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Today’s modern mariner appears, on the surface, to be better equipped than the small legion of yesteryear’s voyagers. Of course, neither Christopher Columbus, Joshua Slocum nor I had access to a GPS when we were plying the seven seas – a sextant pretty much told us where we were. While a GPS, Sat/Nav, radar, loran, VHF radio, ham radio, radio receiver, and solar panels are probably nice to have, there are two pieces of equipment that I discovered in my extensive wanderings that are indispensable. You could undoubtedly do without these two items and survive just fine, but having them makes all the difference in the world, literally. I’m talking about an outboard motor and an autopilot.
Now, before you get all condescending and roll your eyes around your head in disgust or disbelief, just wait a moment. Even if you are a “purist,” and I’ve known many, you’ll find that an outboard and an autopilot can tremendously enhance the quality of your trip.
I myself scoffed when my husband Tom and I were advised to purchase an outboard motor before we left on our first journey to Alaska. I remember distinctly thinking, “What the heck? What kind of a cruising boat has an outboard? That’s what oars are for, for Pete sake!” One thousand miles later I eagerly bought my first outboard. For the previous three months, one of us (usually my husband) fought currents and wind trying to row our inflatable from ship to shore or hither and yon while the other of us (guess who) tried “trolling under oar power” to catch fish. (You’ve surely rowed an inflatable enough to know how much fun that is.) Most importantly, not having an outboard limited the range of exploring we could do. We couldn’t run up an estuary or inlet in the inflatable because it was too far to row. We had to take the big boat, if even possible, or forgo the pleasure of poking about and exploring.
Many people object to the mess of gasoline on board, and they have a point, for gas can be a smelly hassle. Lifting the outboard off and on the skiff takes balance and teamwork, or a good pulley system, or both. But the freedom the outboard offers to explore, fish, crab, shrimp, and just get to shore easier, makes the small inconveniences worthwhile. An outboard can open new worlds to you.
As for the autopilot…I know many sailboaters think an autopilot doesn’t belong on a sailboat. Only wind vanes belong on sailboats, right? Wind vanes break. The torque on these vanes is tremendous, and no matter the vane, I guarantee you it will spend part of its time in sick bay. Wind vanes cannot be used when you have to motor, and horror of horror, one may just have to motor, particularly in the Inside Passage. My husband and I made our first trip to Alaska hand steering almost all the way there…and back. My first purchase when we returned after two years of exploring S.E. Alaska, was an autopilot. Months later, when our sturdy wind vane broke in the middle of the Pacific Ocean due to unrelenting trade winds and mountainous swells, I unpacked the little autopilot and shook my head as I looked at the pitifully small gadget and then at the enormous swells. “This’ll never handle it, Tom,” I wailed. “We’re gonna have to steer all the way back!”
The autopilot performed like a champ. It was the best crew member imaginable! The little contraption steered us several thousand miles and didn’t even eat us out of house and home.
An outboard and an autopilot. Don’t leave home without them.
Becky Coffield is the author of the humorous, nonfiction travel/adventure, Life Was A Cabaret: A Tale of Two Fools, A Boat, and A Big-Ass Ocean, the account of her and her husband’s 6 years and 25,000 miles aboard their Cal 2-34. She also authored Northern Escape, an award winning suspense novel set in the stormy archipelago of S.E. Alaska. Both books are available on her website, http://www.rlcoffield.com or on Amazon.com
If you are looking to buy your own VHF two way radios then you might want to know a bit more about them. After you have read this article, you will have a great understanding of their uses, and how they can and will benefit you.
There are many different types of two way radios, each type used for a variety of different things. One thing to point out, is that these radios will receive and send, this is why they are called 2 way radios. Where 1 way will usually only receive, such as an FM or AM radio.
There are the more mobile ones, such as walkie-talkies that you might see police, or security guards carrying around. These are used for short distances, or are connected to a tied in network that allows them to talk to a main base, which then relays it across further distances, this is quite common with police communications.
There are of course the CB type radios that a lot of truckers use, however, they are nowhere near as powerful as actual CB radios, as VHF has a maximum frequency of 300 MHZ which doesn’t travel very far at all, usually only a few miles without a booster antenna.
Instead of spending the big bucks on the UHF radios, which have a great distance, you can always just get the booster antennas, even with the higher end ones, you will still only spend at most about half as much as the UHF radios. That is because UHF radios usually start at around $200 – $300. Where the VHF radio will only cost about $100, and the antenna around the $15 – $80 mark, depending on how powerful you need it to be.
One last thing that you should be aware of, and that is to make sure you don’t get to powerful of a radio, as some of the more powerful ones will require you to have a special permit. Now, the ones you will buy for just talking back and forth while at the park or shopping mall will not be that powerful, but the higher end ones which you might buy might, so always check before you buy.
Now that you have read this article, you have a much better understanding of VHF two way radios, and you will know if this is the type of radio that you will need for your uses. These are usually short distance radios, only used for a distances within a few miles but can be increased if you use a booster antenna, but can still only go so far. If you need to talk over longer distances, then you should look into the UHF radios.
There are good places and bad places to buy most anything online and this includes vhf two way radios. If you would like to learn some of the good places to look for these radios online, then you can get this information by visiting http://vhftwowayradios.com.
Jimmy Johnson passes away
Jimmy Johnson, patriarch of Idyllwild’s historically important Johnson family, and son of the late Gerald “Jerry” Johnson, a prime mover in Idyllwild’s emergence as a residential community, died at 7:10 p.m. Saturday, June 12 at Eisenhower Medical Center in Rancho Mirage.
