Adrift without an anchor, etcetera

[markpierce]

Noonish today going east along the south shore of Carquinez Strait*we noticed a tug in mid-channel ten minutes ahead had*stopped and turned north from his eastward direction.* Heard the tug call the Coast Guard saying there was a 25-foot Bayliner adrift on the north side with a person on the bow.* The boat was without an anchor and would be drifting quickly west by the 2.5+ knot*ebb current.* The CG sent a boat to assist which got there very quickly.* I doubt the boater had a radio or signaling devices or he would have used them.* Doubt we would have noticed*his dilemma as we*were quite far on the opposite side of the strait.

There was little other boating activity on the strait today during*our run from Vallejo to Martinez and return.* A few minutes ahead of the tug was another tug pushing a barge.* We only saw one other vessel, a runabout anchored with two fishermen on the south side of the strait off Ozol.* The Bayliner's captain was lucky he didn't end up in San Pablo Bay all night.

 

[rwidman]

It has always seemed odd to me that boats are required to have a set of in date flares, but not required to have a VHF radio and antenna and a suitable anchor and rode.

I've heard people say they don't need an anchor because they never anchor. My response is "What if you break down? What will keep you in a safe place?"

It seems you must have come across one of those people.

 

[Carey]

rwidman wrote:
It has always seemed odd to me that boats are required to have a set of in date flares, but not required to have a VHF radio and antenna and a suitable anchor and rode.

I've heard people say they don't need an anchor because they never anchor. My response is "What if you break down? What will keep you in a safe place?"

It seems you must have come across one of those people.

Ron

I am totally with you on all of the above. VHF first and foremost. The only means which will likely lead you to contact with vessels close by, and the anchor which will keep you off the rocks. Flares are good too, but...*

 

[Marin]

The only requirement for operating a boat in this country is having the money to buy it. There is no requirement for exhibiting any degree whatsoever of common sense, logic, or knowledge before or after the purchase price changes hands.

In my view, people deserve what happens to them, particularly when they are so clearly out to lunch. One wonders if people like this learn anything from these experiences. I suspect not.

 

[rwidman]

Marin wrote:
The only requirement for operating a boat in this country is having the money to buy it. There is no requirement for exhibiting any degree whatsoever of common sense, logic, or knowledge before or after the purchase price changes hands.

In my view, people deserve what happens to them, particularly when they are so clearly out to lunch. One wonders if people like this learn anything from these experiences. I suspect not.

But bad things don't usually happen to them.* We finance their rescue.* Drift out to sea because you didn't have enough sense to equip your boat with an anchor, VHF, etc., and millions of taxpayer dollars are spent on a search and resue.

And then, you go out again having learned nothing.

I walked by a boat at my marina a few months ago.* A bow rider from the dry stack.* The VHF antenna was laying down and broken in the middle.* The owner was cleaning up the boat so I stopped and talked to him.* I commented about the antenna and his reply was: "Oh, I don't need that, I take my cell phone with me when I go out."

I probably should have had a long talk with him, but I don't think he would have understood so I just told him to have a nice day and moved on.

*

 

[koliver]

Correct on the lack of reqmt for a radio
Not correct re Anchor and rode. Varies for size of boat, but for my >12m I need a suitable anchor and min 15m rode. Now 15m (50') is insufficient for anything beyond keeping the boat off the rocks, imho, but is requred to pass a CCGA Inspection.

 

[FF]

VHF is getting too close to being a boat CB.

We now have one . but simply monitor 16 , and still in many areas its a kiddy toy.

 

[rwidman]

koliver wrote:
Correct on the lack of reqmt for a radio
Not correct re Anchor and rode. Varies for size of boat, but for my >12m I need a suitable anchor and min 15m rode. Now 15m (50') is insufficient for anything beyond keeping the boat off the rocks, imho, but is requred to pass a CCGA Inspection.

Yes, but you seem to be in Canada.* To my knowledge, there's no such requirement in the USA.

As a safety concern, it shouldn't matter how big the boat is (other than a rowboat* on a pond).

*

 

[rwidman]

FF wrote:
VHF is getting too close to being a boat CB.

We now have one . but simply monitor 16 , and still in many areas its a kiddy toy.

In my area, SeaTow now has an automated radio check system on channel 27.* Ask for a radio check and it plays a recorded message, then plays back a recording of your request.

This is beginning to cut down the channel 16 radio check traffic.

*

 

[RickB]

rwidman wrote: To my knowledge, there's no such requirement in the USA.

*There is no federal requirement. Many States have boating laws that require an anchor and the CG will enforce State law.

 

[psneeld]

RickB wrote:rwidman wrote: To my knowledge, there's no such requirement in the USA.

*There is no federal requirement. Many States have boating laws that require an anchor and the CG will enforce State law.

*Though I have been retired a few years and 9/11 changed a few things but usually there are some*qualifiers before Coasties can enforce state law.**Historically there needs to be a specific memorandum of agreement (can't remember the specific legal term) and is usually time limited.* The usual practice is to contact state /local cops and detain you long enough so the others can enforce the state/local law.


-- Edited by psneeld on Thursday 19th of January 2012 07:54:07 AM

 

[timjet]

rwidman wrote:
*

In my area, SeaTow now has an automated radio check system on channel 27.* Ask for a radio check and it plays a recorded message, then plays back a recording of your request.

This is beginning to cut down the channel 16 radio check traffic.

*

*Ditto for the Tampa Bay area.

