I am renting an EPIRB for the race. I thought I’d pass on what that process has been for me, and pose a couple of questions that it has raised.
The Boat US rental program is well known, but I did a little checking on alternatives. Lots of places rent EPIRBs, and some charge a little less than the $65/week rate at Boat US. It is not always clear, however, how the other vendors handle the registration/notification process – i.e., whose name and contact information does COSPAS-SARSAT have associated with that unit’s Unique Identifier Number (“UIN”). (Beacons have UINs, by the way, not MMSIs.) With Boat US, it is very clear: the UIN is assigned to Boat US; when the authorities get a ping from that unit, they call the Boat US emergency dispatch, who has the renter’s info cross referenced to that UIN.
I decided that going with the established folks at Boat US was worth the few extra dollars. I called their number (888-663-7472), and within minutes had a contract on my email, complete with UIN of the McMurdo Cat II 406 MHz GPS-Enabled EPIRB that is now reserved to be shipped to me for the race. They will not charge my credit card until June 19, 2018, the day they ship the unit off for guaranteed delivery to me by June 22, 2016. If I cancel before then, no charge. Total cost is $230: 3 week rental at $65/week, plus $35 to cover shipping both ways. Rental period runs from when the Unit arrives (not when they ship it) to when it is placed with Fed Ex for the return (not when they get it). The unit will come in a pelican case, with a pre-paid Fed Ex shipping label for the return. It looks like there is a Fed Ex office not far from the beach in Hanalei.
All in all, I am pleased with this choice. And I'm happy to have one more thing off the check list.
My first question: I would like to have the unit shipped to me c/o Corinthian Yacht Club, since that’s where I’ll be on June 22, but how should I go about clearing that with CYC? I doubt the CYC staff or Port Captain want to field calls like this from individual racers. Is there someone on the SSS side of things I should be talking to about communicating with CYC on this?
Second: In a response in the SER Questions thread, DaveH says to include RC on the contact list. All that the Boat US form calls for are names and phone numbers. They don’t want email addresses. Is there a specific name and phone number to give them? In taling to Boat US today I gave them the names and cell phone numbers for the contact persons listed on my PLB registration. But I can add or substitute another name and number when I sign the agreement to send back to them.
The Boat US rental program is well known, but I did a little checking on alternatives. Lots of places rent EPIRBs, and some charge a little less than the $65/week rate at Boat US. It is not always clear, however, how the other vendors handle the registration/notification process – i.e., whose name and contact information does COSPAS-SARSAT have associated with that unit’s Unique Identifier Number (“UIN”). (Beacons have UINs, by the way, not MMSIs.) With Boat US, it is very clear: the UIN is assigned to Boat US; when the authorities get a ping from that unit, they call the Boat US emergency dispatch, who has the renter’s info cross referenced to that UIN.
I decided that going with the established folks at Boat US was worth the few extra dollars. I called their number (888-663-7472), and within minutes had a contract on my email, complete with UIN of the McMurdo Cat II 406 MHz GPS-Enabled EPIRB that is now reserved to be shipped to me for the race. They will not charge my credit card until June 19, 2018, the day they ship the unit off for guaranteed delivery to me by June 22, 2016. If I cancel before then, no charge. Total cost is $230: 3 week rental at $65/week, plus $35 to cover shipping both ways. Rental period runs from when the Unit arrives (not when they ship it) to when it is placed with Fed Ex for the return (not when they get it). The unit will come in a pelican case, with a pre-paid Fed Ex shipping label for the return. It looks like there is a Fed Ex office not far from the beach in Hanalei.
All in all, I am pleased with this choice. And I'm happy to have one more thing off the check list.
My first question: I would like to have the unit shipped to me c/o Corinthian Yacht Club, since that’s where I’ll be on June 22, but how should I go about clearing that with CYC? I doubt the CYC staff or Port Captain want to field calls like this from individual racers. Is there someone on the SSS side of things I should be talking to about communicating with CYC on this?
Second: In a response in the SER Questions thread, DaveH says to include RC on the contact list. All that the Boat US form calls for are names and phone numbers. They don’t want email addresses. Is there a specific name and phone number to give them? In taling to Boat US today I gave them the names and cell phone numbers for the contact persons listed on my PLB registration. But I can add or substitute another name and number when I sign the agreement to send back to them.
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