Schooner Nina - MERGED 3 THREADS

[Paul Elliott]

Originally Posted by boatman61

So... if I buy an EPIRB and my boat sinks... I jump in my dinghy coz liferafts suck... set off my EPIRB and get rescued by chance 20 days later... will I get my money back...?
Or are you saying there;s no guarantee...

I assume you're trying to make a point, but I'm not getting it.

Of course there's no guarantee. Stuff occasionally breaks, or is used improperly.

[boatman61]

So... the odds are still 50/50....

And Yes... the point I'm trying to make is a 3 week trip took me 40+ days.... in a functioning boat... a flipped cat had its crew survive 3 months upside down only to have its crew nearly jailed for suspected drug smuggling coz no one believed their story at first....
The familys need not throw the final wreaths on the water just yet in my ignorant opinion... **** happens... but so do some amazing things... like 72 days in a life raft...
But then like them... maybe I just like happy endings.
If that Tee's folk off... tough titty...

[goboatingnow]

Originally Posted by boatman61

So... the odds are still 50/50....

And Yes... the point I'm trying to make is a 3 week trip took me 40+ days.... in a functioning boat... a flipped cat had its crew survive 3 months upside down only to have its crew nearly jailed for suspected drug smuggling coz no one believed their story at first....
The familys need not throw the final wreaths on the water just yet in my ignorant opinion... **** happens... but so do some amazing things... like 72 days in a life raft...
But then like them... maybe I just like happy endings.
If that Tee's folk off... tough titty...

What's that got to do with your Epirb comment ?

There an off chance nina survived , but given the location, the time of year and the boats particulars , hmmmmmm

Dave

[Mr B]

They wont have a fresh water problem, Its winter here, Just put clean rags on the deck while its raining and squeeze it into a Bucket or other container,

A Metre of sail on the deck with raised edges will give you gallons in minutes,

It does rain a lot here and every few days, A couple of days at a time,

A person can go with out food of any kind for 10 days with out any harmfull effects on the body what so ever,

As long as you have fresh water to drink, You will be fine, They have plenty of fresh water,

They do have plenty of very cold temps to cope with,

[boatman61]

Originally Posted by goboatingnow

What's that got to do with your Epirb comment ?

There an off chance nina survived , but given the location, the time of year and the boats particulars , hmmmmmm

Dave

Well... seeing as you.. and others have given reasons why an EPIRB wont work or its signal be received/responded to... they've a 50/50 chance... sorry... its 5am here and I'm fading...

[goboatingnow]

Originally Posted by boatman61

Well... seeing as you.. and others have given reasons why an EPIRB wont work or its signal be received/responded to... they've a 50/50 chance... sorry... its 5am here and I'm fading...

All we can say is that since its introduction the cospas sarsat Epirb system has been responsible for many many distress alerts. ( and approx 9 times more unintended alerts !!) the system works. Whether or not Epirb failure contributed to Ninas problems may never be known and anything else is pure speculation.

Dave

[minaret]

Originally Posted by boatman61

Oh... and the survivors of that disastrous Antarctic expedition that made it to the Falklands... also an open boat...
Strange things happen at sea....

The James Caird was decked over before making the passage. I doubt any open boat could have survived that.

[Paul Elliott]

Originally Posted by WaterVirgo

It's clear there is a problem with the make up and design of the location devices, so that needs to be addressed.

What problem with the design and makeup? These things seem to be quite reliable and the system works well. Boatman's "50/50" suggestion is pretty silly -- all indications are that EPIRBS are way more reliable than that. If you want wild speculation, I would guess that the reliablity is closer to 98%, as long as the device is within its service life and passes the self-check.

As far as Nina is concerned, it's always possible that the ship went down without anyone triggering the EPIRB, and the crew didn't bring one aboard the raft. Or, I suppose the EPIRB could have been defective (but I think this is unlikely). Regardless, no signal was detected. It doesn't really matter why.

[opusnz]

I bet it is much, much better than 98%....if it was less than that, it would probably be an economic failure for the company with the small margins and added expense of returned items.

Electronics are extremely reliable nowadays with much better quality of circuit boards and components. Generally, if something gets out of the factory and works, then it will keep working for many, many years unless physically damaged.

[boatman61]

[QUOTE=Paul Elliott;1301846]What problem with the design and makeup? These things seem to be quite reliable and the system works well. Boatman's "50/50" suggestion is pretty silly - QUOTE]

Just maintaining my reputation...

