Where is the best place to mount an EPIRB?

silver-fox

silver-fox

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I am struggling to decide where is the best place to mount an EPIRB on (or in) a centre cockpit sloop.

Inside carries the risk, that when it is needed, it will not be free enough to auto release and so go down with the boat
Outside carries the risk of being too exposed as the cockpit is only protected by a pram hood and it may auto release prematurely

I did consider attaching it to the aft gantry, that carries the solar panels and wind genny, at head height, but even that seems a bit too exposed.

Where have you fitted yours?
 
The ones I've seen have hydrostatic releases inside the automatic mount. So it should not auto-deploy unless the boat has properly sunk.

I believe normal liferaft releases go off at 4m depth; I don't know if the ones in EPIRB mounts are set for the same pressure or not. But it certainly shouldn't be triggered by heavy spray or the odd wave top.

Pete
 
epirb mounting

silver-fox said:
I am struggling to decide where is the best place to mount an EPIRB on (or in) a centre cockpit sloop.

Inside carries the risk, that when it is needed, it will not be free enough to auto release and so go down with the boat
Outside carries the risk of being too exposed as the cockpit is only protected by a pram hood and it may auto release prematurely

I did consider attaching it to the aft gantry, that carries the solar panels and wind genny, at head height, but even that seems a bit too exposed.

Where have you fitted yours?
Click to expand...

We arent center cockpit , but our McMurdo float free has been rail mounted on the inside of the push pit rail for the last 14 years and now on our third one, never had any issues
and it tests ok each time i check it, the commercial seismic boats I work on have them mounted on the outside of the wheel house and are equally as good, I guess you wont know
until it sinks though !

I have kept one of my old epirbs and have it with the grab bag as back up according to the light it still has battery life so may still work
 
Thanks guys, I have checked and it is a hydrostatic release at 2-4 metres. I will check out the binnacle/pushpit options when I am next out on the boat with renewed confidence.

I will try to leave the sinking test to a much later date :)
 
I'm probably showing my ancient method of navigating here, but I wouldn't put anything with a big battery in it anywhere near my binnacle, unless I was prepared to swing the compass all over again.( Must treat meself to one of them plotter things..)...:D :D
 
silver-fox said:
I must admit I was wondering about this.

It does seem very popular to mount a wide variety of instruments on binnacle/binnacle rails/pods these days
Click to expand...
When on passage how often are you actually abaft the wheel.
this binnacle / console idea comes from building boats easier & cheaper with less skilled input. no different to sail drives
instruments on a binnacle are only visible to the helm not the crew, far better above the main hatch where all can see them
 
sailorman said:
When on passage how often are you actually abaft the wheel.
this binnacle / console idea comes from building boats easier & cheaper with less skilled input. no different to sail drives
instruments on a binnacle are only visible to the helm not the crew, far better above the main hatch where all can see them
Click to expand...

In my experience that is completely true except for one circumstance, when you are conning your way into a strange harbour or similar and the helmsman can't see the main hatch mounted instruments for crew members also wanting to see the sights!

That said my instruments are staying above the main hatch :cool:
 
Ours was fitted in a wooden square with a strip of wood on the bottom at the back to screw it on. The wooden square had the appropriate size hole for the EPIRB to fit halfway way in and placed by the steps up to the cockpit, under which was the grab bag, so you could grab both the EPIRB and the bag on the way up. In Trinidad the boat next to us had the coastguard arrive at 2am because torrential rain had triggered the hydrostatic release and thus fired up the EPIRB.
 
silver-fox said:
In my experience that is completely true except for one circumstance, when you are conning your way into a strange harbour or similar and the helmsman can't see the main hatch mounted instruments for crew members also wanting to see the sights!
Click to expand...

When at the helm, why not tell the crew/passengers to move clear of the instruments.
I've even trained the dog not to sit in front of the echosounde and windex.
 
LadyInBed said:
centre cockpit so wheel steering?
In which case I would mount it on the binnacle.
Click to expand...

The hydrostatic auto mounts I've seen are quite bulky things:

ACRglobalfix_I.gif


I wouldn't want one cluttering up the middle of the cockpit.

sailorman said:
this binnacle / console idea comes from building boats easier & cheaper with less skilled input. no different to sail drives
instruments on a binnacle are only visible to the helm not the crew, far better above the main hatch where all can see them
Click to expand...

I don't think it's about building cheaper (in fact, it probably costs slightly more to run the wiring that way). I think it's about the idea that the helmsman is the driver is the one in charge - they think it's like a car. Same way some modern boats deliberately put the sheet winches by the wheel - they're not catering for singlehanders, they have in mind the family in which only Dad is interested in sailing and Mum and two stroppy teenagers will put up with it as long as they don't have to actually sail the boat.

I'm rewiring Ariam this winter, and the cockpit instrument layout is based around the idea of a "conning position" right at the front of the cockpit under the sprayhood. I imagine a lone watchkeeper sitting here at night in mid-Channel, with AIS and radar and all the instruments to hand, and an autopilot remote. In more pleasant conditions, the same arrangement allows a cockpit full of people all to see what's going on - and for the skipper to keep an eye on things with an inexperienced visitor on the helm.

silver-fox said:
In my experience that is completely true except for one circumstance, when you are conning your way into a strange harbour or similar and the helmsman can't see the main hatch mounted instruments for crew members also wanting to see the sights!
Click to expand...

Indeed - the number of times I've been trapped behind the helm because novice crew are uncomfortable about steering into harbour, while itching to get below and have another look at the pilot book. Also the feeling of unease when you're steering in shallowing water and someone wanders in front of the depth gauge. So, while most of my electronicals are above and either side of the hatch, the binnacle does have two things on it. Firstly the autopilot controller, which has been configured so that it can also act as the helmsman's personal depth readout, and secondly a very small and basic Lowrance plotter. Coming into an unfamiliar harbour under power is perhaps the one time when a boat cockpit does need to be a bit like a car, with all the information at the "driver"'s fingertips.

Pete
 
nigelmercier said:
Mine was originally mounted a couple of paces in from the bottom the companionway. I have refitted it so I can reach it from half way down.
Click to expand...

This is where I put mine, but after recent events I now believe it should be in a grab bag securely fitted in a cockpit locker. You may not have time or want to remove washboards to get to the Epirb in an emergency.
 
nigelmercier said:
Mine was originally mounted a couple of paces in from the bottom the companionway. I have refitted it so I can reach it from half way down.
Click to expand...

A float free unit like the OP is proposing fitting shouldn't be mounted internally , its as likely to float into a semi submerged cabin and go down with the boat as float out of the vessel and activate
 
ribrage said:
A float free unit like the OP is proposing fitting shouldn't be mounted internally
Click to expand...

+1. Usually somewhere on external railings near the bridge, I believe, on ships. On a yacht with a stern arch that seems a pretty good place to me. Probably on the outside so that it's less likely to get hung up under a solar panel or whatever as it tries to float to the surface. Stavros carries an enormous overcapacity of liferafts (I think something like 4 times the maximum number of crew) because the assumption is that in a sudden sinking some of the rafts will get tangled in the rig on the way up. You don't want that happening to your EPIRB.

Pete
 
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