Where is best place to store a hand held radio. Boat is a Tornado with fore and aft deck ports with dry bags. Sailing area is Lond Island Sound, 3 to 4 foot swells common. Winds usually steady. Probable trouble is equipment related. It could do in one of the ports. Or it could go in a tramp pocket, probably double bagged and in a water proof (resistant) plastic box so it won't get crushed accidentally by the beefy crew. I wouldnt trust it on me, unless inside the Stolhquist vest, and retention would be difficult. Any experience out there?
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John
Nacra 5.0
CT
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Handheld radio storage on board
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Posted: Sep 01, 2017 - 06:13 AM
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Posted: Sep 01, 2017 - 07:43 AM
I for one do not like having my communication link anywhere but on me. I use a waterproof bag and have it in my chest pocket of my PFD.
I want to be able to get to it in an emergency and having it stored away in ports or elsewhere makes me nervous.
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Posted: Sep 01, 2017 - 07:50 AM
I agree about not storing it inside the hull. If you capsize, are unable to right, and need to call for assistance, you most likely won't be able to get to it.
I carry mine in a tramp pouch. The radio itself is waterproof and I put it in an aquapac for an added layer of protection.
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Posted: Sep 01, 2017 - 08:23 AM
I sail with a Standard Horizon HX290 Floating Handheld it is rated for 30min at 3ft. I have it connected to a lanyard and keep it in my PFD pocket. I just have to remember to charge it and put it in my PFD after it is charged.
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Posted: Sep 01, 2017 - 11:04 AM
We use two handhelds when we race in the ocean. One is waterproof and floats, and is in a pouch made of tramp material strapped to my son's PFD. The other is water resistant, is in a waterproof plastic bag, and hangs from the gooseneck on the boom. It has a pouch similar to the other one. Both radios are on all the time. Here is a good inexpensive waterproof radio that is also sold by West Marine under their brand name:
https://www.amazon.com/Un…ds=marine+radio+handheld
In a capsize, having the radio (or anything useful) in the hull in the air, is just like leaving it on shore - out of reach. I realize that items stored on the body can get bulky, but I prefer bulky to stranded (or worse). Attached to our vests are radios, whistles, a flare and a sharp knife. I sewed a 3" elastic and velcro strap that holds the flare and the whistle/knife lanyard. See this photo:
https://www.thebeachcats.…ictures?g2_itemId=123843
Our boom is a busy place. There's a radio, extendable paddle with handles on both ends, a phone with GPS, waterproof bluetooth speaker (playing ZZ Top and Muse) and race course information.
I'd put a pillow and bankie there if I could keep them dry. :)
Edited by klozhald on Sep 01, 2017 - 03:49 PM.
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Bob
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Prindle 18-2 #244 "Wakizashi"
Prindle 16 #3690 "Pegasus" Sold (sigh)
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Posted: Sep 01, 2017 - 11:23 AM
I always carry mine in my life jacket pocket. Once my trap line broke and my G-Cat sailed off into the distance. Recently, the only thing that stopped my new boat from sailing away after I righted it was that it was towing the righting bag. I barely caught up to it. -
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Posted: Sep 01, 2017 - 06:35 PM
On the T we carry a waterproof bag like this.
It sits at the mast foot , between the tramp-pockets and is attached there by 2
velcro strips, push/pull style so it won't move around the tramp.
The other attachment is a lanyard long enough to let it almost fall
in the water when the T is over. (not very often)
When the T is over. it wil fall down by its weight and act as a grab-bag.
Apart from luxury items like beer cans, lunch and sun blocker there's
a small toolkit, spares, medical kit, flares and a Standard Horizon VHF in that
bag.
On my PFD I carrie a waterproof cellphone, a flare and a smoke-signal.
Our lake is big, but has cellphone coverage everywhere.
The Standard Horizon is waterproof and gets its check every 2 weeks
or so.
So, there's tons of ways to store you're vhf on the cat or on the body,
just make sure it is waterproof or in a waterproof bag.
Given the fact that a HH Vhf, a few inches from the water doesn't perform
that good range-wise, a waterproof cellphone would be a option,
depending on the area you sail.
A
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Posted: Sep 01, 2017 - 10:05 PM
When distance racing off shore, skipper and crew both have Icom M88 and Garmin 76csx in vest pockets. Does no good on the boat if you go overboard and get separated. Icom for communication and Garmin for location.
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Ron
Nacra F18
Reservoir Sailing Assn.
Brandon, Mississippi
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Posted: Sep 01, 2017 - 10:49 PM
So on-person makes good sense. I may need a new PFD with BAPs (big a** pockets). The radio (West VHF 75) won't fit in the two pockets on the current one.
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John
Nacra 5.0
CT
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Posted: Sep 02, 2017 - 01:31 PM
The forum traffic is slow today, which means everyone must be on the water! Excellent!
