Marine Radios

[leslind]

Greetings all,

I just joined the NSPN just to ask this question and now that I've looked around a bit I'm glad I did.

My wife and I have been kayaking mostly lakes and other flatwater and slow rivers for a few years now. We also do limited small creeks of the Chesapeake Bay. The question is' Is it really necessary to carry a VHF Marine Radio, (other than it may have the NOAA weather channel) for our type of paddleing? I just read in the June issue of Sea Kayaker on page 47 that Bob Brunett says "a marine radio with weather channels remains an essential piece of kit for kayaking." I'd wouldn't mind having one on board but my wife, ok and I, are wondering wether we SHOULD have one with our type of paddling. West Marine has the Model 250 on sale till this weekend and I'm thinking I should perhaps jump on it.

Thanks in advance

Les

[Phil Allen]

Greetings all,

..... The question is' Is it really necessary to carry a VHF Marine Radio, (other than it may have the NOAA weather channel) for our type of paddleing? ...

Thanks in advance

Les

Les- Welcome to NSPN. I think you'll find some very helpful and friendly people here.

In my opinion the answer is yes, no and maybe. Yes: you'll always benefit from having access to NOAA weather radio. Yes, on the chesapeake, the VHF marine radio will be an excellent safety tool should you need assistance from other boaters, the coast guard, etc in a way that a cell phone just couldn't. No: the VHF would be of little use on creeks and rivers not readily travelled by other, usually bigger, boats; and it is illegal to use marine VHF on land. Maybe: well even if it's illegal to use marine VHF where you were, but you were in trouble and someone was listening I'd choose to suffer the consequences of illegal use AFTER I was rescued.

And if you're planning on getting one, Amazon has a Standard Horizon waterproof handheld for ~65$. Get a waterproof bag for it as well. As many here will testify, older SH "waterproof" radios have not lived up to that claim.

Phil

[gyork]

Greetings all,

"a marine radio with weather channels remains an essential piece of kit for kayaking." I'd wouldn't mind having one on board but my wife, ok and I, are wondering wether we SHOULD have one with our type of paddling.

Les

Welcome to the club Les. There is limited utility of employing a VHF radio on inland waters. Aside from the weather radio function, 2-way communication is possible with cheaper models by motorola/others that are sold by the pair, and that could be protected from the elements with see-thru bags made for that purpose. I'll defer to others regarding reception limited to "line of sight", but I've lost reception with a fellow paddler on Squam Lake because of intervening islands. Having said that, the "weather alert" function on my ICOM 88 has correctly warned me of a fast moving weather cell bringing heavy thunderstorms within 10 minutes. This function would serve a paddler well, regardless of where they are paddling. If you and your wife expect to do more ocean paddling with groups, a VHF is a great way to stay in touch. As most of us can attest, group paddles tend to dissipate into smaller groups, and without preparation, these pods quickly lose contact with one another without radios being ON and MONITORED. I think they are under-utilized on such paddles, and feel that they should be encouraged at the beach briefing, with radio checks at every interval launch site-$0.02

Gary

[scamlin]

Les:

As Phil and Gary's comments neatly illustrate, there are two uses for a VHF: communication within your party (mostly coordinating among yourselves) and communication to other boaters and the authorities. Both have a safety dimension, but Bob's recommendation mostly applies to the latter: calling for help in an emergency.

While a VHF has limited emergency use on inland lakes and rivers (mainly because few if any other boaters or the Coast Guard are listening) there is exception: where there is regular commercial or motorized/sail boat traffic. Think areas near or in major harbors (Baltimore), major rivers (Hudson) or lakes (Champlain). Boats in these areas are like to monitor and respond to distress calls and the CG is present.

If you ever paddle on or near the Cheseapeake, both the risk and the help are there, so yes, a VHF should be considered essential eqiupment.

Scott