When to activate your EPIRB

[ozscott]

I just hope that SatNav's posts dont put people off using their EPIRB's when genuinely out of their depth - engine dead or out of fuel, nobody around, radio not responding (out of range, dead etc), battery dead, and they are worried about their life - there may be no immediate threat, but they are concerned about a threat that might reasonably eventuate - eg drifting into a shipping lane without lights or radio, where the flare have already been set off etc to no avail.

Preserving life is of far higher importance than being worried about compliance with a particular regulation or keyboard jockey's interpretation of same; after all EPIRB's are for saving life. I have a view that if activated when using common sense and when the person is genuinely worried about danger to life/lives you cannot go too far wrong.

Cheers

[jtpython]

Common Sense if u are floating in the ocean all other options has been extinguished activate ur safety EPIRB
Its a safety device we use it no go " Oh no should I shouldn't I" If there's a massive bitey critter waiting for me in the water I want to get the Booney out of there

Always been in the Coast Guard always will be awesome job all our Emergency services and Volinteers do
And buggar Fueling Gumbies like SatNav goodluck to u buddy im going fishing

[Back In Black]

Now I am just getting confused. One says go HF, another says don't.

Sat phone is OK but no good for receiving warnings etc

You other fishos who do the Hards , DI wide & beyond, do you get radio reception??

If so, what do you use??

Thanks,

Tony

[Muddy Toes]

Tony, I've got an Icom M604 vhf paired to a ZCG Scalar CM 156 aerial.

Not sure of the exact distances I get but a quick Google earth cruise should tell you.....

My house is 10m above sea level at Redland Bay and I can hear the Seaway tower very clear and Point Danger well enough from my backyard.

I can clearly talk to Bundaberg VMR from Fitzroy lagoon when the repeater plays the game.
I can talk to Mooloolaba from the southern bay most days.

My aerial is a 2.2m whip and mounted on my hardtop which itself is a tad over 3 m above water line and obviously these scenarios above are under ideal conditions.

By the way......I'm picking up my new sat phone on the weekend. Woo Hoo!!

[Jarrah Jack]

Has anyone ever tried a pigeon? If it doesn't work you could always eat it.

Just saying like....

[cobiaman]

2. I wonder if SATNAV works for iridium...

[jtpython]

We could always strap a note to angie pangie 's leg and send her home Terry
Off note
This 1 time years ago..................... I was talking to Smithy from Yeppoon on the marine radio he was at the Sunny Coast by memory

This 1 time of course

[lethal098]

Tony,

Go the Sat phone, simple and easy

[Apollo]

We could always strap a note to angie pangie 's leg and send her home Terry
Off note
This 1 time years ago..................... I was talking to Smithy from Yeppoon on the marine radio he was at the Sunny Coast by memory

This 1 time of course

There was one time at band camp .......

I wouldn't hesitate if adrift offshore, night approaching and no radio response. I would be happy to be in a nice safe courtroom arguing the point rather than being sharkbait. Its the same with mayday. If one of my family was in grave medicL danver I would mayday...when really that should be a securetay....

Cheers

Know a good lawyer do you???

I am the same as you, I will do all that is reasonably possible to prevent the situation in the first place, but if caught out, I will have no hesitation in using what means I have to get out of it and if that ends up finally being to hit the EPIRB button, then that is what I will do and I won't be thinking about SatNav's typings when I am about to do it or awaiting a rescue.

I have had to do a pan pan once with a yacht I was delivering was taking water from an unknown source. Didn't blink twice at doing it and believe it was appropriate at the time and the coastguard never questioned it as we would have gone down in 10mins had we not found the issue (electrolysis related split).

[Moonlighter]

Those of us that work in Government know that the reality is that the only time you are going to get a ticket, or taken to court for inappropriately firing off your EPIRB is if it is under clearly ridiculous and inappropriate circumstances i.e. where it prompts an unnecessary SAR effort.

It is just not worth the effort to prosecute someone for this type of thing unless the case is pretty cut and dry, the act caused or would have caused unecessary and unreasonable expenses for SAR teams, and a conviction is therefore almost certain, with costs awarded against the perpetrator.

The courts will apply the "reasonable person" test - they will ask: "what would the average, reasonable person have done in the same circumstances?"

"You say your Radio failed? And out of mobile reception zone? Night approaching and few other vessels in vicinity? Unable to get weather forecast? Engine in pieces? You waited some time and then you set off your EPIRB? All OK."

As will plenty of other situations be.

What we have learnt from this case is that the authorities regard the act of setting off your EPIRB as clearly reasonable in circumstances where doing so would potentially save SAR time, effort and expenses. We now have an clearer understanding of what they want us to do. Good.

Enough said.

[RayLamp]

Gee yamaha's are good...

[ozscott]

Nice Avatar photo...where did you find the fish?

Cheers

[RayLamp]

lol which one!

[jtpython]

This one time at ............ Band camp I used my Flute as an Ariel

Yammies are Poo Just saying

[Boat Hog]

I reckon SatNav works the night shift in the AMSA Control Room and doesn't want to get woken up by an EPIRB going off ....