Side Band Radios

[Serious Fun]

Does anyone know where to get an inexpensive but good (I know that sounds like an oxymoron) side band radio, like the commercial boats use for off shore long distance communication? The USCG recommends one for anyone going out more than 20 miles, a distance we're all going to blow by on the way to Halibut Hill/Chicken Ranch, etc., and especially if Tuna fishing this summer. Also, any leads on the best EPIRB for our area?

[Threemuch]

I looked in the West Marine Catalog. SSB radios are a couple grand.

If you want to be safe way off shore, run in a pack of buddies who will at least give you a ride back to the barn. Worst case, abandon the boat, it's insured.

Epirb sounds like a good idea until you do some open ocean cruising and hear the coasties call "Pon Pon" to try and get someone "in the area" to check out an Epirb distress call. I have heard them do this for over an hour before someone finally responded and said they would check it out. EPIRB malfunctions (false alarm) too often for coasties to check em all out. Get some survival suits too, if you really want to be safe. If you are way offshore and you go in, even if the coasties are sending a chopper right now, you are in trouble with no suit. Even a cheapo wetsuit would extend your life by hours.

But the best piece of saftey equipment of all is a buddy to watch your back.

KB

[Pilar]

SSB is expensive! As far as ordinary VHF goes, I get transmissions from the CG from over a hundred miles away. Boat to boat the limit is the horizon or a skip at 15 and 30 miles.

Line of sight ... 7 miles. So how is it that we hear the CG much farther away and they hear us?

Their antennas are on the hill above the beach. This extends line of sight much beyond the horizon.

You've got it Kurt. Buddies and groups of boats are the key to safety.

But that is why we are all here, right?

[Phil Layer]

This is probably a stupid question but do cell phones work as far out as the chicken ranch?

[Pilar]

Hey Moby, My Verizon service works at the Rockpile (~17 miles) but not at the Chicken Ranch.

I had to call Tradewinds charters and get the info on Chinook, size restrictions, limit, etc ...

[Serious Fun]

Thanks for the info. I do have a couple of survival suits and an inflatable rubber raft, both of which I hope I never need. My VHF radio can easily talk with the USCG at 50-60 miles in good weather, considerably less in rain or high waves. Boat to boat is 6-10 miles at best. My digital cell phone works out to about 25 miles but there is a company that sells power boosters for cell phones at www.boatantenna.com and they want about $300 for one. I don't know how well they work. Interestingly, my old analog bag phone would work for 50+ miles with clarity. Obviously a buddy boat is best but unfortunately its not always possible. The side band radios can talk to Anchorage, to Honolulu, to San Diego - they are incredible! GPS EPIRBS are supposed to cut the USCG response time from a nation wide average of nearly 4 hours to about 2 hours. I don't know what the average response time is for the Pacific Northwest. Maybe the USCG would have a better statistical analysis. I would hope it is better than 2 hours, since that is the average survival time for immersion in 50 degree water! Thanks for your help.