Communications & Safety
Count yourself lucky if you’ve never dunked the outboard of a small boat in the labyrinthine coastal waters of the Inside Passage from Alaska (don’t ask how). Bonus points for doing it during the shoulder season, when other cruising boats are fewer and farther between.
Obviously the scenario turned out okay as I’m writing this today with all my extremities intact. Plus the water there is not nearly as cold as you’d expect, something of a delightful, if damp, surprise. Still, that little 25-horsepower Yamaha miraculously fired right back up (somehow) and ran well enough to drain the tender (a 13-foot Boston Whaler) once we offloaded the entire crew. That’s right, the entire crew. No one was left on the big boat. And while that water was warm, it wasn’t so warm you’d want to swim for it.
It’s these times—when you find yourself quite specifically presented with answer after answer to the heretofore rhetorical question, What could go wrong?— when communications and gear can make all the difference between a cocktail in the cock- “I would suggest any tender carry a handheld VHF with built-in DSC and also GPS in it,” says Hugh Lupo, partner owner of New England Marine Electronics ( www.newengland marineelectronics.com). “Make sure to program the MMSI number into it.” As we’ve mentioned in the past, the Maritime Mobile Service Identity number, or MMSI number, is the key to making the most important functions of a DSC VHF work when you need them most.
“Programming the MMSI number in gives you all the functionality,” Lupo says. “In an emergency, you can alert Rescue 21 by pushing the emergency button, and they will know immediately where you are. While you may not be the main vessel, they will know where you are because they can track to that radio by requesting its position. They can do that at Rescue 21, and they can do that from aircraft or from the surface vessel or any vessel out there that has DSC capability.” The mothership can find the vessel too, as long as it has a properly installed DSC VHF radio with an MMSI programmed in.
As tenders grow larger generally they will carry a fixed-mount VHF, but it’s critical to remember to input that MMSI number and connect the unit to a GPS in order to enjoy the full safety functionality. A fixed-mount VHF will need an antenna. The options include a 4-foot stick or even an antenna designed for a sailboat. While these shorter antennas may limit the range of the VHF keep in mind, this