EPIRB or PLB Assisted Rescue: First-person Accounts
Posted: Fri Nov 10, 2017 1:41 pm
The marine electronics manufacturer ACR Electronics, Inc., has an interesting website devoted to customers who have used one of their many 406-MHz beacon products to summon help in a distress situation. They call this their "Survivors Club." The website offers first-person accounts from customers that describe how they were rescued from a distress situation by use of an ACR product. One such first-account describes a recent boating trip. I summarize the events below:
On May 28th, 2017, two adults and two children (ages seven and nine) departed Jetty Park near Port Canaveral, Florida, in an undescribed outboard engine boat, and headed offshore to do some recreational angling for dolphin. The sea state was predicted to be waves of one to two feet at eight second intervals, and the intended destination was an area known locally as "The Cones." On the way to their destination, the sea state was worse than predicted, so they stopped short, and began trolling. When angling for about an hour was unproduction, the boat got underway again, and resumed a course offshore for the original destination.
At this point the helmsman noticed the boat seemed to be heavier and trimmed down by the stern, but this was attributed to the crew weight distribution and the higher seas. Upon arrival at "The Cones" the sea state was now three to four feet. Angling resumed. When the helmsman left the console and went to the stern, he observed that the engine splash well was taking water over the transom from the waves, and the water level was high enough to submerge the boat's batteries. Only about one-inch of freeboard remained at the transom. An electric bilge pump was started. In an interval described as "within minutes" water was coming over over the transom and downflooding the cockpit
At this point the VHF Marine Band radio was used to make a voice distress alert broadcast (MAYDAY) on 156.800-MHz (CH-16), and PFD's were put on by the crew. After several broadcasts of MAYDAY, a reply was received and an attempt was made to communicate by voice the position of the vessel in latitude and longitude. Several repetitions were necessary to communicate the position of the vessel to the other station. (The account does not identify the other station.)
In anticipation of the boat sinking, all crew moved toward the bow. The boat had poor stability at this point, and the movement caused the starboard gunwale to submerge, accelerating the downflooding. Preparations to abandon ship were made. One adult went into the water first, then the two children joined him, and the second adult prepared to leave the boat, collecting a flare gun and a Personal Locator Beacon (PLB) with GPS receiver.
There were boats in the vicinity, and three flares were fired. (The account does not describe the type of flare.) Then the last adult went into the water. One more flare (their last) was fired, and the PLB activated.
In the next approximately 45-minutes the first-hand account describes that four to five other "fishing vessels" (probably other recreational boats engaged in angling) passed nearby without stopping to render assistance, causing concern that no organized search effort was underway. After about one-hour in the water, the children began to show signs of hypothermia. Finally, after about two hours in the water, a USCG HC-144 aircraft was sighted. The account of the rescue ends there.
In the aftermath of the rescue, the USCG is said to have never received their VHF Marine Band voice MAYDAY distress alert broadcast on CH-16 or any sort of relay of it from other boaters. The presence of the USCG on the scene is attributed entirely to the reception of the 406-MHz distress beacon transmitter that was activated when they abandoned ship.
(The original first hand account appears on the ACR website.)
More first-person accounts of rescues attributed to use of 406-MHz distress alerting beacons, either EPIRB or PLB devices, can be found at
https://www.acrartex.com/survivors/
On May 28th, 2017, two adults and two children (ages seven and nine) departed Jetty Park near Port Canaveral, Florida, in an undescribed outboard engine boat, and headed offshore to do some recreational angling for dolphin. The sea state was predicted to be waves of one to two feet at eight second intervals, and the intended destination was an area known locally as "The Cones." On the way to their destination, the sea state was worse than predicted, so they stopped short, and began trolling. When angling for about an hour was unproduction, the boat got underway again, and resumed a course offshore for the original destination.
At this point the helmsman noticed the boat seemed to be heavier and trimmed down by the stern, but this was attributed to the crew weight distribution and the higher seas. Upon arrival at "The Cones" the sea state was now three to four feet. Angling resumed. When the helmsman left the console and went to the stern, he observed that the engine splash well was taking water over the transom from the waves, and the water level was high enough to submerge the boat's batteries. Only about one-inch of freeboard remained at the transom. An electric bilge pump was started. In an interval described as "within minutes" water was coming over over the transom and downflooding the cockpit
At this point the VHF Marine Band radio was used to make a voice distress alert broadcast (MAYDAY) on 156.800-MHz (CH-16), and PFD's were put on by the crew. After several broadcasts of MAYDAY, a reply was received and an attempt was made to communicate by voice the position of the vessel in latitude and longitude. Several repetitions were necessary to communicate the position of the vessel to the other station. (The account does not identify the other station.)
In anticipation of the boat sinking, all crew moved toward the bow. The boat had poor stability at this point, and the movement caused the starboard gunwale to submerge, accelerating the downflooding. Preparations to abandon ship were made. One adult went into the water first, then the two children joined him, and the second adult prepared to leave the boat, collecting a flare gun and a Personal Locator Beacon (PLB) with GPS receiver.
There were boats in the vicinity, and three flares were fired. (The account does not describe the type of flare.) Then the last adult went into the water. One more flare (their last) was fired, and the PLB activated.
In the next approximately 45-minutes the first-hand account describes that four to five other "fishing vessels" (probably other recreational boats engaged in angling) passed nearby without stopping to render assistance, causing concern that no organized search effort was underway. After about one-hour in the water, the children began to show signs of hypothermia. Finally, after about two hours in the water, a USCG HC-144 aircraft was sighted. The account of the rescue ends there.
In the aftermath of the rescue, the USCG is said to have never received their VHF Marine Band voice MAYDAY distress alert broadcast on CH-16 or any sort of relay of it from other boaters. The presence of the USCG on the scene is attributed entirely to the reception of the 406-MHz distress beacon transmitter that was activated when they abandoned ship.
(The original first hand account appears on the ACR website.)
More first-person accounts of rescues attributed to use of 406-MHz distress alerting beacons, either EPIRB or PLB devices, can be found at
https://www.acrartex.com/survivors/