EPRIB and PLB

Marco, it may be for your needs that a serious Goretex dry suit or perhaps one made of nonbreathable fabric is a cost effective substitute for the gumby suit. You can layer up underneath as conditions demand, select footwear and gloves to fit the situation, and add headgear as well. The latter might require a neoprene hood. Mobility is good in these suits, and with removable gloves, when you need finger dexterity, you can have it.

Goretex is really only useful when at least half your body is out of the water. When fully immersed, it will not pass water vapor anyway, so the nonbreathable suits are worth considering, running 2/3rds the cost or so.

The big drawback is the care and time needed to don the rig. On the other hand, when boating in "conditions," you can wear it from the start, over insulating your lower body, and adjusting the top insulation as needed, with an easy time adding insulation on your upper body when exiting the boat is imminent. Racing yachties know this arangement well. They might have some specific suggestions for you.

And, no, Goretex is not impervious to grease and oil. Nothing you could wesr comfortably is.
 
I would file a float plan, and years ago, some football players were fishing far off the Tampa Florida and had a bad outcome.

It changed my boating perspective and you and others might be in a rescue event and need items for a successful recovery

just saying
 
3 Notes.

Bob, You might think of adding a pair of "Hunter Orange" beanie caps, touques or watchcaps, what ever you call them, for increased visability.

CDory23, Get and WEAR a high quality inflatable suspender PFD from the time you get on the boat or on the dock. They are comfortable, and where you need it, when you need it. Nobody plans to fall into the water off the dock, or out of the boat. AND when that happens, there is no time to "grab the PFD"

Rain, Maybe you and I should get together on the Pants for teh survival suit. I always have about 10' left over at the bottom :lol:

We have come a bit past the EPIRB/PLB start but this is important stuff here. Safety should always be at the top of our list.

Harvey
SleepyC :moon

old_chip_2_GB_324.thumb.jpg
 
Ha, ha! My inseam is only 34", but that requires a 2X! 33" waist in a medium, and 43" chest is a large!

There is a lot of prep for getting safely onto the water. I need to figure out safety equipment, tool kit, backup systems, the best electronics, etc. I am hoping to get good input and recommendations from you C-Brat experts.
 
CDory23,
I'm currently preparing and training for an expedition sailing race, to be held in March (Watertribe.org the Everglades Challenge). As part of this event, you have to take care of yourself, for at least a week. The safety list is long...
I purchased a breathable drysuit, with a neoprene collar, vice a latex collar. This type of suit is a compromise, at it is not designed as a dive suit, but is better suited for open weather (on the deck of a boat) activity. It's main buyers are kayakers and sailors. I also purchased a ACR 2881 ResQLink+ PLB, as others on this thread have discussed. I purchased mine from thegpsstore.com and currently, ACR is offering a $50 rebate. You can't request the rebate until you register the device with NOAA (they are the Federal agency that all of these type of devices are registered through...).
My lifejacket is kayak style, bright orange color and has lots of pockets to contain a knife, VHF radio, cell phone, whistle, etc. that the PLB and the strobe (also a device from ACR), are attached to the exterior of the lifejacket.
I do own several very nice inflatable vest and use them for various boating activities, but do tend to wear my kayak style life jackets for sailing in the winter, as it helps retain body heat. In my past job, I had to demonstrate that I could use an inflatable, by wearing it and jumping into the water to see how it functioned. The inflatable is VERY loud when the cartridge goes off and once inflated, the lifejacket fits you like the Michelin man and you are almost immobile (manual inflation tube in the devise, once open can let air escape). By letting some air out, you can adjust it so that you can swim, but swimming with it inflated is difficult. We also had to demonstrate the launching and boarding of liferafts in open water and this is another story in itself...
Of course be safe and check all of your gear (and boat) at each use.
 
thataway":11ju4iwy said:
For your purpose the "ResQLink + is an excellent choice. I believe it is the smallest and lightest.

I had never "heard" that an EPRIB was "Louder" that would imply a higher power transmitter. The PLB and full size EPRIB are both 5 watts.

I would add in one of the floating VHF hand held, with DSC and GPS. This allows close by boats to respond. The beacons are only to Satellite, and SAR craft (the 121.5 beacon).
Click to expand...

Yup, that's why I put it in quotes. The specs are the same, however different USCG and other SAR people who work on the other end of these signals, and come get you when you activated either an EPIRB or PLB indicate they get better signals from EPIRBs than PLBs.

When I've pointed out the same output on both devices, usually they shrug and don't really care why.

My theory is that the EPIRB antenna is generally out of the water without any effort expended (because it floats that way) whereas if you are overboard, holding a PLB with cold hands, the antenna goes where you put it and is not really staying out of the water the whole time, and when it goes under it attenuates the signal making it quieter.

So, while they are rated at the same output, in real-world conditions, the rescuers I've talked to indicate a slight advantage to the EPIRB in that regard. However they will go on to tell you it's the EPIRBS that release and turn on automatically when submerged that are the most beneficial: if you are incapacitated it gets help for you.
 
"Marco Flamingo"
This thread has brought up another expenditure that comes before an EPIRB, RADAR, and other zippy toys. An honest first aid kit. What should it include? Time to think gruesome again.
Mark
Click to expand...

Mark brought up a huge subject, and I will start another thread on this, and link it to this thread.

Steve, Are you using a Kayak for the Watertribe race? We may drive down to see the start and finish. Sounds as if you are preparing well!