Remember a helm mounted VFH radio is powered by the ships battery. If those batteries are submerged due to a grounding or shaft log damage it won't work. My hand held VHF radio is close by in the ditch bag.

 

[psneeld]

timjet wrote:rwidman wrote:
*

In my area, SeaTow now has an automated radio check system on channel 27.* Ask for a radio check and it plays a recorded message, then plays back a recording of your request.

This is beginning to cut down the channel 16 radio check traffic.

*

*Ditto for the Tampa Bay area.

Remember a helm mounted VFH radio is powered by the ships battery. If those batteries are submerged due to a grounding or shaft log damage it won't work. My hand held VHF radio is close by in the ditch bag.

*Also the best setup for flying bridge boats is to mount a small battery under the bridge console separated by isolator or combiner. It acts as an emergency comms/nav battery, eliminates electronic dropping when starting motors and allows a slightly smaller 12V cable run to the bridge if some of you 12V loads are not continuous.

 

[Codger2]

timjet wrote:*My hand held VHF radio is close by in the ditch bag.

_________________________________________________

Mine is closer than that.

*

 

[rwidman]

psneeld wrote:
................ *Also the best setup for flying bridge boats is to mount a small battery under the bridge console separated by isolator or combiner. It acts as an emergency comms/nav battery, eliminates electronic dropping when starting motors and allows a slightly smaller 12V cable run to the bridge if some of you 12V loads are not continuous.

Possibly, possibly not.* My electronics are powered by my house bank so there's no issue of a voltage drop when starting.* Also, my electronics (upper and lower helm) are networked together and powering them from different sources would be "less than optimal" from an electronics standpoint.

*

 

[Moonstruck]

rwidman wrote:
Possibly, possibly not.* My electronics are powered by my house bank so there's no issue of a voltage drop when starting.

*

*Mine too.

 

[Codger2]

Moonstruck wrote:rwidman wrote:
Possibly, possibly not.* My electronics are powered by my house bank so there's no issue of a voltage drop when starting.

*

*Mine too.

X just about everyone I know!

*

 

[Marin]

Older Grand Banks boats are an exception to this. For a number of years the electrical setup on GBs was such that when a start button is pushed a big relay in the engine room connects both batteries or battery banks together as long as the start button is held down. The purpose was to ensure that maximum power was available to start the engine which was a benefit in the old days when the boats had only two batteries in them. This feature got us going on one occasion when having a dedicated start battery would have prevented an engine start. So we have elected to keep this feature even though we upgraded the boat's original battery setup a couple of years ago. As battery capacity on the boats increased GB eventually dropped the combiner relay in the start circuitry, and some owners of older GBs have changed their start systems to eliminate the relay when they increased the battery capacity of their own boats.

But with the combiner relay in place, a piece of electronics that's on can be "restarted" when an engine is started. Doesn't happen all the time and some units are more susceptible to the momentary change in power than others. So we simply leave the electronics off--- or turn them off if we've been doing some pre-departure route planning or weather checking--- when we start the engines. It's not an inconvenience since we let the engines warm up (if they're cold) for five minutes or so anyway as we remove the ground power cable, until lines, and whatnot. So we just turn the electronics on, or back on, as soon as the engines are started.

 

[psneeld]

Well a lot of you are lucky...voltage drop from undersized wire, overburdened bridge buss bars, and corrosion are often the culprits.....not undersized battery banks.* The main point too is that's it's a backup when your mains are under water or on fire.

 

[psneeld]

SeaHorse II wrote:Moonstruck wrote:rwidman wrote:
Possibly, possibly not.* My electronics are powered by my house bank so there's no issue of a voltage drop when starting.

*

*Mine too.

X just about everyone I know!

*

*When the new big energy gulping electroncs blossomed in the early 2000's...the marine electronics firm I worked for was rewiring boats as fast as we could get to them...one solution (usually the poor mans way AND the required way for commercial vessels) was an independent battery for at least the bridge radio.

 

[Tidahapah]

Scott,
It is a survey requirement here in Aus to have an independant battery for radios and it must be mounted out of the engine room and above the main deck so that it is still working much later during the sinking process.

 

[psneeld]

Tidahapah wrote:
Scott,
It is a survey requirement here in Aus to have an independant battery for radios and it must be mounted out of the engine room and above the main deck so that it is still working much later during the sinking process.

*It's a great setup if done correctly.* Like I said..on my last sportfish...I didn't feel like trying to pull*#2 battery cable to the flying bridge so I went with #6 wire and a battery.* Worked like a champ...the difference in wire cost almost paid for the battery (all some boats would need is a motorcycle battery...got a decent car battery used...had the capacity just no cranking amps left)* No more electronics dropping during starts and had an emergency source of power for safety.

 

[markpierce]

Here's a photo of the tug which called the USCG about the hapless boater mentioned in the first post.* The picture was taken near Benicia after the tug had left the boater in USCG's hands off Dillon Point.


-- Edited by markpierce on Friday 27th of January 2012 03:01:34 PM

 

[rjwilliams11741]

I boated for years the San Francisco Bay and Delta area and cannot believe that anyone would venture out in those currents without an anchor (even when I was the feared by others "Bayliner" owner). Being without an anchor to secure a powlerless and drifting boat is a scary thought.* To*be*anchorless is noting short of clueless.**

 

[markpierce]

The U.S. doesn't require anchors on recreational boats.* I wonder why.* (Not that I welcome excessive regulation.)

 

[FF]

The U.S. doesn't require anchors on recreational boats. I wonder why.

STOOPIDITY cant be wished away with any law.