard with a PLB.... have its aerial above water as it cannot transmit below the water.
We do have an EPIRB but obviously that has limitations in an emergency - MOB.
Apologies, a bit off topic I know but I've found AIS is of emmense value for my general safety if I'm anywhere near shipping especially in poor visability.
We've seen more and more vessels this last season, yachts included, are transmitting AIS.
All vessels over 300 tons are legally required to send out an AIS 'signature' and most do.
Like my Active Radar Reflector I would highly recommend AIS for Long Distant Cruising...
http://www.ybw.com/forums/showthrea...dar-Reflector-My-recent-experience&highlight=
I think PLB's are my next safety consideration, some interesting points being made in this thread, I'll have to increase Mrs S' Insurance value..
One thing to ensure is that if you do go overboard with a PLB.... have its aerial above water as it cannot transmit below the water.
We do have an EPIRB but obviously that has limitations in an emergency - MOB.
Apologies, a bit off topic I know but I've found AIS is of emmense value for my general safety if I'm anywhere near shipping especially in poor visability.
We've seen more and more vessels this last season, yachts included, are transmitting AIS.
All vessels over 300 tons are legally required to send out an AIS 'signature' and most do.
Like my Active Radar Reflector I would highly recommend AIS for Long Distant Cruising...
http://www.ybw.com/forums/showthrea...dar-Reflector-My-recent-experience&highlight=
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bitbaltic
Well-Known Member
We have a PLB on every adult lifejacket (five). This may sound like overkill as we normally sail two or three up but I won't have crew or passengers aboard if I am going to offer them any less of a standard of safety than I have for myself (always amazed to see people setting sail with a skipper who gets out his Kru Pro then offers his crew an old seago or whatever, this seems more the norm than the exception but not for me). The boat was sea-checked last season and the RNLI strongly advised PLBs over AIS beacons for the reasons stated here.
We don't have AIS which is the only reason we don't have those beacons too. There is much less traffic in the bristol channel than e.g. The solent to pick up the distress signal, so they are essentially an aid for recovery by the mother ship. They do have the immense advantage of automatic activation if so fitted, which would be brilliant for kids jackets. If we were to sail more with our little one then i would consider an AIS and beacon system. PLBs are manually activated which I think is a huge disadvantage, and the only reason we don't have them on the childrens jackets too, as they are probably too difficult for a frightened child to deploy.
Cheers
Buck Turgidson
Well-Known Member
Who are the PLBs registered to? I ask because I have one which I may leave on a boat doing an ocean passage leg that someone else will sail later this year. My PLB is registered to me but If it goes off when I know the the other guy is on passage I will know it's not a false alarm and as I guess the RCC will call me first I will explain. I will also inform my registered next of kin what to say in the circumstance. I figure it's better to leave the safety equipment on the boat and discuss things after the rescue than have it in my draw at home while my mate is bobbing in the Atlantic! Anyone know what the rescue services will make of this?
(sorry for the thread creep)
bitbaltic
Well-Known Member
They are supposed to be registered to persons, not the boat, but in practice if registering them online they have to be registered as a form of 406Mhz EPIRB and the MCA internet form won't accept the registration without the boat details. When I had the confirmation emails from MCA for the PLBs, they had added the note that our boat 'carries 5x PLB reg. Nos. etc etc etc' all registered in my name. In practice this is what we do, but if we sail on other boats we will take our PLBs even if the boat herself stays in the marina, so I thought the registration system not very good/flexible. Whether an alert from one of our PLBs suggests in their system via CG66 that the boat is in danger, I don't know. Obviously this need not be the case.
Burnham Bob
Well-Known Member
must admit i use a plb as cheapie alternative to an epirb and it stays in the grab bag when we are sailing. if someone is on watch on their own they must clip on with a lifeline so they won't fall overboard and need the plb. single handed i clip it to the lifejacket just in case cos there might come a time when i can't clip on or transfer the lifeline from the cockpit to the jackstay and miss!. so the plb probably covers all eventualities.
grumpy_o_g
Well-Known Member
Ocean Safety do a version of the Kru Sport with an AIS SART built-in but I guess the PLB is required to be manually activated because of the the number of times a lifejacket goes off when there's no need for a full-blown rescue. http://www.oceansafety.com/leisure/product/1346-premier-kru-sport-pro.html. It's around £400 but then it's a top-end LJ with a £200 AIS SART in it so I guess it's not that unreasonable.
bitbaltic
Well-Known Member
Yep that's a reasonable deal as you say, although if you service your LJ yourself you will have to check the auto activation of the beacon yourself annually so you're not paying for much over fitting it to a lifejacket of your own choice. The Kannad unit at least is quite easy to set up inside the LJ I understand.
I guess the reason for 406mhz plbs all being manual has something to do with an increased likelyhood of false activation as they are sold for land based applications too. However I never did get to the bottom of it. It is worth adding that the 121.5mhz only plbs (still available and used in offshore work for instance) can be automatically activated, but these only really act as a sar locating transponder and not as an alert. Glad I didn't fully appreciate that when I used to get on north sea choppers with one.