OK, so you know how I’m always harping on PFDs and man-overboard recovery? 

Well the Coast Guard just sent out an article that vindicates my position! At least, I’m going to pretend that it vindicates my position. Mostly because I like using the word “vindicate”.

COLD WATER IMMERSION: THE SHOCKING REALITY
by Jeffrey Pollinger

Think you’re a good swimmer? It may not matter if you suddenly and unexpectedly end up in the frigid coastal and inland waters of the Pacific Northwest. Every year, dozens of swimmers and boaters drown in lakes, rivers and coastal waters in the Pacific Northwest. But it may surprise you that many victims don’t die as a result of poor swimming skills or the effects of hypothermia, but from the immediate effects of cold water immersion, or cold water shock.

Unlike hypothermia, the effects of cold water immersion can lead to death in just a few minutes and in some cases, instantly.

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Perhaps you clicked through to the post over at Ask JackRabbit that I linked to a couple days ago. If not, take a closer look.

Raymarine’s new MAP (minimum advertised price) policy has really stirred the pot, and in today’s entry, Peter James describes Jack Rabbit Marine’s response to the changing character of the marine electronics business.

It may confuse some consumers, but given the realities of the modern marketplace, it may be the only way to stay competitive. Check it out:

So we’re going to introduce a two-tier pricing system. You can pay a low price, competitive with the internet-only stores if you know what you are doing and need no support. Or you can choose to pay a higher price that qualifies you for full support including technical advice, installation help and a full warranty and replacement service.

As a consumer, I find this arrangement attractive. The fact is that I want to work out electronics installation issues for myself sometimes, while other times I need some extra help. In the midst my varying levels of confidence, I would prefer to do most of my purchasing at one or two places; I value the relationships that are formed when I conduct ongoing business with a firm.

For example, I make a lot of purchases at Fisheries Supply and The Offshore Store. They’re local for me, and I know the people there. For me, price is second to cultivating those valuable relationships; but it’s still a close second, know what I mean? The fact that both outfits are price-competitive with all but the lowest of bare-bones online discounters makes my choice pretty easy.

But I doubt boaters in many parts of the country have the same great choices I do, and Jack Rabbit’s new two-tier pricing structure, appealing to both bargain-seeking and service-seeking customers, could work out really well.

I’ve been listening to a lot of AC/DC recently. But that’s not important right now. Besides, they’re Australian, and the Rocna anchor was designed in New Zealand. I should probably have selected a Flight of the Conchords musical reference, since they’re from New Zealand.

Anyhoo! I’ve decided to get a Rocna anchor and try it out aboard Two Lucky Fish. The Rocna is one of the new generation of Funny Looking Anchors we’ve discussed here previously.

I’ve got 6-kg model on its way from Suncoast Marine in Vancouver, the North American manufacturer. This should be plenty big enough for my C-Dory 22, especially considering that I don’t usually anchor out when it’s really rough, and I cruise in areas where some sort of shelter is nearly always close at hand. I don’t need a hurricane anchor.

I’ll report on it periodically as I gain experience with it. I’m not going to attempt to conduct genuine “scientific” testing, but I might take it out to the beach with my current Bruce-clone “Claw” anchor and a similar-sized Delta I can borrow from my sister, and play around with them all in the sand.

All I know now is that my Claw anchor seems to stay in place about as well as a pile of loose chain would. Yeah, I know…I’m probably not setting it right. That’s almost certainly true. I don’t claim to be any sort of anchoring expert.

But that’s sort of the point.

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Here at Navagear, we’ve got a time-honored tradition of being confused about MMSI numbers. Let’s continue, shall we?

For those just joining, MMSI stands for Maritime Mobile Service Identity, and it’s a unique number assigned to your vessel for identification purposes within digital communication  protocols such as DSC (Digital Selective Calling, a feature included on virtually all new VHF and SSB radios) and AIS (Automated Identification System, in use by large commercial vessels and some recreational craft).

Oh wait…did I just say that MMSI numbers were assigned to vessels? That’s NOT entirely accurate. There are MMSI numbers assigned to ground stations, and groups of vessels, for instance.

And in the United Kingdom, apparently, there are MMSI numbers assigned to the new DSC-equipped handheld VHF radios. In fact, the UK Radiocommunications Agency has been quite clear about this:

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Be sure to read Captain Richard Rodriguez’s follow-up posting on the incident. Still a lot of unanswered questions, but a good deal of play-by-play on how it all worked out. Kudos to all the A1 Marine Services participants.

