On Mon, 31 Aug 2009 09:06:51 -0400, Tom Francis - SWSports
wrote:

Maybe but I doubt it. Most of the smuggling is back towards south
Florida and is done in stolen high speed boats, typically fast center
consoles.

Hmmmm - I have a fast center console. :)

Yes. I'd keep it well locked, especially if you bring it to FL.

On Sun, 30 Aug 2009 21:10:20 -0500, Vic Smith
wrote:

On Sun, 30 Aug 2009 15:36:34 -0400, Wayne.B
wrote:

On Sun, 30 Aug 2009 13:55:38 -0500, Vic Smith

Those 3 guys sitting on an upturned hull in the Gulf for a week does
NOT inspire in me much confidence in the CG.
Best not count on them, which is why personal preparation is so
important.
Not taking anything away from the CG, of course.
They can't be perfect.

That's not true at all - I don't know where you found that, but most
of it's bull****.

EPIRB signals initiate an immediate response - I know that for a fact
because I accidentaly set one off when I had my first Contender. The
CG will put out a call on 16 with Lat/Lon and ask any near by boats to
respond if able to do so - at least they do it in LIS and neighboring
waters. I was pretty freakin' embarrassed about the whole thing.

As it happened to me, they had a Falcon jet at New London, scrambled
that and they found me exactly where the EPIRB said I was - five miles
East of SW Ledge off Block Island.

The problem with air searches where there are no corresponding data
sets to work off of is that you have to cover a lot of terroritory at
low level against differing light conditions and you don't know what
you are looking for. Ever try to spot something from 700 feet, black
against the surface of the water? It's tough. It's hard on land. How
the hell do you miss four fire trucks, two ambulances in the middle of
a hay field? I've seen that happen first hand. I've been on SARs in
the air looking for lost hikers in the open desert and missed the
signals and signs. It sounds easy - it ain't.

These guys took a chance without having proper equipment or signaling
devices that they could get to quickly in case of emergency. It's not
the Coasties fault that these guys were morons.

On Aug 31, 11:09*am, Tom Francis - SWSports

EPIRB signals initiate an immediate response - I know that for a fact
because I accidentaly set one off when I had my first Contender. The
CG will put out a call on 16 with Lat/Lon and ask any near by boats to
respond if able to do so - at least they do it in LIS and neighboring
waters. *I was pretty freakin' embarrassed about the whole thing.

As it happened to me, they had a Falcon jet at New London, scrambled
that and they found me exactly where the EPIRB said I was - five miles
East of SW Ledge off Block Island.

The problem with air searches where there are no corresponding data
sets to work off of is that you have to cover a lot of terroritory at
low level against differing light conditions and you don't know what
you are looking for. Ever try to spot something from 700 feet, black
against the surface of the water? *It's tough. *It's hard on land. How
the hell do you miss four fire trucks, two ambulances in the middle of
a hay field? *I've seen that happen first hand. I've been on SARs in
the air looking for lost hikers in the open desert and missed the
signals and signs. It sounds easy - it ain't.

These guys took a chance without having proper equipment or signaling
devices that they could get to quickly in case of emergency. It's not
the Coasties fault that these guys were morons.

well said and exactly right. the CG works with a computer assisted
search pattern (CASP) that enables them to maintain pretty tight
control over a search. but the chances of finding an overturned boat
are pretty small on the open ocean. and the boat may have drifted
out of the search area due to wind and current conditions.

On Mon, 31 Aug 2009 11:09:48 -0400, Tom Francis - SWSports
wrote:

On Sun, 30 Aug 2009 21:10:20 -0500, Vic Smith
wrote:

On Sun, 30 Aug 2009 15:36:34 -0400, Wayne.B
wrote:

On Sun, 30 Aug 2009 13:55:38 -0500, Vic Smith

Those 3 guys sitting on an upturned hull in the Gulf for a week does
NOT inspire in me much confidence in the CG.
Best not count on them, which is why personal preparation is so
important.
Not taking anything away from the CG, of course.
They can't be perfect.

That's not true at all - I don't know where you found that, but most
of it's bull****.

The quote with link I posted certainly was, as others have pointed
out, but there's no question that the CG isn't perfect.
That was my point in the beginning.
I've seen air photos of the eventual rescue now, and the white hull
stood out well in the flat blue sea.
I think the search pattern was wrong, or not enough resources were put
on this one.
Would have been a shame if that hull got to Clearwater Beach with
3 dried up bodies stuck to it.
Despite the lack of comm/signal gear in the boat, the CG got an early
start and last known position report of the boat.
I expect the CG is kicking itself in the ass, and working to find what
could have worked better.
There will be some fallout about missing these guys.

These guys took a chance without having proper equipment or signaling
devices that they could get to quickly in case of emergency. It's not
the Coasties fault that these guys were morons.

Agree. I like to look for gotchas, sometimes to the point of being
accused of being anal, but hey, it served me well in my profession.
For those interested in EPIRB/PLB signals, the Lady Mary incident
might be instructive.
http://www.thebassbarn.com/forum/sho....php?p=1952251

That's a forum, and I can't vouch for anything and I haven't dug in
much, but even with EPIRBs/PLBs there are gotchas that should be
analysed - if you're anal about that of course (-:
Seems safety gear is a good target for being anal about.
Did you EPIRB/PLB owners get the notice referred to here?

"July 17, 2009
Boaters urged to check beacon numbers

By WAYNE PARRY
Associated Press
Citing delays in identifying a scallop boat as it sank in the Atlantic
Ocean in March, the federal government is contacting nearly a quarter
of a million boaters, urging them to make sure their emergency
position locators are correctly registered in a rescue database.
The Coast Guard says an incorrectly recorded beacon number from the
Lady Mary delayed notification of rescue personnel as the boat
foundered off Cape May. Six of the seven crew members died.
As a result, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration is
mailing and e-mailing all registered owners of the emergency beacons
across the country.
"I'm glad to see they are doing this; hopefully it will prevent a
similar delay in search and rescue operations in the future," said
Stevenson Weeks, the lawyer for the Lady Mary's owner."

--Vic

On Mon, 31 Aug 2009 16:21:12 -0500, Vic Smith
wrote:

Did you EPIRB/PLB owners get the notice referred to here?

I get a similar notice every two years requesting that I check the
EPIRB number against their records, recertify primary and secondary
contact information, sign and return the form. I've had my EPIRB
over 5 years and that has been the procedure all along.

On Mon, 31 Aug 2009 18:32:12 -0400, Wayne.B
wrote:

On Mon, 31 Aug 2009 16:21:12 -0500, Vic Smith
wrote:

Did you EPIRB/PLB owners get the notice referred to here?

I get a similar notice every two years requesting that I check the
EPIRB number against their records, recertify primary and secondary
contact information, sign and return the form. I've had my EPIRB
over 5 years and that has been the procedure all along.

So do I. As does everybody who has an EPIRB.

The problem, as always, is that it's somebody else's fault if you
don't do what you are supposed to do.

On Mon, 31 Aug 2009 18:32:12 -0400, Wayne.B
wrote:

On Mon, 31 Aug 2009 16:21:12 -0500, Vic Smith
wrote:

Did you EPIRB/PLB owners get the notice referred to here?

I get a similar notice every two years requesting that I check the
EPIRB number against their records, recertify primary and secondary
contact information, sign and return the form. I've had my EPIRB
over 5 years and that has been the procedure all along.

Here's a good EPIRB doc. Might be a bit dry for some, but I found it
interesting.

http://www.wpi.edu/Pubs/E-project/Av..._EPIRB_Use.pdf

--Vic