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John
Nacra 5.0
CT
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Posted: Sep 05, 2017 - 03:02 AM
I second Nacra55 on having safety gear on you. For Race to Alaska (R2AK) I found the following worked well in terms of PFD + radio + GPS + PLB (way more gear than what most beach cat sailors need -- we needed max safety gear given the remoteness of the course, night sailing, and cold temperatures):
- Kayak PFD: NRS cVest (about $80-85 from Backcountry.com) with a VHF pocket plus various other pockets.
We put A LOT of safety gear in those pockets, or directly clipped to the pfd, see this picture: https://www.facebook.com/…12229607/?type=3&theater (which doesn't include miscellaneous items I carried in the pockets, like food bars and sunscreen).
There are other models (kayaking and sailing-specific) out there, but this one was one of the few with so many pockets and a reasonable price, without feeling bulky.
- Radio: Standard Horizon HX870 DSC VHF (just fit in the NRS cVest radio pocket)
For any sailing on a large body of water, I would strongly encourage a DSC-enabled VHF over a non-DSC VHF. While larger in size and with a shorter battery life, a DSC VHF allows sending a distress message and GPS position at the touch of a button. On a smaller lake it's probably easy to find someone by VHF voice instructions alone (e.g. "I'm on Lake X, about y miles east of X location"), but on any larger body of water it quickly gets much harder, particularly if there's a lot of other sailboats around or if you're just a speck floating separate from your boat (see for example this recent incident which Canada Coast-Guard reminded us of before R2AK: two people died after a mayday with a vague position - despite quickly being located by plane and rescued within a few hours: http://www.nanaimobulleti…t-goes-down-near-tofino/) . Plus the digital message is more likely to go through clearly at long range vs. garbled voice comms, and typically triggers loud, impossible to miss, alarms on receiving VHF units.
The Standard Horizon HX870 and Icom M93D are the most common models of DSC handhelds (I've seen both in person), though I believe there are a few others (including some older Simrad/Lowrance models). I've read about some moisture/fogging up issues in the screen of the HX870 and we noticed this at times on one of our two radios, but the other one was fine, so there may be uneven quality at play... One thing I especially like about the HX870 is that it comes standard with a AAA spare battery tray, so I carry that in a ziplock in my PFD in case my main VHF battery dies -- nice to have a spare. Icom M93D does not have this kind of tray, so you have to buy a more expensive spare lithium battery if you want a spare. The HX870 is a fairly good deal too ($205 at HodgesMarine.com, minus a $40 mfg rebate till end-2017, gets you a DSC VHF for $165...). The M93D is pricier ($290 on Amazon). A waterproof pouch probably extends lifespan, but we didn't use one since a pouch becomes impossible to fit in a PFD's VHF pocket, and reduces usability (we would regularly turn on the radio to listen to weather broadcasts).
- GPS: Garmin GPSMap 78 or 78sc handheld GPS (the 76 works too, somewhat older model), in an Aquapac 288 large waterproof armband case.
Using the Aquapac armband case allowed one of us to always carry the GPS strapped to our forearm, allowing us to quickly glance at the route and note any obstacles or shallows ahead, without having to pull the GPS out of a pocket. This worked nicely -- though not something you would need outside of distance sailing in an unfamiliar area (it does add some bulk on your arms). I will say these Garmin GPS screens are very small -- if you don't need to be looking at your GPS all the time, it's much easier to use Navionics+ on a smartphone in a waterproof case (hanging around your neck, or in your pocket). We did destroy one smartphone while practicing though (impact on screen during capsize, even though the phone was tucked underneath a PFD), so keep in mind that smartphones are always vulnerable on board...
- PLB: OceanSignal RescueMe PLB1
This is the world's smallest PLB, barely the size of a cigarette pack (smaller than the ACR ResqLink+ which you commonly find in the US and is another good PLB choice -- ACR in fact ended up buying OceanSignal). Easily fits into any lifejacket pocket. Costs $240 (Amazon), so it's fairly reasonably priced. A PLB is great to have if you're too far for a DSC VHF to be reliable (I'd count on 5 nautical miles for a VHF at water level -- Coast Guard will likely pick you up from further away with a hill-top beacon, but neighboring boats may not hear you past even 2-3nm, depending on their antenna height).
Note that with a PLB the likely rescue response time goes up a lot vs. a VHF -- it can take 1-2 hours just for authorities to confirm a "Mayday" from a PLB (see Rambler 100 capsize: https://www.practical-sai…rambler_100_10788-1.html). So a PLB only makes sense if you can wait a while for rescue. Also, a PLB needs to be properly registered to maximize effectiveness - an unclear registration or one with no boat particulars is not much help (Rambler 100 is a good example of poor registration).
(I'm non-affiliated with any of these products/retailers, just a big believer in them).
Edited by southstars2012 on Sep 05, 2017 - 03:27 AM.
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SL
Nacra Inter 20 (sold)
2017 Race to Alaska "Team Ketch me if u can"
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Sausalito CA
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Posted: Sep 05, 2017 - 04:32 PM
Thanks for taking time to share your research and real-world experience!
Randii
