In a message dated 12/1/98 8:53:35 PM Eastern Standard Time, sullivaned_at_pop.mts.kpnw.org writes: <<In Barkley Sound in October I started thinking a VHF might be a nice thing to have, as there was nobody around to see my aerial flares. My ham buddy tells me VHF is line-of-sight range. I'm not sure I could have raised the Coasties in Tofino if I'd needed to. There were occasional fishing boats around, but had it been truly nasty, they probably would have bolted. I know it's a hail mary kinda gadget, but do I have a good chance of getting heard when my Caribou has burned down to the waterline? Assuming I'm out there. >> Dunno your geography, where Barkley Sound or Tofino are, or why you're burning caribou before John Winters can make lunch, but you bring up an interesting issue: if you can get only line of sight radio contact with a VHF --- and if you're on or <in> the water with a kayak, you're probably not talking much more than seven to 10 miles on a good day, depending on the height of the receiving antenna --- what's the backup? EPIRBs might be the answer. You can get a basic 121 MHz EPIRB for $200. It won't send your pedigree and blood type to the world SAR control center like an $800 406 MHz unit will do, but it will get the message into the Coasties that there's somebody out there with a problem, and, depending on how many satellites get a good hit from your transmitter and how well they ident your position, you could have help pretty quickly. I don't want to set off another you-shouldn't-be-out-there-in-October-anyway discussion, but if you are going to be kayaking in remote areas, there are some good backups to VHF should you wind up in need of assistance. Jack Martin *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List Submissions: paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net Subscriptions: paddlewise-request_at_lists.intelenet.net Website: http://www.gasp-seakayak.net/paddlewise/ ***************************************************************************
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