Marine Radio

[AZBoatDreamer]

Should I get a Marine Radio for Emergencies? Do most lakes have facilities that monitors the vhf Channels? I boat in Arizona by the way.

What do you recommend, Hand Held or Dash Mount.

Pardon me if this has been discussed before.

 

[rbh]

Re: Marine Radio

Vhf radio channels should be monitored by the coast gaurd.

 

[AZBoatDreamer]

Re: Marine Radio

By marine radio, do you mean VHF?????

Yes VHF. Is that what is being used at the Lakes.

 

[rbh]

Re: Marine Radio

YUP, sorry fingers worked before the brain this morning.
If the coast guard is not around to hear you, at least other boaters should.

 

[AZBoatDreamer]

Re: Marine Radio

Looking for recommendations of what to buy.

Thanks for the reply.

 

[TBarCYa]

Re: Marine Radio

I have a VHF mounted in the boat because VHF range is line-of-sight and the taller antenna gives better range. With that being said, I was reading about a missing boat where they reported to the coast guard that they were abandoning ship but didn't have a handheld radio so once the boat went under, so did their communication. I'm thinking I might get a handheld just in case.

 

[AZBoatDreamer]

Re: Marine Radio

Thanks for the Replies. I'm guessing most of the lakes if not all do not have Coast Guard Help in AZ. Anyway atleast if I have a VHF radio I can call up other boaters for assistance.

I feel its just another tool for the What if preparations.

 

[oldjeep]

Re: Marine Radio

In general inland lake boaters are better off with a cell phone. There is no coast guard and most inland lake boats do not have any sort of Marine radio.

 

[AZBoatDreamer]

Re: Marine Radio

In general inland lake boaters are better off with a cell phone. There is no coast guard and most inland lake boats do not have any sort of Marine radio.

So I'm wasting Money on a Marine Radio.

Cell Phones do not work on most but only a few lakes in AZ. From my Experience.

 

[oldjeep]

Re: Marine Radio

So I'm wasting Money on a Marine Radio.

Cell Phones do not work on most but only a few lakes in AZ. From my Experience.

In that case you might want some sort of radio, or a better cell phone - call your local water patrol and see what they use. My cell works on every lake around here and you would just call the sherriff/water patrol if you have any issues. Never seen a Marine radio on a small boat around here.

 

[Home Cookin']

Re: Marine Radio

ask others who use your lake; I suspect as others said, no one will hear you.

Hand-helds are only good for a couple of miles anyway, but yes, to have a submersible one when you jump overboard is a good thing.

Cell phones are too fragile to rely on for safety but should be carried anyway, but ONLY IF kept in a watertight carrier, even a ziplock and in your pocket.

Far more important is a waterproof light, even a small Mag light. There are a lot of good strobe/whistles available. SAR can see even a tiny light from two miles up. I know of a couple of instances where a mag light could have saved lives.
Next to the light, you want a good whistle, no matter how loud you think you can yell. You can't when you're exhausted and a whistle carries, and alerts people. it should be attached to your PFD which should be attached to you.

I've seen boats sink. There is no time to grab anything that is not within immediate reach, and that's in a gentle sinking. After a collision, it's whatever you have securely secured to your person.

Stay with your boat.

 

[badkins50]

Re: Marine Radio

I have a ship to shore, cell phone, towboutus (one touch) application on my droid thats alerts them I need assistance and gives them my GPS cordinates.

 

[oldjeep]

Re: Marine Radio

Cell phones are too fragile to rely on for safety but should be carried anyway, but ONLY IF kept in a watertight carrier, even a ziplock and in your pocket.

Meh, sounds like you need a real phone Carry one of these and you won't ahve to worry about it - although you might want to attach a floaty to it Even I havn't been able to break it http://www.sonimtech.com/

 

[Tahorover]

Re: Marine Radio

When calling for help in emergencies your exact location will be very helpful to responding parties, GPS is worth it's weight in gold.

 

[AZBoatDreamer]

Re: Marine Radio

I have a Portable GPS in for My car. I'm covered there. My Iphone with AT&T Services doesn't have service at most lakes. I have a blow horn on board the Boat.
I'm thinking at my lakes a VHF Radio might be a waste.

 

[hostage]

Re: Marine Radio

Keep in mind that the range of a radio relies on the other radio as well. You can get a much longer range out of your handheld, if there the coast guard has a tower in range of you. I don't ever recall seeing anyone use a handheld on the lakes in Texas where I use to boat as a child. Though I do carry a waterproof VHF radio since I do boat in deeper larger lakes including lake ontario.

 

[shrew]

Re: Marine Radio

It really depends on the size of the body of water. Many, many inland lakes are large and towns have their own Marine Patrol. They also monitor VHF channel 16. a small lake or pond in the middle of nowhere, probably does not. We can't say that 'nobody' listens to VHF on inland lakes and rivers, as that is simply not true. Lake Winnipesaukee (NH) boaters use VHF and the channels are monitored by various agencies around the lake. Just because the lake that a poster happens to visit doesn't use VHF, doesn't mean they all don't.

 

[Navigator_Victory]

Re: Marine Radio

+1 for asking around......I am sure some of the big boys at my local lake have the radios but, I am also sure they never turn them on.....unless they are talking to each other.....a flare or a bright orange flag are good for getting attention

 

[rrhodes]

Re: Marine Radio

I carry a handheld floating VHF and the Coast Guard Auxiliary, Power squadron, boatUS and Sea Tow all monitor on our lake.

 

[LippCJ7]

Re: Marine Radio

AZ, the shore patrol/park rangers in AZ do use VHF marine radios and will be coming online with the new technology to utilize MMSI, it cannot hurt your situation to have a fixed mount Marine radio with MMSI(I believe you can't purchase a new VHF Marine radio in the US without MMSI now), your ahead of the game here but I would look at it as another safety blanket. The only way to Communicate nearly 100% of the time is to have a Satellite Cell phone but that can be expensive, I have one but I only use it at Powell and hunting, its only expensive if you use it, other then the purchase of the phone. Remember, the USCG certifies all land locked and ocean going safety personnel in the US, they are the standard in Marine safety nationwide, so it would be careless to say that their recommendations are useless. Having a cell phone and GPS are just another safety blanket, nothing wrong with it at all, its your neck your preparing to save, possibly your wife and kids also.