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Re: Mother Nature has no master.

Posted: 01 May 2014, 21:47
by Matt.A
Calling 000 even when your just in doubt isn't a bad idea, the operator will access the situation and decide from there what needs to be done. Lots of people are mortified of the idea of calling 000, best just to call through.

Re: Mother Nature has no master.

Posted: 01 May 2014, 23:01
by laneends
Matt.A wrote:Calling 000 even when your just in doubt isn't a bad idea, the operator will access the situation and decide from there what needs to be done. Lots of people are mortified of the idea of calling 000, best just to call through.
This, they are better at making objective decisions when you are starting to panic yourself. I had need to call 00 when lost in the bush once, didn't think i was too lost, but it turned out i was more lost than I thought I was and they where in a better position to see conditions were getting worse than I did. Stopped a bad situation turning into a dire one.

I agree with jaryd, i used to take too many risks on the assumptions conditions would be OK, now I am an absolute pussy when choosing conditions, and still get caught occasionally.

The biggest drawback of a yak is you can't pull the pin as quickly if you dont have a motor to get you back fast.
,

Re: Mother Nature has no master.

Posted: 03 May 2014, 12:07
by Somewhere 'Offshore'
Fwi- After this situation I will defenatelky be buying a PLB.

Honestly, I never thought I would need one.
Unfortunately, there is plenty of people that think the same way.
And this is not the case.

The honest truth is if I had come off the kayak and was separated from it I would have been invisible and maybe not typing this now.
The problems I had with my phone playing up on the yak tells me it would have been useless if I ended up in the water, even though its waterproof.

At least with a PLB, worst case scenario, you will be located.
If I had one in this same situation, it would not have been activated as my 000 call did the job.
But If I had come off the yak it could/would have saved my life.




Thank you to everyone for reading/adding to the post. Stay safe. :thumbsup:

Re: Mother Nature has no master.

Posted: 03 May 2014, 13:01
by tightlines
Glad you're okay. Lesson for us all to learn from!

Re: Mother Nature has no master.

Posted: 03 May 2014, 17:29
by skip
joffarob wrote:
Somewhere Offshore wrote: I dropped my anchor and got my phone out to call for help, knowing I was in serious danger.
Turns out my waterproof Sony z1 dosent like wet fingers and while I tried to unlock it with one hand and hold on, white knuckled, with the other my anchor slowly bunny hopping me out further.
After about 10min I managed to get the number for the coast guard and rang. I was quickly told to hang up and call 000 as they could not respond without police direction.

Thanks for sharing Jay, glad to here you made it to tell the tail!! I have a lifeproof cover on my iPhone and have had the same problem when my hands are wet not being able to open phone, answers calls, etc(lucky for me not while trying to call 000)does anyone have any secrets on how to overcome this? thought maybe a disposable glove (like surgical) but haven't tested.


Maybe you could try one of those Stylus Pens with the rubber tip. I've used them on dry land ,not to sure how they'd go if wet

Re: Mother Nature has no master.

Posted: 03 May 2014, 17:36
by Somewhere 'Offshore'
Stylus pen could work.
Not sure about a disposable surgical glove, have you ever tried to put them on with sweaty or damp hands?- Dosent happen. Although I guess you would only need one finger in, your not prepn for surgery after all.
I'll test the surgical glove theory next time I'm out.

Re: Mother Nature has no master.

Posted: 04 May 2014, 14:25
by joffarob
skip wrote:
joffarob wrote:
Somewhere Offshore wrote: I dropped my anchor and got my phone out to call for help, knowing I was in serious danger.
Turns out my waterproof Sony z1 dosent like wet fingers and while I tried to unlock it with one hand and hold on, white knuckled, with the other my anchor slowly bunny hopping me out further.
After about 10min I managed to get the number for the coast guard and rang. I was quickly told to hang up and call 000 as they could not respond without police direction.

Thanks for sharing Jay, glad to here you made it to tell the tail!! I have a lifeproof cover on my iPhone and have had the same problem when my hands are wet not being able to open phone, answers calls, etc(lucky for me not while trying to call 000)does anyone have any secrets on how to overcome this? thought maybe a disposable glove (like surgical) but haven't tested.


Maybe you could try one of those Stylus Pens with the rubber tip. I've used them on dry land ,not to sure how they'd go if wet
Well I have just had a play with the gloves.
I started with wetting my finger and getting a bit of water on the phone screen and sure enough couldn't swipe the screen to open. I then cut the finger off a disposable glove put it on my finger, wet it and then tried on phone. ( phone screen was wet also). It's not perfect but I found it worked really well. Was able to open phone by swiping as well as navigate to make a call and a photo. Both things that I have been unable to do with wet hands. I have now cut the fingers off a few gloves placed in a sandwitch bag and placed in my life jacket pocket. I wasn't able to find a stylus to test but if that works would be an easy way round the problem.

Re: Mother Nature has no master.

Posted: 04 May 2014, 16:41
by BKA
Somewhere Offshore wrote:There was a change due around 12-1ish so I planned to be back on the sand before 11
The best advice I've ever heard was to check the conditions not only for the time you plan to be out, but also for the following 3-4 hours to allow for any early changes.
Glad you're ok and good onya for sharing.

Re: Mother Nature has no master.

Posted: 04 May 2014, 17:05
by Somewhere 'Offshore'
BKA wrote:
Somewhere Offshore wrote:There was a change due around 12-1ish so I planned to be back on the sand before 11
The best advice I've ever heard was to check the conditions not only for the time you plan to be out, but also for the following 3-4 hours to allow for any early changes.
Glad you're ok and good onya for sharing.
I agree, great advice Greg :up:

Just to clarify for this situation though - the change that was due was still safe, just would not have been to comfortable, therefore I planed to be back in before it.
I rarely, if ever do half days and would never plan to head out if there was bad / unsafe weather due.

Re: Mother Nature has no master.

Posted: 04 May 2014, 21:08
by two bob
Thanks heaps for posting details about your day.
Just goes to prove again that the use of a mobile phone is NOT for marine use. The emergency services are always telling boaters DO NOT USE A MOBIL PHONE FOR EMERGENCY SITUATIONS. Sure they can be helpful and I am glad to see that it was a good result for you but please, please any Kayaker who fishes should have a VHF radio and or at the least a PLB. Offshore and an EPIRB is compulsory.
Current VHF radios do have GPS in built and if registered correctly you would have had a response within minutes. My radio is registered with AMSA, yes I have a radio licence and yes by having the radio registered I only need to hit one button and my position is sent as an emergency call to all DSC VHF radios, commercial and non commercial vessels, Coast Guard and Police giving my GPS position and advice that it is an emergency. No second phone calls no having to call police to get the Coast Guard it happens straight away. Going to sea with out one is asking for trouble.
An EPIRB/PLB is just as good/better.
I too would like to believe that "it will never happen to me" but for $300 approx it is a no brainer. I put the purchase of a VHF/PLB/EPIRB before the purchase of a sounder.

For those that don't know, by using your phone on the bay the phone cab have access to multiple sites and as a result continuously searches for sites and uses battery power significantly quicker than normal and you may end up with a dead battery in a very short time. Then what do you do??

Please use your phone for social calls, music or anything else but not your safety.

Again, glad to hear that you ended up safe and sound but for me buy an EPIRB/PLB or at the very least a VHF with DSC.
Stay safe on the water :thumbsup: