How much is enough?

[Burner]

Maybe this is a stupid question, but at what point does safety become a hindrance to enjoying yourself? I've found that my safety paranoia is ruining any enjoyment I get out of the ocean (and that boat that sits in the driveway). Worrying over ocean conditions and "do I have enough stuff", has dropped my fishing trips down to nothing :depressed:. The amount of over time I've worked to buy the "essentials" cuts into fishing time, also. So at what point do you say "dang-it, I'm going fishing"? My hobby seems to have somehow morphed into working on the boat to get it ready, not actually using it. Maybe this belongs in LIG. What are your thoughts?

James

[CAPT KUJO]

personally...you should always have that feeling..I do keep you from becoming complacent!

CAPT KUJO

[Hammer Down]

You have to answer that one for yourself.

Years ago Dorymen regularly fished with nothing more than a CB radio, basic Loran/compass and experience. True, new safety equipment (EPIRB, Handhelf VHF, DSC, etc. etc.) help shorten the learning/experience curve. But there is no short cut for experience and a feeling of safety. Some people spend thousands upon thousands (bigger safer boats, more equipment, etc.) but still don't feel safe. Others pick their days, evaluate their boats (AND CREW!) carefully and regularly travel many miles offshore in little boats.

What do YOU need to be comfortable out there? Only you can answer that. Evaluate what you want to do, how you want to do it, and what you need to feel safe. Then go for it.

[Joe Schwab]

I know the tendency to feel that way when you are young and indestructible. What Kujo says is right though. I know looking back that I wasn't that good, I was just lucky. And thank God for luck that I'm still here today.

You only go around once, so grab for the ring. Just make sure that you don't fall off or cause someone else to risk their life to save yours because you weren't exercising all the precautions.

[PIR8 Hook]

Years ago Dorymen regularly fished with nothing more than a CB radio, basic Loran/compass and experience.

When my dad started out of Pacific City in a double end dory, he took 5 oars, life vests, a compass, an AM pocket sized radio (so he could tune in KTIL and use it as an RDF), a 5 hp Johnson Sea-King motor and me :grin:..years later he added a 3 ch. walkie-talkie CB....He'd have thought he died & went to heaven with loran C let alone a GPS.

Thank God I have redundant systems for dang near everything on my boat now...My advice is: ya can't fix stupid...use good judgement always!

[Fishmstr]

I agree...you should always have that slight twinge in your gut...especially when the wind starts to blow. Sometimes calling a fishing trip 20 minutes early can make all the difference in getting back to port safely!

[Chrome Bumper]

Not only pick your day but pick your port, especially while getting your sealegs.

"oregons safest bar"

[skein]

I think what you say is sooooo true. Most of the boat ho's don't have a clue what we go through outfitting and maintaining a boat suitable for a tuna trip. Yes, some do because they've owned their own sea-going boats, but the majority have not. Washing it down after a trip is really the easy part.

But back to your original question. I put it in the same perspective as hiking.

If you're going on a day hike, say to Iron Mountain or Rooster Rock, you take extra water, a small first-aid kit, and some sunscreen. Off you go.

If you're going on a longer, more strenous hike, say up South Sister, you take additional stuff that would keep you intact even if you had to spend the night on the side of the mountain.

And if you're going serious mountain climbing, say Mount Hood, you need - I don't really know what you need but I know you need experience, extra hands, and much more sophisticated gear.

Same out west. Bottom fish, pretty simple, halibut more involved, and tuna - especially 50+ mile tuna - lots of extra stuff and lots of experience.

Or sumpthin' like that.

Skein

[Bait O' Eggs]

I take a lot of pride in the fact everything on my boat works. No wiggle this, then push that, then wiggle again it should come on

A while back the red light portion of the cabin light didnt work, though the white light side of the switch still worked. I felt bad and told the crew it didnt work.

I had a wash down pump fail mid trip on a halibut trip, I thought I had it repaired and it failed mid next trip :depressed: It was replaced before the next trip, it works or it doesnt go.

