Getting to Know my EPIRB

Although I haven’t had the boat out at all lately because of consistently sucky weather, it’s still occupying a lot of my thoughts and energy. Last weekend I took a two-day in-person boating course, on top of the eight-week Boat Handling course I’m currently taking via Zoom. I plan to take more classes during the winter on navigation and weather. I’ve also made a big list of projects I want to do in the off-season to outfit my boat for next year’s fun. This includes possibly adding brakes to my trailer, installing a horn, marking my anchor rope every ten feet, making my own first aid kit and tool kit, and installing various apps on my phone and navigation system. I already bought two crab pots and gear.

First in my mind though is safety. I’m going to a lot of trouble and expense to ensure safe operation. In my years as a nuclear reactor operator in the Navy, and all my former training and experience as a pilot, an uncompromising approach to safety was drilled into my head. Part of that is communications. My radio, like all marine VHF radios nowadays, has a feature called DSC. It includes a red “Distress” button on the front, under a hinged cover. If you hit that button, it automatically transmits your GPS coordinates to the authorities. For it to work, though, you have to register it and get a special code called an MMSI. My situation is more complex because I plan to take it into Canadian waters at some point. This means that I can’t use any of the various contracted agencies to get my MMSI. I have to get it from the FCC directly, who will register it internationally. To do that, I first have to get what’s called a Ship License and pay a hefty fee. It’s quite a process, which took me quite a bit of research to figure out. Fortunately I already have an FCC ID number because of my ham radio license, which saved a little time.

The DSC feature on the radio is nice, but it can only be heard for a few miles. It’s also useless if you capsize your boat. So, I also decided to spring for what’s called an EPIRB. An EPIRB is a floating, flashing radio beacon that will automatically transmit its location for at least 48 hours. Ideally, you would take it with you if you are separated from the boat and tether it to yourself. There are two kinds. A Type I floats free and deploys itself if the boat sinks. However, all Boston Whalers are literally unsinkable because they are essentially big Igloo coolers sheathed in fiberglass (you can still capsize them, though, hence the need for the EPIRB). This type isn’t ideal for a Whaler because it may never get deep enough to deploy. The Type II will never deploy as long as it’s in its holder. When manually released though, it will activate either when the user hits the red button, or if it gets wet. This is the type I got. Of course you have to register it too, this time with NOAA instead of with the FCC. This process was a little easier, and I managed to accomplish it tonight.

There’s a lot of debate online about whether to mount a Type II EPIRB somewhere on the boat, or in a floating “ditch bag”. I’ve seen some videos of center console boats capsizing in seconds, after taking a big enough wave over the stern or after getting rolled by one from the side. Is it faster to grab the “ditch bag” (which might be stored in a locker), or is it faster to free it from a mount by the helm? An advantage of the ditch bag is that you can put other stuff in it too. When I got the device I was surprised how big it was, and worried that I might not have a good place to mount it on my small boat. However, I did manage to find the perfect place, just to the right of the helm and by the antenna mount which is already sticking out anyway. I’ll put it there if I decide to hard mount it. They tell you to put it far away from the magnetic compass, but I have little choice about that.

As you can see, nowadays even simple boats like mine have rather complex electronics. And I haven’t even talked about the navigation system yet. I’m learning a lot though, which makes it fun.