Re: [Paddlewise] Boosting handheld VHF range

>   Last I heard, the cellular will cover the entire Chesapeake Bay area.

Years back, we chartered a 40' sailboat with a set of friends. 
Chartered boats always offered us a series of surprises (challenges). 
In this boat, we found, that the electrical system suffered a failure
when we tried starting the engines after a night of being anchored up a
fairly narrow river, the Southern branch of the Wye River in Maryland
just off of the Chesapeake. We thought, no problem... we're a sail boat,
we don't need any stinking engines to get us back to home port. We set
sail and tacked our way down the Wye out to it's mouth.  All went well
despite our not having a depth gauge.  Anyone who sails the bay knows
that this is a handy thing to have in such a boat as ours given all the
shoaling that exists.  We had kept our upwind legs short and centered in
the river.  Just as we saw open water in the distance, we ran aground
abruptly and were forced to wait for high tide to free us.  

Unfortunately, high tide did not occur until after dark and our contract
with the Charter agency restricted us to sailing only during the day. 
With no lights and our home port across the bay, we decided that abiding
by the terms of the contract was a smart move.

Given that we had no power and that the next day was a work day for a
job that I had just taken, I needed to contact the boss to tell him I
was stranded and would not make it in for work.  Our VHF was dead due to
the electrical failure, so I broke out the windsurfer and sailed over to
a neighboring anchored boat and asked if I could use their radio.  The
couple onboard stated that their radio was broken but they had brought
along their cell phone and that I was welcome to use it.  I left voice
mail for the boss stating my problem. It turned out that the message was
very fragmented due to poor signal quality, very few words that I said
were understandable.  

The next day, we successsfully avoided the sand bar and made our way
back to the dock sans power.

Since then, I've used my cell phone on the bay from the kayak numerous
times - typically when I'm running very late and I want to inform my
wife not to worry.  The cell phone network seems much better now then it
was back when I got "stranded" several years earlier.  I'm not sure that
full bay coverage is a reality though.

I now carry both a VHF and a cell phone when I paddle.  My problem with
the cell phone is that it is not submersible and  I can't imagine how
I'd use it successfully in the worst case condition where I'd get
separated from my boat in challenging conditions.  It's nowhere close to
waterproof and it has tiny little buttons that I don't have a chance of
using with neoprene gloves on.  I'd probably die of dialing frustration
before succumbing to hypothermia.  

I wonder if anyone makes a submersible cell phone with buttons that can
be used with heavy gloves on.


Greg Hollingsworth
***************************************************************************
PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List
Submissions:     paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net
Subscriptions:   paddlewise-request_at_lists.intelenet.net
Website:         http://www.gasp-seakayak.net/paddlewise/
***************************************************************************