More Food for Thought:

Small Boat Safety Offshore - Part II

In our last issue, we covered some initial points about offshore safety in small boats. Part 2 covers more critical topics.

Remember, this article is NOT a general safety article. It discusses issues we found important or unique to small boats offshore, and how we made the decisions for Toy Boat 2. For additional background reading, check out some of the articles mentioned in our sidebar article.

If you have any additions or corrections, please feel free to email us, or post something on our discussion forums.

This was probably the biggest area of concern for us when we started going offshore. We were pretty confident (but hopefully not arrogant) about our ability to handle the boat, and in TB2's basic seaworthiness. But what about being hit by someone else? What if the motor breaks and we can't reach anyone for help? How would we be found?

Obviously, "seeing" and "being seen" are essential to avoiding a collision. During the day, with good visibility - no problem. Skiffs are so maneuverable that as long as the skiff's operator can see a hazard, he/she can take action to avoid a collision. But what about at night, or in heavy fog?

Under these conditions, our biggest fear is getting run down by another boat. A skiff is extremely vulnerable. Reduced visibility cancels out most of a skiff's maneuverability advantage. Since skiffs are small and sit low in the water, they are difficult to spot, and because they are often made of fiberglass or wood, they don't show up well on radar. 

We don't have any good solutions to the "seeing" part of the equation yet. Night vision googles might improve night vision, but are limited in range, and we're still researching usefulness in fog. Small-boat radar would probably be the best overall choice, but we're still trying to figure out how to add it to TB2. So stay tuned on this topic.

In the meantime, we've decided to partially address the "being seen" part of the situation by adding an Echomax radar reflector to the boat. Radar reflectors are devices that are designed to increase a vessel's radar cross-section. They are typically attached to a high point on the boat, and make any vessel show up more clearly on radar. 

Until recently, radar reflectors were bulky and difficult to stow. However, Echomax , a UK-based company, recently released an inflatible radar reflector. This unit is equivalent in effectiveness to their standard reflector when inflated, but can collapse down into a package about the size of a small 3-ring binder when deflated . This should prove to be a valuable addition to our safety gear. 

Now let's move on to emergency situations. It is extremely difficult to spot a recreational vessel or a person in the water from any distance, even if you are in an aircraft. The Coast Guard required visual distress signals (VDS) are generally considered to be minimal when working offshore. The preferred choice are SOLAS-certified VDS.

SOLAS stands for"Safety Of Life At Sea", and is an international agreement on standards for open-ocean safety equipment. SOLAS specifies standards for visual distress signals that are much tougher than those required by the USCG. This includes brightness, duration, and in the case of meteor or parachute flares, higher peak altitudes. 

SOLAS flares and smoke signals are clearly superior offshore to the equivalent items required under USCG regulations. However, they are also quite a bit more expensive.

On Toy Boat 2, our entire USCG coastal flare kit cost roughly $65.00. The equivalent SOLAS kit would cost approximately $290 , and would still have to be replaced every 42 months.

As a result, we've chosen to stick with USCG visual distress signals. This is a calculated risk on our part.   Since we are fishing near shipping lanes, are usually within radio contact range of other vessels, and we have an EPIRB (see below), we feel the risk is low.

We always refresh our flares at the required intervals, but we also keep the expired flares from previous years in a separate bag.  As several sources have noted, 9+ times out of 10 expired flares will ignite and burn per spec. Might as well keep them on hand as extras. The expired flares will NOT count towards the required VDS count, but it couldn't hurt to have them around, as long as they aren't confused with the non-expired VDS.

By the way, another useful emergency signalling device is the plain old signal mirror. As mentioned in "View from the Helm", it surprises us that not everyone carries a signal mirror in their boat. It takes up almost no room, does not expire like a flare, and is a very effective tool on sunny days. Why would you not want one as a backup for flares or other incendiary VDS?

