Tragedy off P-Town

[Magnanimous]

I run 2 vhf's. One is always on 16 and the other is on scan or locked into a chanel that I want. for the price of a vhf...100.00 bucks or so...I think its worth the money......if something bad happends...you may not have time to get to chanel 16. With 2 I don't have to worry about looking for a chanel....This is a truely sad story....god bless that family

Mark
shannonsea.com

[28Conquest]

Very sad -- my thoughts go out to the families.

I have no idea what the experience level was of the boaters in question, but I am guessing they were relatively inexperienced. I remember having my first 20' open boat several years ago, and how long it took me to understand the line between uncomfortable and downright dangerous. I would not have gone out in those conditions in my 28' walkaround...

I often see new boaters asking what kind of conditions are acceptable in their [insert small open craft here], and I hope folks will point them to this thread to show how things can go downhill very quickly, even in sight of shore with many other boats in the vicinity.

I have 16 on my scan list, but I am definitely guilty of just sitting on 68/69 and listening to the fishing jabber. I agree that it would be worthwhile for the CG to alert folks on the known fishing channels in the area in a life or death situation. I'm sure the station at P-town knows that what channels we are chatting on. That said, the coasties are just in the harbor, so they may have been first on the scene in any event.