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View Full Version : Don Gray (Warrior's Wish) in Bermuda 1-2



BobJ
05-31-2009, 08:37 AM
2008 SHTP vet Don Gray will be racing in the Bermuda 1-2, starting June 5th. Don finished 2nd in his division in the 2007 B1-2. Go Warrior's Wish!

Another race currently underway is the OSTAR solo trans-Atlantic race. (Don says he wants to do OSTAR someday too). I'm rooting for young Oscar Mead on the J/105, since it's a big sister to my boat. Oscar is 18 years old.

If you want to get an idea how sloppy it can get in the English Channel, take a look at the video on Oscar's site of Solo Channel Week 2008, esp. starting at about 2:30 on the video. (FWIW, the top J Boat in that race was a J/92.)

http://www.teamoscarmead.co.uk/PhotosVideo.html

SeaDragon
06-23-2009, 06:27 AM
From the Bermuda 1-2 board.

22 June 1920 - Coast Guard received one EPIRB alert from Warriors Wish, no GPS fix. Talked to CG and passed info to them. CG talking to Don's wife. His tracker is not working.

http://www.bermuda1-2.org/

SeaDragon
06-23-2009, 06:29 AM
Update posted

23 June 0800 - Warriors Wish called in to my surprise. The EPIRB was washed over by a wave. They are OK and doing great. They are at 39 02N 69 25W 169nm out in N winds.

http://www.bermuda1-2.org/

Kuewa
06-23-2009, 05:31 PM
Thank god they're OK! Disconcerting that the EPIRB gave no GPS fix.

Tony

Thom
06-26-2009, 06:19 PM
This event just confirms my suspicion that ePIRB has gone the way of dinosaurs. Pity that it is the "accepted" technology.

BobJ
06-26-2009, 09:09 PM
I think the technology is okay (as long as it has a built-in GPS), but Don's accidental activation is an example of why I have a Class II (manually activated) EPIRB mounted inside the companionway, reachable from the cockpit, rather than a Class I (float free/automatically activated) mounted out in the cockpit.

The only benefit I can see to the externally-mounted float free type is that it sets itself off if the boat sinks. At that point I'll either have the EPIRB with me in the life raft or I'll be dead. Thoughts?

Alchera
06-26-2009, 09:47 PM
I think the technology is okay (as long as it has a built-in GPS), but Don's accidental activation is an example of why I have a Class II (manually activated) EPIRB mounted inside the companionway, reachable from the cockpit, rather than a Class I (float free/automatically activated) mounted out in the cockpit.

The only benefit I can see to the externally-mounted float free type is that it sets itself off if the boat sinks. At that point I'll either have the EPIRB with me in the life raft or I'll be dead. Thoughts?

Yeah, I had the same concern about the float-free variety, that they might be prone to accidental free floating, so mine is also mounted just inside the companionway. I suppose if the boat sank so rapidly I couldn't get to it then I would be screwed, but I would think if I had at least 30 seconds I could both get the raft and the EPIRB no problem.

- Mark

nereida
07-01-2009, 06:22 PM
Happy 4th July to all of you from sunny Guernsey!

FWIW, at least Don knows his EPIRB works....!

I totally agree with Bob and Mark's comments... ACR have kindly donated (!) their all-singing, all-dancing top-of-the-range EPIRB (GlobalFix iPro) to the new 'Nereida' and I chose the manually-deployed version - which Don's experience, I think, demonstrates to be the better choice - certainly for single-handers (see Mark's comments!).

I now have the seemingly-simple job of figuring out how to feed it GPS info from the chart-table, which it's fixed above, close to the companionway. (It has a removable lead provided for GPS input.) The idea is that if it's constantly fed with GPS info, it will immediately give accurate position data if it's deployed, rather than having to get a fix from a 'cold start' - which is, presumably, what Don's was trying to do... unsuccessfully??

I hope you're all having a great sailing season. I'm hoping to get out and about in "Nereida" soon - once I get my missing anchor chain onboard ... I'm somehow not keen to go anywhere without it....!