SCAdventure said:
What do you mean by "all the safety equipment"? Life raft? Radar? I'm planning on going inshore in 208 adventure in SC.
We've taken our 208 50-70 miles offshore in southern California quite a number of times. We do not have a life raft, EPIRB or a radar. Here's what we do have:
Vessel Assist membership (Tow Boat US or Sea Tow also work, depending on who has the best coverage in your area)
VHF Radio
GPS
Handheld VHF
Backup handheld GPS
Flare gun, lots of flares and handheld flares.
Life jackets (of course)
First Aid kit
Throw cushions
Polypropylene line tied to throw cushion for MOB situation
Two anchors and two anchor lines (main anchor line is 300 feet with 30 feet of chain, backup is 100 feet)
A pull start rope for the motor (We've successfully pull started our Yamaha by wrapping a dock line around the flywheel when the starter bendix would not engage, though in most cases I never shut off the motor offshore)
Extra bilge pump rigged with long wires with alligator clips and hose
Cone shaped wood plugs to plug any thru-hull holes
Set of hand tools (screwdrivers, wrenches, channel locks, vice grips, etc)
Extra electrical wire of various gauges.
Mask and snorkel
Extra bottled water
When going long offshore we take 30 gallons of extra fuel in jerry cans, just in case. The 82 gallon main tank has always been sufficient to get us home, but it's nice having the extra fuel if the weather turns nasty and we have a 60 mile run home uphill in the slop. There's never any excuse for running out of fuel in a boat.
Probably a couple more things I can't think of right now. Adding an EPIRB, life raft and radar to this list would be great. If you're a single motor, adding a kicker isn't a bad idea either if you go offshore a lot.
I've had to be towed in 3 times in my life in 22 years of boating and thousands of hours on the water, once from about 50 miles out in Mexican waters, but never in the Grady (knock on wood!). A tow service membership with coverage where you're going is an absolute must, IMO.
There's probably others who can add to this list. Hopefully this gives you an idea on what to have.