Re: EPIRB Question
I vote for the EPIRB.
boats rarely sink on calm sunny afternoons.
VHF is strictly a line of sight communication device thats very much affected by mast height above the water and weather conditions.
the EPIRB will alert the USCG and others, as to the lat and long to within 30 ft or so of the transmitter.
its also a microwave transmitter thats not as affected by weather or mast hieght.
most VHF sets rely on the hulls electrical system, one of the first that fails when saltwater hits the battery.
the EPIRB is stand alone and doesnt require operator attention once activated.
typically when a boat starts heading for the bottom there is not a lot of time to discuss it with the USCG.
in my area the gulf stream is 20-30 miles out either from oregon inlet or cape hatteras inlet.
the USCG airbase is in Elizabeth city.
total distance is about 50-80 miles, takes about 30 min from station E city to the gulf stream just to start a search pattern.
takes 10-15 min to get the whirly bird aloft.
get hung up in the diamond shoals area with a good 40kt north east breeze and odds are high your not gonna float for 45 minutes with the boat.
we have done man overboard drills in 25-30 ft seas.
even knowing where the dummy hit the water, oscar is all dressed in orange, its almost impossible to keep a line of sight on the dummy.
30 miles out there are no land marks.
thats why we toss smoke at the first call out of man overboard and try to keep a visual.