If you have any interest at all in understanding the marine electronics market, I strongly suggest you read today’s post by Peter James over on Ask JackRabbit:

New MAP Policy from Raymarine

Many electronics companies, including Raymarine, set MAP prices for their products. This is the Minimum Advertised Price, which is the lowest price that a dealer is allowed to use in advertising the product or listing it on a website. The dealer can sell the product at any price at all - he just can’t advertise it for under MAP.

The MAP price for an E120, for example, is $3899 (list price is $4600). Most dealers who sell online use a variant on the technique shown above from the Consumers Marine website. They show the MAP price, and invite the reader to click to see the actual selling price (at JackRabbit, you see the actual selling price when you add the product to your shopping cart). Clicking at Consumers Marine opens a pop-up window that shows the actual selling price. The MAP limitation applies only to dealers. Anyone with a web store can open an account with a wholesaler, buy an E120 at dealer price, and advertise it for any price at all. So this attempt to set a floor on pricing ends up penalizing dealers - who are undercut on advertised prices by the scruffy-guy-in-his-pajamas web stores.

Raymarine has decided to get tough.

Click here to read the rest of the story…

I’m a big fan of sailing vessel Adventuress, a gaff-rigged schooner operated as a training and educational platform by Sound Experience.

But she’s run aground in Wasp Passage!

[this photo courtesy USCG District 13]

[additional photos courtesy Richard Rodriguez]

 
Wasp Passage is notorious for catching the unwary; even very experienced skippers go aground here, if they drop their guard. But have no fear, the U.S. Coast Guard and Captain Richard Rodriguez are on the case.

Here’s the current press release:

COAST GUARD RESPONDS TO 130-FOOT SAILING VESSEL AGROUND
SEATTLE - The Coast Guard is responding to a sailing vessel aground in Wasp Passage, San Juan Islands, Wash. The Coast Guard was notified that the sail training vessel Adventuress had run aground at approximately noon, today. The Washington State Ferry Sealth along with Vessel Assist have completed removing all of the passengers and crew safely from the vessel. No injuries have been reported. Coast Guard Air Station Port Angeles launched an MH-65C Dolphin helicopter crew to the scene as well as a rescue boat crew from Coast Guard Station Bellingham. The Coast Guard will conduct an investigation into the cause of the grounding, which is unknown at this time. No pollution has been reported.

And here she is, afloat again:

And hey, I got on TV, too! King 5 bureau chief Rob Piercy saw this post and gave me a call for some background. Here’s a link to the video of the report.

We love clever folding crab traps. We’ve written in the past about the Flex Fold (here and here) and the Stow-B-Low (here). By the way, I saw the redesigned Stow-B-Low a few weeks ago, and I think it deserves another treatment here…stay tuned.

So anyway, here’s another folding crab trap…a simple ring-type trap that collapses to 1/3 the diameter of the large ring, using a flexible hoop material. It’s called the Coil-Away Flexible Crab Ring, by Crab King Inc.

And they’ve got a video proving that it can catch crab! The folding demonstration isn’t until the end.

There’s a big Nordic Tug meet-up in PT this weekend. They’re packed into the Point Hudson marina like sardines (that is, if sardines were 11+ feet wide). I was a little surprised at how big the newer models have gotten. I was kind of fond of the old 32 footer design, and the 54 was so big that at first I didn’t think it was a Nordic… In any case, it looks like a fun gathering, and Port Townsend certainly appreciates all the visitors traipsing around and eating out. Welcome!

My seven year old son, Logan, shot this nice pic.

This is one of those uplifting, heartwarming stories I sometimes feature. No gear and gadgets this time around, although I suspect lots of unique, special-purpose gear and gadgets are in use aboard some of these vessels!

“Greg Williams used to be an ironworker before he fell seven stories and emerged a paraplegic. Ed Gallagher had great eyesight most of his life before a fateful motorcycle accident led to blindness. Cristina Rubke, a 28-year old lawyer, was born with no use of her arms or legs. The one thing these three have in common? They’re all avid sailors. And they’re all good ones at that. “

It turns out they’re active members of the Bay Area Association of Disabled Sailors. Navagear salutes BAADS and its members: You guys are awesome! By the way, that logo is just too cute.

Click here to listen to a 16-minute podcast about these sailors, produced by The Idealist.