It was reported on the 12th of March 2012 that a day's fishing for five Victorians almost ended in tragedy off Port Stephens on the 6th of March when their 8 meter vessel was overturned by a rogue wave as they headed back to port in the afternoon.  The men spent a couple of hours in the water hanging onto the upturned vessel until rescue helicopters arrived and plucked them out of the rough sea.  Search and Rescue Authorities were alerted to the distress after the quick thinking skipper of the vessel activated the EPIRB on board.

According to the Newcastle Herald the skipper is being praised as a hero after his quick thinking saved the lives of two of his fishing mates and alerted the authorities to the boat’s whereabouts. He told the Newcastle Herald that while treading water in the boat’s hull he grabbed a distress beacon and life jacket then tied a piece of rope to a chair before swimming to the surface.  ‘‘Without the EPIRB (emergency distress beacon) we were gone,’’ he said.  ‘‘I managed to tie a rope to the boat and that way two men could cling to the rope while the rest of us hung onto the boat’s motor.  ‘‘Without that rope those two would have floated away.’’

The Westpac Helicopter picked up 4 of the men whilst an RAAF search and rescue Helicopter saved the 5th. All men were transported to John Hunter Hospital and discharged at about 7:30pm that evening.

What a great tale of quick thinking in the moment of crisis and planning ahead before leaving port! I, personally have always thought it was smart to be sure always to have an EPIRB on board any time you set out with your vessel. Of course, it doesn't hurt to be sure to have one of the GPS chartplotters along, too, to keep you on course in the first place. Well, that's just one of my personal soap boxes, but the above story really shows the validity of safety first thinking. What a smart skipper, and one to certainly be commended. Well done.

We got a call recently from someone wondering whether he would be able to use the existing transducer that came with his boat with new GPS fishfinder combination.  That opened a conversation about compatibility.  Not all brands of ducers will be compatible with all brands of GPS fishfinder combination.  You really want to do your homework on that one to be sure that you have the correct match.  Also, his old fishfinder was set into his boat, permanently affixed; and he wanted to be able to drop his new model into the same slot.  We did the homework and found the GPS fishfinders that would meet all his criteria.  That was an interesting exploration, but we found some great options that would fit perfectly.  During that search it brought out the fact that, although some GPS fishfinders will work permanently affixed to the boat, some will actually get much better reception and give you better screen visibility if they are on a swivel mount which gives clearance all around.  These are all important things to consider when shopping for a replacement GPS fishfinder combo for your boat to give you the best fishing possible.  Happy fishing, and I hope you catch the Big One!

There are several parts to a gimbal mount.  Normally it is made of a set of rings, but sometimes is a ball and socket arrangement, attaching ultimately to a bracket which will support the equipment and another part which will attach to the vessel.  In this case, we would use them to attach our GPS fishfinders and/or chartplotters as important and useful marine accessories.