re: Missing Boaters - Port Canaveral, FL

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To reach a port we must sail, sometimes with the wind, and sometimes against it. But we must not drift or lie at anchor.

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I can’t imagine what it’s like to be in this situation and having to face the realization that you will never see your loved one(s) again... the uncertainty of not knowing what really happened would absolutely kill me

I guess the only reason would be that SAR is very resource intensive. My counter to that is that USCG is a government service, taxpayer funded, and it's part of their job.

I prefer to chose my own risks

Yea but its potentially very dangerous depending on the conditions and I kinda get the argument for needing an eprib and dsc radio.

I don't think there needs to be a law on it, just more awareness that those things exist. I had no idea there was such a thing as EPRIB/PLBs until last year. Didnt know DSC radios were a thing until two years ago. I thought a regular VHF and a functioning GPS to relay your position to anybody who was listening was the best you could do without paying for a sat phone.

The safety equipment that's available is incredible these days. None of it will fly you out of there but along with picking your days it gives you a much better chance.

Sounds like these guys just picked a bad day.

I would be curious to know how many people die or are lost offshore like this. The last one I remember were those 2 kids and it was 2015.

The chances of this happening have to be extremely are.

Supposedly all radios come with DSC now, and almost no one registers them. Mine has an external GPS as well. All you have to do is press a button, and your info gets out.

I don't ever plan on going offshore, but will probably get a PLB soon, and maybe some Type 1's for when I'm going to be crossing Lake P. Long-term, an extra couple hundred bucks isn't gonna make your kids go hungry. You being dead will

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Supposedly all radios come with DSC now, and almost no one registers them. Mine has an external GPS as well. All you have to do is press a button, and your info gets out.

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Yeah, but that only gets out if someone is in range to recieve your vhf transmission. Which isn't really that far considering the size of the gulf/ocean. Not to mention if the nature of your emergency is loss of power, you may not even be able to power up your VHF.

There is no legitamate excuse to not have an EPIRB/PLB if your offshore.

Outside of an outlier event or extreme circumstances, an EPIRB/PLB transmission will always be recieved.

Cheaper than a load of fuel or two for anybody who fishes offshore. Make two less trips this year and buy that.

There isnt any excuse and sitting behind our keyboards we know that, but it's tough logic for a coonass to swallow. I've spend much more than that on dumb shite this year but we dont think that way. Im sure we've all pointed the boat at a purple cloud and said frick it and went anyway at some point and got away with it.

Of course, going offshore on an iffy day without any electronics is probably still significantly safer than driving back and forth to work. We're all playing the life lottery every day and these guys just drew the short straw that day.

no doubt

also, just to add more info, here's how the beacon works. after you buy it, you register it with NOAA and SARSAT. the instructions to do that come with the beacon. each beacon has a unique ID number, which will be tied to your registration. registration is free and is good for 2 years. you'll get a reminder email when its time to renew.

when the beacon is activated, SAR will instantly have the following info:

LAT/LON on the location of the beacon
your name, address, emergency contact info and the make/model/color of your boat

there is a safe-mode test you can periodically perform to make sure it is working.

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no doubt

also, just to add more info, here's how the beacon works. after you buy it, you register it with NOAA and SARSAT. the instructions to do that come with the beacon. each beacon has a unique ID number, which will be tied to your registration. registration is free and is good for 2 years. you'll get a reminder email when its time to renew.

when the beacon is activated, SAR will instantly have the following info:

LAT/LON on the location of the beacon
your name, address, emergency contact info and the make/model/color of your boat

there is a safe-mode test you can periodically perform to make sure it is working.

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For a $400 product, i'd probably have 2 of them on the boat if i had a 150-200k offshore rig and spent a thousand dollars everytime i took her out for a spin.