PS: any more news on Grain de Soliel and the others in the Atlantic? ... not trying to make a point... just asking

[Wotname]

FWIW

I have been activating ELTs / EPIRBs / PLBs for 25 years. Let's say 20 units a year (and that's a conservative figure). Most units would be activated 2 or 3 times so let's chose an average figure of 50.

So that is a total of 1250 activations which is possibly more than most of you make!

During that time, a couple of the old 121.5 / 243 MHz units failed, a couple more of the old ones had enough problems (cracks / corrosion etc) for them to be unreliable.

I have yet to see a 406 beacon fail to activate or meet specifications although I have had some that failed to turn off.

I have made maybe 10 activations that went live to the satellite system which would result in AMSA (the Australian RCC) being alerted. In each case AMSA confirmed they received the beacon transmission. As far as I am concerned, I had 100% success rate with those 10(ish) beacons. I am comfortable that if I ever turn one on anger and the antenna has reasonable view of the sky, the message will be received.

[MarkJ]

Originally Posted by boatman61

Oh... and the survivors of that disastrous Antarctic expedition that made it to the Falklands... also an open boat...

It was only 2 weeks (15 days) at sea in a different season (autumn) and in the lee of a coast for half the way.
But even then it wasn't too much fun

The James Caird was launched on 24 April 1916; during the next fifteen days, it sailed through the waters of the southern ocean, at the mercy of the stormy seas, in constant peril of capsizing. On 8 May, thanks to Worsley's navigational skills, the cliffs of South Georgia came into sight, but hurricane-force winds prevented the possibility of landing. The party was forced to ride out the storm offshore, in constant danger of being dashed against the rocks. They would later learn that the same hurricane had sunk a 500-ton steamer bound for South Georgia from Buenos Aires

minaret is correct that it wasnt an open boat:

Shackleton decided to risk an open-boat journey to the 800-nautical-mile-distant South Georgia whaling stations, where he knew help was available.[94] The strongest of the tiny 20-foot (6.1 m) lifeboats, christened James Caird after the expedition's chief sponsor, was chosen for the trip.[94] Ship's carpenter Harry McNish made various improvements, including raising the sides, strengthening the keel, building a makeshift deck of wood and canvas, and sealing the work with oil paint and seal blood.[94

He had the absolute best of a great crew:

Shackleton chose five companions for the journey: Frank Worsley, Endurance's captain, who would be responsible for navigation; Tom Crean, who had "begged to go"; two strong sailors in John Vincent and Timothy McCarthy, and finally the carpenter McNish.[94] Shackleton had clashed with McNish during the time when the party was stranded on the ice, but, while he would not forgive the carpenter's earlier insubordination, Shackleton recognised his value for this particular job.[h][95][96]

Ernest Shackleton - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia



Glad I wasnt in that boat!

[Mr B]

I just got a Reminder notice from AMSA that my Epirb Registration was due for renewal in September,
It is required to update details and reregister every two years, and they issue you another sticker for the Epirb.

Thats some thing I didnt know, That they do send out reminders for your Epirb rego,

[goboatingnow]

Originally Posted by WaterVirgo

I'm new to forums and don't do any social media and am not a sailor. Bi do however love the water and love being on it whether it be a small fishing boat or a large cruise ship. I know I would love to experience a grand lady like the SV Nina . I have found myself totally invested in this thread and the search for the Nina 7. For all of you sailors, please keep in mind that this thread is for Friends of Nina. Which means support. It's clear there is a problem with the make up and design of the location devices, so that needs to be addressed. This could be any of you in this situation! For now, until the direct family and friends decide otherwise, the Nina is out there and we need to bring her home. If you haven't yet please visit the Equusearch website and donate to help keep the search going. For now its about support. Later we can blame and speculate!!

http://texasequusearch.org/

How is it clear " there is a problem with the makeup and design of the location devices " what do you base that on.

I'm all for this thread, I reentered it , when it looked like epirbs were being scapegoated and by extension the associated searches and SAR processes. That's not right in my book.

Dave

[Naamah]

Originally Posted by goboatingnow

How is it clear " there is a problem with the makeup and design of the location devices " what do you base that on.

I'm all for this thread, I reentered it , when it looked like epirbs were being scapegoated and by extension the associated searches and SAR processes. That's not right in my book.

Dave

I think the point made is that although there may have been an issue with a locator beacon in ninas case; it is speculation and we're likley not to discover it.
I think there is a recent thread on epirbs; perhaps these detailed and informative posts would be best in that thread?
This one is for updates and info specifically relevant to sv nina. I am certainly not insinuating or scapegoating any tech or sar operations. No offence folks.
*flame suit on*