 

The other part of our nightmare is to be in trouble, and not be able to contact anyone for help. Here are some of the things we saw as potential problems, and what we decided to do to reduce the risk. We've also included some information on other ways to communicate while offshore: 

courtesy Shakespeare Marine

VHF radio: Our VHF radio would be the primary means of contacting someone for help. Obvious issues would be a broken radio or antenna, or a dead battery. Some offshore fishermen carry a spare 25 watt radio, and a second regular antenna. However, in a skiff, there just isn't room. What are some other options? We decided to try a Shakespeare 5911 Stowaway antenna (which is only 10" long) as our backup antenna, and a 5-watt handheld VHF (Apelco 510, no longer made) as our backup radio. Here's the logic: VHF transmissions are line-of-sight. As a result, antenna height contributes more to range than any other factor, including transmission power.  If the antenna malfunctions, the Stowaway would be strapped to the defunct antenna shaft or a gaff handle to get more height. If the main radio malfunctions, the handheld's rubber stub antenna could be removed and the handheld connected to whichever antenna was working.

Here in Southern California, the US Coast Guard locates their antennas well above the waterline - several hundred feet in most cases. Under these circumstances they can hear and talk over a very wide area, even if the vessel's radio is weak, and their antenna is not very high off the water.

• Digital Selective Calling (DSC):
  If you are not familiar with DSC, consult one of the articles mentioned in the sidebar, or check out the West Marine Advisor. DSC technology is required on all new VHF radios, and we strongly urge you to register your vessel, and receive a Maritime Mobile Service ID (MMSID) for use with DSC. 
  
  In the past, DSC seemed like a waste of time in the US. The Coast Guard in most areas did not monitor DSC, and none of the towing companies did either. So why should you care now?
  
  
  • The monitoring situation is changing. The USCG monitoring network for DSC is scheduled to come on-line in 2006. While the USCG has stated that they will continue to monitor Channel 16 for the foreseeable future,  DSC will become the primary way to hail the Coast Guard and towing services for assistance.
    
    Commercial vessels over 300 tons are already required to monitor channel 70 (the DSC hailing channel), and other vessels with DSC-capable radios will pick up your DSC distress call as well. 
    
    
  • DSC is a good way to get priority hailing and transmit your coordinates in the event of an emergency. DSC hailing is not subject to traffic congestion on channel 70, and if you have your radio connected to a GPS, your position will be relayed to other DSC radios.  
    
    
  • Once started, emergency hailing using DSC continues without additional operator intervention until another DSC radio is contacted. This relieves the operator from having to repeatedly send out a Mayday call.
    
    
  • Besides the emergency communications benefits, DSC can be a neat way to contact people. Using DSC relieves you of having to manually hail someone, and as mentioned earlier, is not subject to congestion problems  A few GPS units, such as those from Standard Horizon, if connected to a DSC radio, will plot the position of someone hailing you via DSC.
    
    
• Cell Phones:
  For the most part, cell phones are not that useful offshore - especially the digital technologies, which are limited to a couple of miles from a transmitter tower. In addition, the US Coast Guard has no way to home in on cell phone transmissions, like they can with VHF. 
  
  However, even with these limitations, we take our tri-mode cell phone out with us all the time anyway. Keep in mind that analog cell phones often have much greater range than digital technology phones. We've used analog cell phones as far as 11 miles offshore to place calls.
  
  This is one reason why we paid extra for a tri-mode cell phone. It runs in digital mode when it can, otherwise it switches to analog mode. So if the radio is not working and you're close enough to land, you might be able to get a call out to the Coast Guard or a towing company, and if you have a GPS, you can give them your coordinates.
  
  Actually, you may not need a GPS to give them your location. Many cell phones now have built-in GPS receivers. The GPS capabilities were added to help 911 dispatchers locate cell phone callers, and there have been at least a couple of cases on the East Coast where near-shore boaters in trouble called 911 on their cell phones, and were located using the GPS feature. Our little tri-mode LG phone has this capability - we weren't even aware of the feature when we bought it. On the other hand, we're not sure if GPS coordinates are transmitted when the phone is in analog mode...we'll check into this and let you know.
  

• Portable satellite phones:
  Other than cost, these seem like the right type of technology for offshore skiffs. Effectively unlimited range, relatively small form factor (large cell phone, other than the cigar-sized antenna), low power requirements.
  
  Iridium 9505a
  While they can't be tracked with radio direction finders, you can always call and leave coordinates as we described above.   
  
  Leaders in the field are Iridium and Globalstar. Wading through the various technical specs for each system is difficult, however, a 2002 independent study by Frost and Sullivan ( commissioned by Globalstar) concluded that Globalstar's service in the continental US was superior in all tested categories: call quality under varying conditions, successful connections, dropped calls, and data speed.
  
