Springtime and the boat is eating into the Dive Fund

[TNTdive]

Well, being that I got a family boat near the end of the boating season last year and I talked to his mechanic, I did not go through and do a full preventive maintenance on the engine. I changed the fluids and enjoyed the end of the season. Then I did the winterization of the boat...except had to get two new batteries at the end because both died.

So, beginning of this season I changed the oil filter and oil, fuel filter, and impeller. For the initial test run, it was less than glorious. I could not get the prop to engage, when I but it in neutral the power levers responded 4.0, but they were frozen when trying to engage the prop. I had someone show/tell me that the linkage will freeze up over the winter and it takes a little extra force. Of course he did not say this till after he forced it and I nearly jumped, but it did work. After that the linkage worked great. Then as I was going through the no wake zone my engine cut-out and the instruments did not have power. Two new batteries and the blower, horn, etc all had power. Reset the CBs and checked/re-installed all fuses. A couple of the fuses had some oxidation, so with that taken care of, on to the test run. It worked great through all power levels.

Being that it was nice I had the windows down and heard a high squeal on the way there and back. Decided that today I would look at the bearings...ouch! The front hub had brakes that probably were never used but had the parking park adjustment free from the brakes, the bearings and racers were pitted, and overall needed some major work. So this morning went to NAPA and they had two full hubs (for only $4 more than just the bearings kit) and I got the Bearing Buddies for them. After freeing the rusted bolts the change out was easy. I get the other two hubs tomorrow, I removed the old hardware and cleaned the spindles. All prepped and ready to make an easy job...

The funny part is the kids are excited about getting the boat out and I am trying to get some diving in, but I love that they like going out as a family and it is great fun...even if it eats into the dive fund.

But, need a little advice. I will be using the boat to go farther out and want to get a good marine vhf radio to ensure that IF needed I will be able to hail someone. I don't need a lot of bells and whistles, but a good reliable vhf and antenna system would be a good idea. Any suggestions and good places to look?

Hopefully, I will be able to start local dive season soon. I'm trying to get to Lake Rawlings or do some diving off Virgina Beach, I have not been successful yet. But never give up...worst case I am off on cruise to the Bahamas for a couple of days of diving during the second week of April.

Thanks,
Ted

 

[Drewski]

I'm sure others will offer suggestions, but I always used ICOM for radios:

IC-M304 VHF Marine Transceiver - Features - Icom America

 

[Peter_C]

Save this website! Coupon codes and discounts for 50,000 online stores! RetailMeNot.com and use it often! They have more coupons and offers that are excellently organized.

I would look to see what kind of coupon is available at West Marine and buy one from there. My first radio failed and they swapped it out on the spot. With a coupon and the sale price it came out to about the same as anywhere else. Same goes for my Garmin chartplotter. The strongest power is going to come from a large antenna and a full size radio. The handhelds just are not as powerful.

 

[aaronp]

If you are buying a VHF radio, make sure it has the DSC function, and make sure that you hook it up to a GPS!
All new VHF radios are required to have DSC, but occasionally you'll see an older radio being sold without.
You can tell they have it by the EMERGENCY button with the cover over it.

Basically what DSC does is send a distress signal to the Coast Guard with your exact coordinates in it.
If your boat is sinking, you can hit the EMERGENCY button, and the radio will automatically keep sending a distress call to the CG, until they acknowledge receipt, or until the battery dies. You, in the meanwhile, can be abandoning ship.

In order to do this, the radio needs to be getting coordinates from a GPS, so you need to wire a gps to your VHF radio.
You also need to register your radio with the CG, so they know who is calling in the distress signal.

For an excellent tutorial on DSC, see:
boatus.com /foundation /dsc /player.html Can You Hear Me?

 

[scubaskipper]

Sounds like you might also want to make sure you have tow boat us or similar. You know what they say about boats.

 

[jrmiah]

B - Bring
O - On
A - Another
T - Thousand

I totally understand! Should look into also getting a good EPIRB.

 

[TNTdive]

Thanks everyone for some good info. I liked the features on the ICOM and it has DSC. I'll try to stop by West Marine or another store to put hands-on. I had not thought about a EPIRB, while it seems like a little overkill, the one comment I saw after a quick google search for it was: what is your life worth. Since it is a family boat, it will probably be a small investment and hopefully never needed, but if it is, then I would want to ensure that they were located and rescued as soon as possible.

Sounds like if you are going with the EPRIB then the 406 MHz is the way to go. And compared to the price of some of my dive gear, it is not all that steep. Plus, since I am doing a lot of the work on the boat myself a penny saved is a penny to spend somewhere else (or as jrmiah said another thousand on the boat)!

I got tow coverage when I got my boat insurance, kinda like getting roadside assistance on my cars...when it comes in hand it IS WELL WORTH IT!

I got the other two hubs installed today and took the trailer for a test ride. It was so quite that I almost forgot it was still there. I like the bearing buddies on it, but will have to wait to see how good they keep the water out and the bearing greased.

Thanks,
Ted

 

[H2O 70]

What do they say about boat owners? Their two happiest days are the day they buy their boat and the day they sell it.

 

[Peter_C]

Personally if I was going to purchase an EPIRB, I would get a small one and a canister to carry it with me while diving. I have been considering at some point for diving here in California since we dive off unattended boats in remote areas. We actually lost a well respected diver off the coast who was never found, but his boat was right where he said he was going to dive at.

 

[jrmiah]

It’s a good idea to have a good vhf radio but remember they are only good so many miles out... If your 20-30 miles out its possible that you could say all you want on a vhf radio and no one will hear you.

FYI, the small EPIRBS that fit in canisters are actually PLBs (personal locator bacons), if you go with a PLB make sure it has onboard GPS meaning it has a GPS built into it... they have PLBs with and without GPS. A PLB without onboard GPS just sends a message to the Coast Guard without a location and that’s ok but for a few bucks more with the onboard GPS it will send along with the message your long. & lat.

On my boat, Along with ditch bag, life raft, flares and O2, I have two vhf radios, an EPIRB and a PLB with onboard GPS.. Is it over kill? Perhaps until you actually need to use it.