Last trip I had a deck light go out, the starboard one still worked and thats all that is needed to light the deck up, but the port light has been replaced and worked within a couple days of getting home.

I never want the combination of multiple things going wrong creating a big problem, if everything always works, when something fails, I only have one thing to deal with, ..... hopefully. seems like a good policy to me.

This last week on ifish, I feel like I should never leave the beach, I dont have enough safety equipment, even though in some areas I exceed what is required. (3 gps, 3 VHF radios etc...) That life raft and PLB are on a wish list and maybe Santa will wrap one up under the tree. But for now I am going to just do what I have been doing and pick my days, hope somebody wants to buddy boat with me, & go kill fish.

Reading ifish has been depressing lately.

[kenai]

Just let me know when you want a wingman Roy. We're in the same boat

I did pick up one of Mr. Fishermans Pepirbs.

[retaliate]

Everybody has different confort level's, & nobody want's to tow their boat 100+ miles to the Coast...& not go fishing. I'd say for you, pick a nice day, start close to shore, get some experience, & eventually build your confidence for longer journey's.

[BigWaterBigFish]

Boy this post hits home with alot of my thoughts, had called Kenai (Mike) just the other day to see if he'd go with me this Sunday as at that time the weather was at the edge of my comfort level.
Back in the day, hunting in Montana, it was my .06, my packframe my grandfather made from oak and canvass, a sack lunch in an oilskin, some matches and a wool army blanket, a compass and a buck knife ... now, you'd not believe how much (or how heavy) the gear I hump.
I am a relative newcomer to the ocean (less than 10 years) but from now looking back to the first few years out with my friend, I can't believe we took an open boat with no compass, no radio, minimum ER gear to fish for salmon off the coast. Like other posts, I am on my way to the trailer shop where I have sunk another couple of hundred bucks into repairs as things go wrong ... and I start to think, how much do I pay vs how much do I enjoy vs how safe am I ... and it's an equation that gets the mind going.
I feel pretty safe today when I go out as I pick my days, the tide and weather, I always take someone that can fully pilot the boat if something happens to me, I have working back-ups to every system save the GPS but it's a portable so if I lose boat batteries, it can go to it's own and I carry plenty of charts with my own #'s written in that I have personally check while out with GPS and boat compass. I go through my check list every trip the night before, sitting in the boat with a soda, and if there is anything that I feel edgy about - I fix or resolve before I go ... even if it's a late call to the old man to borrow something of his, but if the gut says no - it's no.
It is a wonderful feeling from being a guest on a boat to being a trusted co-pilot on the boat to running the deal and with that joy comes responsiblity.
There are no fish I can catch from my front porch but then they don't call it "Graveyard of the Pacific" just to keep the tourists away. I'm trying to live and enjoy it all somewhere in between.

[Burner]

I think part of the problem is being too picky when "picking my days." Growing up in Coos Bay, we would often toss the life jackets in our 16ft boat, cross the bar and fish Simpson's reef for hours. The only other safety equipment we had besides the life jackets, was a set of oars. Of course living at the coast made it a lot easier to decide on going out or not. It's very frustrating to look at the forecast on the computer and find out the next day that the descision not to go was a bad choice (this is happening way too much). I know my boat can handle way more than I can or want too. Everything works (knock on wood) and has a backup (or two), so I should feel more confident right? Of course that life raft and a USIA drysuit is all I need (just one more fix, says the safety junkie :tongue. Maybe I should just lighten up and stop worrying so much, not stop worrying, just not as much.

James

[Chesapeake]

I grew up fishing in southeast Alaska and as kids we would hop in our 16 foot lund with 25 horse motor, a few life jackets, and a set of oars and we would head out. Mostly we remained in the inside passage but as some know its not a friendly place.

Today I look back and wonder how we survived. My parents always had faith we would return when we got hungry and we did.

