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Thread: Safe Boating

  1. #1
    Join Date
    Nov 2007
    Location
    Riverside Ca
    Posts
    144

    Default Safe Boating

    Many new fishermen, unfortunately have more money than sense. They will buy a new boat and take it out in the ocean without any training or knowledge of the dangers that lurk about.

    When I bought my boat (23' Robalo), I had spent many years on the water before my purchase, but didn't realize being a passenger is a whole lot different than being a responsible captain.

    Tip #1. I try to have duplicates of many of my safety items, One overnighter at Catalina, both of my batteries died, I had no way to radio for help. I thought Damm, I need a radio with a separte power source. After thinking about it a little more, I thought what good would the radio do if we were in the water and couldn't tell out position. Before the next trip I purchased a handheld radio with a hand held GPS.

    Tip #2. Prepare for the unexpected. Make a ditch box. God forbid we go down, I have a hand held radio, GPS, flares and rockets, some cheap air matresses for additional flotation, high intensity strobe lights with whistles attached to all my life jackets. I also keep a large blue tarp with rope attached at the corners. The tarp is deployed when something punctures your hull and you are taking on water. go to the front of the boat and pull the tarp down along the bottom of the boat to where the hole is, tie off the tarp to the rail the tarp will slowdown the entry of water by getting sucked into the hole.

    Tip #3. Know where you are going. I see many anglers zooming around the west end of Catalina at night. There are many boilers that extend well away from the island ie Johnson rocks and other I don't know the name of. Its a good idea to mark these locations on your chart plotter before zooming around in poor visibilty conditions.There is a pretty good video on Catalina that starts of with identifing and location of the boilers. Its a Danny Jackson video Catalina Hotspots.

    Tip # 4. Fire extinguishers. If you have ever been so unfortunate that you boat catches fire, i'll tell you that the small fire extinguishers can barely put out a match. Unfortunately for me, I found myself in this situation. I keep two fire extinguishers on the boat one class 2 and 1 class 3. The class 2 is about 6" dia. and 14' long and the class 3 is 6.5" x 18 inches.

    Tip #5. Keep spare parts on the boat and the tools necessary to complete a repair. spare fuses, spare battery, sparkplugs,fuel filter, prop.

    Tip #6. Know your electronics, become very familiar with your radar, chartpoltter, marine radio. Make sure your radio works before exiting the harbor. call for a radio check.

    Tip #7. Make sure your boat is in tip top shape, especially before a long trip or overnighter. When trip planning make sure some knows your out there and when you're expected back.



    My experience tells me that those that are prepared, rarely have trouble. Becuase when trouble comes they know what to do.

    The ocean is unforgiving, and can be a death trap to the inexperienced.

    Safety first, and you will enjoy many years fishing enjoyment.

    Tight lines

    Tuna out

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Jun 2009
    Location
    Chatsworth, CA
    Posts
    727

    Default

    great post, entered this thread expecting a thread about lake lice.

    was going to post "soo, i guess i shouldnt be doing 360's in a bass boat on the fish arm at castaic"

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Dec 2009
    Location
    Upland
    Posts
    943

    Default

    Lots of great information, thanks for putting in the time to make an informative post.

  4. #4

    Default

    Great info!

    Tip 8: If you are a passenger make sure your captain is prepared.


  5. #5
    Join Date
    Feb 2010
    Location
    near Fresno
    Posts
    78

    Default great post!!!!!

    I don't captain a ocean going boat--- but I play a captian on t.v.
    But after reading your post I think I am prepared.

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Nov 2009
    Location
    Rat Beach
    Posts
    7,272

    Default

    Good post. Don't put too much faith in Hand Held VHF.
    They are cute but don't have much range and when your low in the water can be almost worthless.

    Hypothermia is what will kill you. Pack a wetsuit, booties, hood, gloves in your ditch bag.

    Also DO NOT PANIC when the shet hits da fan.
    DR

  7. #7
    Join Date
    Nov 2007
    Location
    Riverside Ca
    Posts
    144

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by DockRat View Post
    Good post. Don't put too much faith in Hand Held VHF.
    They are cute but don't have much range and when your low in the water can be almost worthless.

    Hypothermia is what will kill you. Pack a wetsuit, booties, hood, gloves in your ditch bag.

    Also DO NOT PANIC when the shet hits da fan.
    DR
    good idea on the wetsuits, I probably could have picked them up for cheaper than the floatation suits I have. I like the floatation suits because they will keep your head out of the water. But you are very right about Hypothermia. I didn't talk about them becuase of the expense but if you can afford them, its the way to go. When my son was young, the only thing my wife would say is "don't come home without him" and she meant it. I have been looking at the EPIRB's but from what i've read, they aren't that good when in the water either. i'm still not sure which one to get.

    Anyway, good points

    Tight lines

    Tuna

  8. #8
    Join Date
    Nov 2009
    Location
    Rat Beach
    Posts
    7,272

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by tunagod1 View Post
    , I probably could have picked them up for cheaper than the floatation suits I have. I like the floatation suits
    Tuna
    How much are the float suits ?

    I drifted for a hour till a boat picked me up from Pt Vicente towards Lunada.
    Toasty warm in my dive suit, didn't even drop my weight belt, game bag with scallops or speargun.
    DR

  9. #9
    Join Date
    Nov 2007
    Location
    Riverside Ca
    Posts
    144

    Default

    I don't want to mislead you on the floatation suit. These are not the arctic survival suits as seen on deadlious catch. I actually purchased cold weather gear that doubles as a floatation suit. Its called Arctic Armor. It was actually developed for ice fishing, but with the added floatation feature if you go through the ice. I tested it out in our pool in the winter (because thats when I got it) water gets in but not much, it keeps your head above water in the seated position. The suit is extremely bouyant. The brochure says that 8.8 oz of the material can float 280 pounds.

    The suits were purchased for Lobster season but I keep them onboard all the time. The suit has come down in price, considerably from when they first came out. you can probably find it for under $250 especially this time of year.

    http://idigear.com/arcticarmor.php

  10. #10
    Join Date
    Jun 2009
    Location
    long beach cali
    Posts
    1,286

    Default

    i have a lil ?.the hand held vhf radios,are they any good,as far as i go out is the wall,because of the kinda boat that i have.but is it worth the money to get one?

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