Hi All,
Thinking about getting a portable VHF radio as a safety backup - and for general watersports and kayaking use. Anyone got any recommendations as to the best model & features? I'm thinking small, light and waterproof would enable it to be kept on you most of the time. It would be ideal for aiding in rescue if it also had the gps co-ords but not sure they have these? Failing which, anyone have a recommendation for a small, portable GPS?
Lastly, was out on my Swift last Saturday in snow, hail and sometimes gusting 25kt winds - mad but it was fantastic! However, I noticed that from tack-to-tack, the best she would do was about 90-100 degrees on the compass. Is that normal for a Swift? I'm still learning about sailing but it seemed poor compared to my previous experience in dinghys. One possible explanation is the sails - she's got multi-coloured sails which I suspect may be the originals...
Portable VHF, GPS and Swift's pointing ability
I’m also a kayak/canoe coach and use an Icom m31 as both back up for the swift and in my job. It is a really robust little radio which is currently retailing around £99.00. It’s only down side is that it uses a very small amount of juice even when switched off so if you wish to use it in, say, a grab bag you would need to take the battery pack out. The m33 looks good too but I’ve no personal experience of using it. It does, however, float which is a real bonus in a kayak.
As for pointing, if I’m really honest I don’t get much better than you. You can make it point a little more but if you look at your track on a plotter it becomes clear that your water track hasn't changed because she just looses out to leeway. Some early boats sheeted back to a single block on the cabin roof so I suppose it would have been possible to get things in a bit tighter but I doubt this would have made much difference. Most, of course, go back to tracks on the side decks.
Terry
As for pointing, if I’m really honest I don’t get much better than you. You can make it point a little more but if you look at your track on a plotter it becomes clear that your water track hasn't changed because she just looses out to leeway. Some early boats sheeted back to a single block on the cabin roof so I suppose it would have been possible to get things in a bit tighter but I doubt this would have made much difference. Most, of course, go back to tracks on the side decks.
Terry
Portable VHF, GPS and Swift's pointing ability
I have replaced my main sail and Genoa and my boat now points into the wind much better. With the new sails I could easily sail away from other Swift 18s in our club races but I have lost that advantage now since other owners have also bought new sails. You have to remember that the Swift 18 is more of a cruiser design than racer and it will not point into the wind as well as some other makes of boats but the trade off is increases stability.
I have installed a Garmin 276C GPS on a swing are which is mounted inside of the companionway. This GPS can operate on batteries or be wired to your electrical system if you have one and is easily removed to take home. You can get the charts for this model and they make a huge difference if you are sailing in areas with a lot of sand bars and other obstructions. The swing are is a good mounting system because the arm can be pushed back out of the way when you are moving around on board and keeps everything out of sight when you are not on board. You can pull the hatch fully aft to keep the water from getting inside and you do not loss the GPS signal which is something that concerned me at first.
John
On Fri, Nov 28, 2008 at 8:23 PM, Terry <forum-general@swift18.org (forum-general@swift18.org)> wrote:
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F1-2000
I have installed a Garmin 276C GPS on a swing are which is mounted inside of the companionway. This GPS can operate on batteries or be wired to your electrical system if you have one and is easily removed to take home. You can get the charts for this model and they make a huge difference if you are sailing in areas with a lot of sand bars and other obstructions. The swing are is a good mounting system because the arm can be pushed back out of the way when you are moving around on board and keeps everything out of sight when you are not on board. You can pull the hatch fully aft to keep the water from getting inside and you do not loss the GPS signal which is something that concerned me at first.
John
On Fri, Nov 28, 2008 at 8:23 PM, Terry <forum-general@swift18.org (forum-general@swift18.org)> wrote:
Post generated using Mail2Forum (http://www.mail2forum.com)I'm also a kayak/canoe coach and use an Icom m31 as both back up for the swift and in my job. It is a really robust little radio which is currently retailing around ?99.00. It's only down side is that it uses a very small amount of juice even when switched off so if you wish to use it in, say, a grab back you would need to take the battery pack out. The m33 looks good too but I've no personal experience of using it. It does, however, float which is a real bonus in a kayak.
As for pointing, if I'm really honest I don't get much better than you. You can make it point a little more but if you look at your track on a plotter it becomes clear that your water track hasn't changed because she just looses out to leeway. Some early boats sheeted back to a single block on the cabin roof so I suppose it would have been possible to get things in a bit tighter but I doubt this would have made much difference. Most, of course, go back to tracks on the side decks.
Terry
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F1-2000
Last edited by jjspicer on Fri Feb 25, 2011 9:05 am, edited 1 time in total.
Hi,
PBO did a test of 10 handheld VHFs in the Jan 2008 issue. The standard horizon HX270E came out best on test despite being substantially cheaper than some other sets. Features they liked included being able to plug in some ordinary AA batteries in an emergency if there's no charge left, dual watch, clarity, feel, ease of use and relatively waterproof IPX7.
martin
PBO did a test of 10 handheld VHFs in the Jan 2008 issue. The standard horizon HX270E came out best on test despite being substantially cheaper than some other sets. Features they liked included being able to plug in some ordinary AA batteries in an emergency if there's no charge left, dual watch, clarity, feel, ease of use and relatively waterproof IPX7.
martin
Martin
S313 "Aperitif"
S313 "Aperitif"
Thanks for the reassurance that its not just my poor sailing ability Terry! plus the recommendation for the Icom M31. I've not got PBO Jan 08 Martin but your comment prompted me to trawl through all my old boating magazines - found a review in 2006 which rated the the M31 joint top (with the Raymarine 101) and the standard horizon HX270E gets good comments but not best - strange how 2 years later the same magazine has switched its recommendation around with the exact same models! what did the newest review say about the Icom M31 and M33?
Handheld GPS - its a choice between the Garmin 72 and 60 at the moment..
new sails would help but not possible now ... John I like your comment "I could easily sail away from the other Swift 18s in our club races" - I've got a vision of a whole school of Swifts busily racing each other out there in Dubai - kind of like the swift's heyday all over again and not the picture the average Brit has of life in the middle-east!
Handheld GPS - its a choice between the Garmin 72 and 60 at the moment..
new sails would help but not possible now ... John I like your comment "I could easily sail away from the other Swift 18s in our club races" - I've got a vision of a whole school of Swifts busily racing each other out there in Dubai - kind of like the swift's heyday all over again and not the picture the average Brit has of life in the middle-east!