NateHanson

Aside from ACR, the other big EPIRB and PLB manufacturer is McMurdo.

Well, now my radio turns off again. Of course it fixed itself the day after I placed an order for the M92. I could stand to have a spare radio anyways, and I'm curious to see how I like the GPS-equipped model. I carry a GPS only for emergency position finding; never used it for navigation. I've never turned on the one I have, except to test it, and that takes a while, so I think for my purposes, having my position reported right on the radio (and broadcast through DSC) makes a lot more sense than carrying an old, rarely used GPS.

Of course all this is simply justification for the fact that I just bought a radio that it turns out I didn't really need.

Here's hoping that getting rid of the knob gains me a few years of use!

As to the aquapac suggestion, I think there's a lot of sense in protecting your radio, but I've had no luck with those. They wear out and leak very quickly, and then all they do is swadle your electronic device in a greenhouse of steaming brine. Plus, I just can't stand the form factor. Anything living in my PFD needs to be sleek and comfortable, and those bags are anything but.

Ed, the knob clicks as though it's in the off position, but the radio doesn't turn off. The knob is stiffer to turn than it was when new, but still turns without trouble. I submerse it in fresh water and work the knob after every use, but that still means it spends a lot of time damp with saltwater in my vest during a day- or multi-day paddle. That seems to be more than this knob can handle.

My M32 had no knobs, and the M92 also has no knobs. I think I'll give that a shot.

The West marine replacement plan isn't a bad idea. Does it add a year to the warranty? Problem is, these radios are about $50 cheaper from someplace other than West Marine, like Hamilton Marine, and the Icom's come with a 3-year warranty now. So I'm on the fence about paying $50 premium to WM, and then $30 for their protection plan. Then if they give you a new radio, it's not covered by the original warranty anymore, so you pay another $30 for the new warranty? Granted you're getting longer coverage, but now you've paid $110 extra to insure a $200 product. If the thing is guaranteed to fail (which lately mine seem to be) then obviously it's worth paying 50% of the purchase price to have it replaced. But I'm stuck on this silly notion that I should be able to get many years of my MARINE vhf. Bah!

In 2.5 years, I have now killed two M72 radios. The first was replaced under warranty, and the replacement radio is in it's death throes. Both have failed exactly the same way - the power/volume knob loses the ability to turn the radio off.

After having an M32 that lasted almost 15 years I was extremely brand loyal. I've used a number of Standard Horizon Radios in the past 10 years, and had more problems with them than with my ICOMs. However, this knob problem is trying my loyalty.

The replacement to the M72 (predictably named M73), still has that blasted power knob, so as much as I love the battery life and form factor, the 73 is definitely out.

The M92 (with GPS) has no power knob, and addresses all the shortcomings of the Standard Horizon GPS-equipped handheld (which had too small a battery, a poor display, and reports speeds rounded to the nearest knot!). So, I'm considering the M92. Anyone have any experience with this one?

Thanks, Nate

Have you tried pogies? I find them much warmer than any neoprene gloves I've tried. When it gets colder, I wear both gloves and pogies.

I carry adhesive window flashing and a paper towel, sealed in a heat-seal baggie. I've had good luck with this method at air temps in the low 30s, water temps in the high 40s. I've also had good luck with Gorrilla tape, simply wiping most water away with a hand, applying the tape, and really rubbing it in to warm the tape and squeeze out water.

I was (not very clearly) hoping someone might be able to estimate the cost of this limited search?

Here are hourly reimbursable rates for USCG vessels and aircraft.

http://www.uscg.mil/directives/ci/7000-7999/CI_7310_1N.pdf

$11,400 per hour for a Jayhawk. (It's a 45 min flight each way from the airbase on the cape)

$3,700 per hour for the Response Boat Medium that are used most around here.

Not sure how many boats were involved, but the Marine Patrol also had at least one vessel searching (that's who located him).

Nice to know these folks are there! I'd love a ride on a Jayhawk someday, (round trip though, NOT oneway!)

The take-home message to me is to always be very clear with your emergency contact about the check-in Sched. If you tell your contact that you WILL call every night, and you can't call them, you need to radio the CG. Otherwise you will start a massive rescue mission.

I interpreted "did not energize his VHF" as 'didn't have it turned on'. As far as the cell phone charging, he may have underestimated how quickly a phone runs down when it's in marginal territory, and often searching for a signal.

I'm guessing Ed was led to that assumption by the report that he was in a 14-footer. There are some capable 14-footers, but it's probably fair to say that most boats that length fall firmly in a sort of "transitional touring" category.

Entirely possible the length was just a WAG by his emergency contact too.

He's fine. It was just a missed check-in.

http://www.uscgnews.com/go/doc/4007/1941034/

Winds were gusting over 20 kts yesterday, and steady in the high teens. Blowing off-shore. 3-5' and very short (4-5 seconds). Not a great day to be out in any boat rounding Isle au Haut.

The USCG are apparentely conducting an air and water search for a missing kayaker from your neck of the woods (-ish).

http://www.wmtw.com/news/maine/coast-guard-searching-for-overdue-kayaker-off-isle-au-haut/-/8792012/22631214/-/fsehsp/-/index.html?absolute=true

Hopefully just a missed cell phone contact. He wasn't due in until Friday, so I'm guessing his contact reported him missing after not hearing from him Thursday night.

Try telling the swimmer, to straighten their leg and hug their boat. This avoids the high leverage, poor technique version that is evident in any of the YouTube videos I've seen.

Just like the scoop and hand of god, the key for the rescuer is not strength, but rather getting the swimmer's torso close to the deck, to minimize effort.

I like my Delphin. It's a 3-layer 155. I'm not sure it's any faster than an avocet, though it is decent enough at getting around. On a day that I'm not surfing or rock gardening, it's a bit if a drag. But on the WAY to rock gardening or surfing, the speed feels just fine.

It's a full boat around the cockpit, so it's a touch more work to roll than a normally proportioned sea boat.

If you plan to do rough stuff like pour overs, and seal launches, etc., I would recommend getting the single layer "surf spec" version. It is possible to crack the inner layer of the 3-layer plastic if it is flexed sharply.

I've used these for flares and for a GPS, and they do a good job. If they're used heavily, they do eventually accumulate punctures or wear where they are creased or span a hard corner. But for something like flares that need to stay dry but don't see any use, I think they're perfect.

Having lost one Iphone to salt-water intrusion while it was in a "waterprooof" clamshell case, I am now willing to pay quite a bit more for a waterproof case than I was before.

I had 3 different $30 waterproof cases (one of which killed my phone), and for the past year I've used an $80 Lifeproof case. Love it.

Slack before Flood is at 12:19p on Thursday, and the maximum current that day is only 1.5 knots (at 10:59a) ebbing. If your weather forecast holds, there will be wind against current in the morning, so they may want to be aware of that condition, and what it can do to the waves.

Wag bag. Easy, hygenic, no clean-up at home. Worth the couple dollars spent.

I have this problem with a Cyprus. Has anyone drilled and epoxied successfully? It's the male half.

I got 4mm "bluewater niteline" reflective yellow line from a vendor on amazon called MadAthlete. I also found yellow bungie form another seller, so that I could be a real fashionista, matching all my lines to the sheer stripe on my boat.

Maybe I'm not looking on the right page, but I don't see appropriate polyester line on that "quality nylon rope" site. You don't want all nylon line, because it's too stretchy, and polypro tends to suffer from UV damage after a few years, and starts to get rough and brittle.

You'll find the right stuff (polyester, or "dacron" doublebraid) at a marine store, such as West Marine, but they don't have a lot of color options in those small sizes, in my experience.

I'll add to the above, that the ability to go slow, or stop in rough conditions is also good. I've run into a couple paddlers who can only feel comfortable in rough water by keeping moving forward. This has sometimes resulted in that paddler sprinting ahead without regard for group cohesion, because that paddler doesn't have the comfort in rough water to just sit still, or manuever around a bit while others catch up or deal with a problem.

So, I'll agree - the ability to speed up is good. And so is the ability to slow down, even when the conditions are bad. Practice sitting still in a tide race or similar rough conditions, without doing a lot of paddling or bracing. See if you can get comfortable just hanging out, looking around, checking on others, etc.

1) I'll bet it ebbs south, and current is very minor. Most flow will be heading out of that bay to the north into the thorofare, because there's a much less restricted outlet there.

2) Probably ebbs east, because there are better outlets to the west and south to relieve the tidal pressure in all those bays, and gurnet straight is pretty removed, bathymetrically, from those other bays. Again, I'm guessing it's pretty minor current. There just doesn't appear to be much area for tidal pressure to build up.

3) There's only one outlet, as far as I can tell, so there's no option here. It must ebb south. There can't be much current here, because the Tidal datum in Carvers pond is only 2 minutes different from the tidal datum at Rockland harbor. When you have major constrictions, that create a strong tidal gradient, the tidal timing is affected in a big way. Sullivan falls, for instance, experiences high tide on the north side of the falls a full 2 hours after high water on the south side of the falls.

I realized after the trip that I might not have been making myself clear as I was mostly focused on just paddling forward and watching for boat traffic. For both of us a good example of why a better discussion prior to the crossing is advised :-)

. . .

I believe I said in a line, which is, admittedly, ambiguous, but meant in a line horizontal to the channel, side by side.

I disambiguate the two types of lines by calling one a "Rockette's kickline" and the other "Ducks in a row."

Pru, there was a small point that Rick-san forgot (Ed mentioned it) -- the question of traffic: if you are crossing some obscure channel down east in Maine, with no traffic in sight -- then who the hell cares how you navigate across; but if you are in the vicinity, say, of Darien, CT, over a busy summer weekend, then you had better have your wits about you! Those channels can be difficult to get across, with the mass of traffic you may encounter! So decent planning <does> then become important.

As a Downeaster, I would encourage folks to cross channels at right angles, and in a compact group, even when there's no traffic in sight. We country folk like to think we have plenty of traffic (even though I'm sure it doesn't compare to Darien CT), and more importantly nothing distresses a lobsterman more than steaming around a corner to find a horizon full of kayaks strung out between two islands, apparently enjoying the sparse boat traffic in these idylic Downeast waters. It's important for us to maintain relations with other working folks on the water, and so it would be great if people practice good group-management when crossing a channel . . . even in the remotest parts of the region. It displays courteous, and responsible piloting to others.

Nate

Cruising guides (and sometimes coast pilots) are great for this sort of information. I am often surprised by the direction that a body of water ebbs, when it can reach the ocean in both directions. Sometimes all you can do is make an educated guess, and then see when you get there. If I want to know with more certainty, in advance of paddling or sailing in the area, I'll drive past and make observations at various times in the tide-cycle.

I use an iPhone-sized battery pack with integrated solar charger (labeled "XTG"). By keeping the phone off except when checking weather a couple times each day, and an occasional phone call, I get 3 days out of the phone. Then I can charge the phone fully from the battery, and recharge the battery pack in my chart case over a sunny day of paddling.

My VHF lasts weeks without losing charge (icom M72).

I haven't been fortunate enough to take a trip that's longer than a week, so more elaborate charging hasn't been necessary for me.