The idea of survival suits, and what to wear is interesting, and although we have spent a number of months= years in the Alaskan and North Sea Waters, we have been in areas, where very cold water temps give limited life in you fall in, without some heat conserving "clothing". Despite its down sides, the Gumby suit is probably the best for survival, but the limits have been of cancern for us, plus where do you stow these? We have always carried a 1/8" vest/hood combination, which is from our SCUBA diving days, and the can be slipped on fairly quickly or warn between an undershirt and the first layer of outer wear. It is especially important to protect the head and neck because of the very high blood flow (heat loss) from that area. We also had either one or two piece wet suits, which we kept in the "Life raft" dinghy.

One night I was solo, and thought I would be run down by a passenger liner which was headed straight for me. I had attempted to reach the bridge of the ship--to no avail. I then called the nearest CG station, and quickly explained the situation--no water proof VHF hand held then...If I didn't get back to them, in 5 minutes, start a search, and gave my bearings to enough shore side objects that they could triangulate my position. (Long before GPS or Loran C). I put on my thin upper vest/hood, my full 1/4" wet suit, and had several life jackets, plus a waterproof flash light and strobe light--(Also weight belt, incase I had to go down beneath the ship, If I survived the collision--the weight belt would be dropped. (It was a situation, where you didn't know which way to turn--hoped that the ship saw you, and keeping your course and speed, they would miss. Fortunately they missed by about 100 feet--(less than the beam of the ship!)--and I had to deal with the wake--but I was in a 35 foot, well found offshore sailboat, so just a little tossing around--a few curses, and I called the CG back, to say I was still alive.

So what is going to sink a C Dory? A collision is right up there! A huge wave which breaks over the stern, fills the boat with water, and capsizes it?
Possible...
 
I've been reading this thread with interest. With the heater now installed in my CD-22, I hope to continue boating a little later into and early in the season. Some of this boating will likely be on Lake Michigan or Superior. I have a ditch bag (Handheld VHF, flares, Personal LED lights, and looking seriously at that PLB linked to earlier; ie, stuff if the boat sinks and I have to go overboard, will help save my ass), and various types of PFD's. In colder water and solo, I will very likely have my inflatable PFD on when I'm on the water. While I do have some inflatable Kayaks (great in calm protected waters), they are more for summer fun, and not kept on the boat. I'm not really interested in anything that has to be stored on the roof. I read about survival suits with much interest. So here's the thing. Where the heck is everybody storing all this emergency stuff they speak of on a 22' C-Dory? And what kind of survival equipment are others here in the midwest that continue boating in the colder season keeping on their 22' boats? Colby
 
Are ditch bags you buy supposed to float? Or do you add noodles or something else? Would be nice to own an inflateable liferaft, but for the price,think I will get a dingy first. If I ever do a lot of offshore fishing ,may buy one, in addition to dingy. Boat fires scare me ,or if hull gets punctured, taking on water at rate that pumps cant keep up scare me. Anybody have hole plugs in their ditch bag? Nice to have a second or third extinguisher also.
 
Larry Patrick":3aupx5os said:
Anybody have hole plugs in their ditch bag?
Click to expand...

The plugs that you see in the marine stores are basically for failed through-hull fittings. You won't get a perfect hole any other way.

Cushions and a telescoping boat hook would probably be more useful. Emergency blankets and twine can be used for "fothering." Here's an article.

http://www.admiralyacht.com/admiral-new ... inking.pdf

Geez, this site is getting kind of depressing.

Mark
 
Here is the link to first aid kit:
http://www.c-brats.com/viewtopic.php?p=285839#285839
This is for a weekend to a month, near shore, where you can have medical help in 12 hours or less.

It was asked if the ditch bag floats--it has some air trapped in the water tight bag. It would float for a few minutes. I have one of the float cushions next to the helm, and I would grab it--There is a strap which allows me to carry this bag over the shoulder--so it should stay next; to me. We take it in the dinghy a lot--no problem.

Fire--we have 4 fire extinguishers: port Lazarette, under galley, under port front dinette seat, and by the companionway.

Sinking: Toilet bowl wax ring is a temporary solution. As Mark says, cushions and a telescoping boat hook is one way. But it will take quite a blow to hole a C Dory bottom. Lots out boats out there--and I believe only two sank--one was in the rocks/surf. The other, apparently was swamped by a wave over the stern. (Like the foot ball players, who were trying to retrieve a stuck anchor, by tying it to the stern create and giving full power--good way to sink a boat!

No bottom thru hulls. In larger boats, we carried the "plugs", underwater epoxy, plywood, collision mat, etc.

Where to put things on a C Dory? Life raft on cabin top. All of our stuff, fits in the boat--you have to move things to get in the bunk at night some times....
 
Always a lot of good info. When everyone refers to thru hull ,what would they be on our C-Dorys and or ventures? Dave said the thru hulls were glassed over on my boat. If you had a transducer that was drilled thru,or drain plug ,is the only things I can think of. Trim Tab bolts?
 
Some of the C Dories have a thru hull fitting for water pickup--both the raw water wash down system and on some boats the head water intake. Some boats this was one fitting. Some boats have a live well, and a thru hull for that intake. You might also call the drain a thru hull, but not trim tab supports or ransom bolts etc.

There are also thru hulls for head discharge, bilge pump discharge, vents, the live well discharge, sink drain, stove or heater exhaust, etc above the water line, but can be submerged under some conditions. It is rare for the C Dory to have a transducer thru hull; most are transom mounted.
 
I refer to my Sink drain, bilge pump ports, heater exhaust port, stove vent, bilge plug, fuel vents and anchor locker drain, all as Thru-Hulls. They all are holes in the hull that could allow water in if the boat got low enough in the water. Perhaps I am wrong on my definition? Colby
 
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