When it comes to heading out into the ocean blue on a sailboat, one of the most important items one can have on the boat is not a case of beer, but a fully functional sailboat radio.
The sailboat radio is the item that is needed to get one out of a bad situation if an emergency arises and a difficult situation develops. The sailboat radio is one contact with the outside world and more importantly, the coast guard when one is in a dire mayday situation.
Now, it is far from adequate to simply plug a radio in and hope for the best. The radio needs to be set up properly and set up in such a way that there will be no problems with the operation of the radio.
The sailboat radio must be installed properly so as to prevent any problems with the radio malfunctioning.
The malfunctioning of a sailboat radio during a life or death situation is a truly frightening concept. If a radio is set up properly, this frightening situation may be properly and totally avoided.
If there ever was a proper way to set up a sailboat radio, it would be this: if you are unsure of how to set up the radio, you will be best served by having the radio installed and set up by someone who knows how to set it up properly.
This may seem like an academic point, but it is sincerely shocking how many people will prefer to muddle their way through the installation of a sailboat radio as opposed to properly having it installed by a knowledgeable individual.
Sometimes it is important to set ego aside and let the installation be left to those who know what they are doing. If one decides to install a sailboat radio based on limited knowledge, the possibility of the sailboat radio malfunctioning becomes increased logarithmically.
While the radio may work at first, it is not out of the question that the radio may malfunction under less than ideal circumstances.
These less than ideal circumstances may be at a time when the weather conditions are incredibly poor or when the sailboat is isolated. This is hardly a good time to have a malfunctioning radio!
An individual who has significant experience with radio installation will be able to have the radio set up and working immediately.
Plus, in setting up and installing the sailboat radio properly, there will be less of a chance of the radio malfunctioning or falling apart when an emergency arises.
Sometimes, proper installation is done so that when any type of ocean turbulence will not lead to the radio wires coming loose or the radio short-circuiting. Some people do not take this possibility into consideration and then have to pay the price of such folly.
What makes such a situation ridiculous is the fact that the situation could be totally avoided, but ego drives the unskilled into doing something that they should not be doing.
If one is going to spend money on a sailboat and spend money on a radio, it is wisely suggested to spend extra money on paying a technician to have the radio properly set up and installed so as to avoid problems from occurring when such problems would be highly inconvenient, to say the least!
