"Note the non-skid dash"

Just looks like dirt to me!!! :)

Well said Terry. That GPS looks just like the one that I finally took out of my boat a couple of months ago. I kept it as a backup to my other GPS. I think it was about 20 plus years old. I bought it to replace my old loran that I saved up to have, instead of just the compass.

You also realize that you are not in control of your life as much as you believe you are. Everyday you wake up its a roll of the dice. If these boys had been 24 or 34 years old we would not be having this conversation. This is an emotional reaction due to the age of those involved.

I have the same gps right above my new $$$$ one. That particular unit performs a unique task that some of us still need. ;)

I myself have 2 epirbs on board, one in the ditch and another easy to grap.

The green screen on that one finally got so many horizonal lines in it I couldn't read it. I put a new white screen GP-33 on that scow a couple of years ago and it has bigger letters for us old guys to see.

The weird deal is I finally read the instruction on the TD conversions because I could never get the GP-31 to find anything. The trick is you go to a known, NEARBY Lat-Lon that you have an old TD for and adjust the offsets to get it to read the TD correctly on that nearby spot (I thought you could do it at the dock). If you can get a couple nearby, that's even better. I was within a couple of miles of the old TD I was trying to find. When I made that adjustment offshore and nearby, all kinds of old TD's read and the bottom machine jumped just as the numbers rolled over! The Furunos are good, but I suspect the software is not accurate enought to compute the possible TD parabolas at a 25 mile range. The problem is that like you, I've been at this so long I still have more TD's than Lat-Lon's. Get inside of a couple of miles and reset the wheels and they seem to be spot on. I had the first one for 17 years before I got the second one and actually read the instructions! But of course Kenny you know, "Real Men Don't Read Instructions OR Ask Directions".

I do not disagree with people being responsible for their own actions but unfortunately their decisions affect more then just themselves. emergency medical services, physicians, firefighters, police, etc... (not to mention loved ones) it takes precious time, money, and resources. Maybe we need to just learn from our experiences and try to make a better future for us out there...

I carry a fuel tank that is 140 gallons. At $3.00 / gal, that represents $420.00.

How expensive is a single purchase $300.00 to $400.00 EPIRB again?

Just asking.

PS: Note my slogan at the bottom of every posting I put on this site.

"Getting home is more important than getting there!

Plan accordingly!"

I`m mostly near shore because of electrical gremlins, but I do run n gun.

I got a PLB from Rich at Cape Marine Supply for 200 clams on special a few years back.
I really only brought it when going offshore or on friends boat`s. Not anymore.
Also due for a battery change.

Things happen fast out there.

All of those people choose their profession and know the risks of the job, they can walk away if they do not want to accept those risks anymore. We can learn from our experiences and we can make personal choices in our own risk assessments each time we go out to help mitigate those risks. However, I personally draw the line at the government mandating it.