  Marine coverage was not tested, but the companies' coverage maps indicate that Globalstar's coverage has limitations offshore, with major holes on the high seas. However, coastal coverage is good (West Marine's Advisor reports a 200 mile range off the US coasts). Iridium's coverage is essentially worldwide.
  
  
  
  Globalstar GSP 1600
  Hardware costs were very different as well, with Globalstar again having an edge. Their GSP 1600 portable phone costs approximately $600, and can also serve as a tri-mode cell phone, while Iridium's 9505a phone starts around $1,200 and can only be used for satellite calls. However, based on the published specs, it appears that the 9505a is more weather-resistant than the GSP 1600.
  
  Airtime charges are in the dollar-per-minute range for both companies, so you don't want to chit-chat on one of these babies . Prices and plans vary, but for comparison purposes, here are the lowest level plans that include voicemail and some number of prepaid minutes from each vendor:
  
  

  As of Oct. 27, 2005	Globalstar	Iridium
  Plan Name	Freedom 150	Standard
  Included minutes	150	20
  Activation fee	$50	$50
  Monthly charge	$65	$62.95
  Charge for aditional minutes	$0.99	$1.39
  Long-term contract required	No	No
  Additional info	If you want to use the phone as a cell phone, you must add cellular service yourself at additional cost.

  
  Both companies have retailers who offer rental phones, and calling-card programs are also available.
  
  
• Single Side Band (SSB), Inmarsat Radio:
  Global in range, SSB and the various Inmarsat offerings (Inmarsat is a private satellite radio company) are usually not an option on skiffs due to power and antenna requirements, and cost. SSB has strict operator training and licensing requirements as well. SSB / Inmarsat radio setups are also very expensive (over $1,500). In our opinion, portable satellite phones are a better choice.

Assume we're in trouble - the motor's out, the weather's bad, the radio is down (or we're out of range), and we forgot to charge the satellite phone. Is there anything else we can do?

• First, toss out the sea anchor. As mentioned in our last issue, sea anchors are an important safety tool if you lose power. They slow down your drift, and if tied off correctly, they will swing the boat bow-into the wind, which is the safest orientation in most cases.
  
  
• The second thing we'd do is turn on our Emergency Position Indicator Beacon (EPIRB). EPIRBs use a network of low-earth orbit satellites to relay emergency assistance requests from anywhere in the world. The satellites are also used to give rescuers the location of the EPIRB to within a 2 nautical mile radius.
  
  ACR Satellite2
  406 EPIRB
  If the EPIRB has a built-in GPS or a GPS interface, the unit's position from the GPS will be transmitted with the distress call, providing even better position information. They start automatically when released and immersed, have a built-in strobe, and run for up to 48 hours.
  
  We won't go into the underlying technology, as there are lots of sources of data on this topic Just remember that you want a Category I or II 406 mHz EPIRB. Get one with a built-in GPS or a GPS interface if you can afford it.
  
  EPIRB prices have dropped somewhat from when we purchased our ACR Satellite2 406, but still remain around $800 - $1,000. They also have to be serviced periodically, and must be registered with the FCC.
  
  There are a couple of different options for deployment. We have a manual (Category II) release mount on the side of Toy Boat 2's console, as we could not find a place for the larger automatic (Category I) release mount. Another option is to keep the EPIRB in the ditch bag. There is one problem with this approach - you have to be careful not to get the unit wet. EPIRBs activate when they get wet, unless they are secured in their mount.
  
  Is an EPRIB worth $1,000? In our opinion, "YES". It is the only practical means for skiffs to make distress calls and send their location regardless of distance from the coast. 

An alternative to a full-size EPIRB is a Personal Locator Beacon (PLB).A PLB is similar to an EPIRB, but has approximately half the battery life (24 versus 48 hours at -40 degrees F), does not have a built-in strobe, does not have to float, and must be manually activated. On the other hand, they are considerably cheaper (approximately $500 - 600), and much smaller. Because of their small size, they can be worn on a life vest.

If we did not already have a full-size EPIRB, we would get one of these units, and keep it clipped to our SOSpenders life vest (which we wear all the time).

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