I write this entry now not as an idle review but to urge you to be the most responsible person in your canoe. We must be prepared for worst case scenarios. I never would have thought a safety escort boat would not be paying attention. Ali’s close friends informed me he did not have any communication device on him and for reasons as yet unknown, the safety boats lost track of him early on during his final race. I have certainly come across the blogs of others covering tragedy, and the focus of this entry is the prevention of any other. I spent a week paddling with Ali at the Guadeloupe downwind camp hosted by Woo last year and am utterly disheartened to hear of the paddling community loss of this wonderful gentleman. My review is overdue and prompted from the news of the drowning death of my associate paddler, Alistair Collier of the UK. Over the past year and a half I have frequently paddled with it and have always had it with me on my OC1 in the Hudson River and Long Island Sound. Ultimately I selected the HX300 for its size and features. I went home that day, in the summer of 2017, and put considerable time into reading reviews of VHF radios. He plainly stated that communication must always be carried. He put his cellphone in a waterproof Pelican box and connected it to the front of the canoe, under the crisscrossing bunjees. When I was first invited to paddle OC2 in the New York harbor with an experienced friend, I saw him put on his PFD and put his radio in a pocket. While I would like to have a little more room in my PFD, I will hold off on that expenditure for now. In closing to this update, ACR also has a very compact PLB now that runs about $360.00. It will be a little annoying to take a wall charger with me while travelling, but to have the electronics fail over the USB latch during some intense surf (hurricane was approaching) was exactly when I didn’t want my gear to fail. That is not the case for the HX40, which allows you to attach the strap directly to the radio body and then attach this to your PFD without all of the poking bulkiness. The belt clip had to be on the HX300 for the strap to attach also. The HX40 is just a better size overall for paddlers, and while I had really liked the USB port, especially for travelling, the HX300 radio is better for boating not for small craft where getting wet and immersion are constant. After giving Standard Horizon an email ultimatum, I suddenly got a Fedex tracking number with no other correspondence, and a few days later a brand new HX300 showed up in the mail. It was supposed to take 7-10 days for repair, but eventually it just sort of disappeared and no one picked up the phone or answered any more emails. As it was only two years old, off to the manufacturer it went. While the radio dried and I researched the HX40, I discovered my HX300 had a 3 year warranty. If you are reading this and in another country, please comment on who patrols your waters and how we reach them by VHF. I do not know the outcome of this episode, but it really taught me they are there and listening. The Coast Guard repeatedly called back, without success, for the location of the vessel and number of people on it. I opened my eyes a little wider just in case I saw anyone in distress, but I did not. Sure enough, I actually overheard the Coast Guard responding to a vessel in distress. I tested it with my club radios then had it turned on to see if I got any Coast Guard chatter in Long Island Sound. Just turn it on, hit the button for channel 16 and call for “Mayday” if you’re in trouble. Since I connect the radio to my PFD, I think that’s enough flotation for it. I bought the optional floating case online, but it proved to be really bulky. The HX40 is much smaller due to the fact the built-in flotation of the HX300 has been removed. Since I won’t paddle without a radio, I headed to West Marine and bought the new, compact HX40. I removed the battery and tried drying everything in a closed container with Superdry calcium chloride desiccant, but the electronics only partially came back to life. I got back from a surf session and found the port stuck open, and the light that comes on in the unit when it gets wet was on and blinking. I had really liked the USB charging port, but this summer the latch over the port started opening. Due to the failure of my HX300, I am updating this entry.
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