Today my standards for equipment are a bit higher. At a minimum I take a GPS w/extra batteries, a compass, VHF radio, charts, depth sounder, and spot light. This stuff I consider needed to allow navigation at night and in fog. I know how to use these items and I'm comfortable navigating in the dark with these tools. A backup for each is nice but not needed as navigation can be done with any one item missing.I dont leave the dock if darkness or fog is a critical issue.

Of course take any extra navigation aids you have at your disposal.

My safety equipment minimum is the legaly required items.

I wont go into the boat in detail but it must have a reliable motor,enough fuel capacity, and a design such that it can handle any resonable weather that is forcasted or may apear in the next 24 hours(ie: I dont go out in situations where if the forcast was off a resonable bit it would be critical to my life.)

The boat operator is another thing all together. I wont go if I dont think I could get back on my own. (Airplane rides are one exception to this rule)

Like others I think there is a point where you just have to go fishing. All the latest and greatest is nice but I cant afford it, and a little common sense will go a long way.

Be warned I was dumb enough to join the Marines so take my advice with a grain or two of salt.

[Something Good]

I'm glad I'm not the only one that torments myself over these things. I often wonder if I'm being too safe and over doing the safety gear. I remember when my dad took me out as a kid we had a 1 compass, 1 chart, 1 CB radio, and 1 engine. Now I have 2 compasses, 2 vhf radios, 3 GPS's, 3 engines etc... I just try to find a happy medium of being safe and having fun. Hopefully you'll be able to do the same.

[KeyWest]

I have to agree with all of this. When I was a kid my dad would take me out in the ocean in a 14' skiff - a 9.9 Evinrude on the back, no radio, no compass, no nothing (this was out of southern CA).

When I ran charters in the 70's and 80's, we had a compass, VHF, depth flasher, and that's it.

Now - EPIRB, VHF fixed, VHF hand held, GPS Chartplotter Fixed, GPS Chartplotter Hand held, Radar, AIS, DSC, Satellite Phone, integrated radar-fish finder-GPS, running mates - and I still feel like I need to add additional safety gear. As Kujo said - it's a good thing to feel uncomfortable!

I also agree that I have an obligation to my crew that everything on the boat works perfectly. If a light is out - it's a sign that something else more serious could be wrong. He who is faithful in the small things will be faithful in the big things.

All of this is a GOOD thing. It shows we are constantly thinking about safety. It increases our odds we will live to fish another day (which is WAY more important than fishing any one day).

[Onokai]

I to keep it all running in ship shape-but this thread reminded me that my red bulb just burned out-I have a spare. Get to it in am. As far as what's in that bag think what you need when the boats gone and you are floating 50 miles offshore-that keeps it real which is where one needs to live. Mark

[BIGALSURF]

Maybe part of the problem is trying to fish the ocean from the valley. I have found that when I am staying at the coast, it's more mellow, I can look out the window at current conditions, listen to the forecast, grab some local buddies and go. I know what the ocean is doing because it's outside the window.

But trying to fish, or for that matter surf, from the valley, is very difficult. For one thing you really don't know what it's like til you get there, even with good forecasts, and it's a lot of work driving the boat down. And it's really hard to schedule an activity that is weather dependent. In fact I've quit scheduling fishing trips, unless it's just in the river. I end up taking people out on marginal days otherwise.

I think in an effort to "be able to go out once we've planned and motored down there", a person tries to super safety their boat so that the marginal conditions are made safe. But by virtue of using a towable boat, that gets difficult as "size matters" in the ocean! Just think if you had a 75 ft. yacht. Things would be a lot less worrying.

Honestly, I've thought of just getting rid of my boat and getting a Zodiac and fishing with a dry suit. Easy to tow, I'm not worried about falling in, I could launch from the beach easily, I haven't spent a lot and no bar to deal with, just beach it!

Oregon is not an easy place to fish, big winds, big tides, mostly difficult bars, (compared to a lot of ports in the world that are not river related), and cold water. Compare that to going out of Marina Del Rey in California! Or going out in the Sound!

I don't think we can afford to not be scared of this Oregon ocean. It is not easy fishing.

My two cents.