Reply With QuoteThanks very much for that detailed and informative report.
Very good advice, Thanks again.
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Hi all.
Recently, one of our contributors posted that "1. An EPIRB should only be used when there is a threat of grave or imminent danger......". I can now report on a real life situation that shoots this theory down.
Two mates set out on Tuesday morning from Sarina to fish the day out near Pine Peak Island. Their boat is a very seaworthy one, recently fitted with a brand new outboard (less than 40 hours on the clock) and all equipment in good clean order. On the way out, somewhere north east of Double Island the motor had issues of a clearly terminal nature. Conditions were glass calm, but they were on the edge of the shipping lane so there was some concern about what to do. They were out of mobile phone range, and after trying to report their problems via radio were not getting any responses. They decided not to activate their Epirb due to the little sticker on the side stating that wrongful use would result in big fines etc.
They were due back at Sarina at 6pm. Family contacted the authorities reporting them as overdue at 9pm. We were contacted by Whitsunday Water Police after that to find out where they would have gone and the route most likely taken. A air search was started at midnight, and air sea rescue shortly afterwarads to follow the route they would have taken. During the course of the day and night, they set off 5 flares at times when they saw aircraft, or vessels in the distance. The last flare set off was sighted by both the chopper and a passing recreational boat. They were towed back to Sarina arriving nearly 24 hours after they should have.
During the debrief with Air Sea Rescue authorities and Whitsunday Water Police, they were told in no uncertain terms that they should have immediately activated their EPIRB, once they had ascertained that there was no possibility of restarting the motor, and they were out of mobile phone range, and were not getting any response to their radio calls. Doing this would have alerted the authorities and pinpointed their location, saving the costs of a 12 hour air and sea search, and had them safely back on shore nearly 24 hours earlier, saving a lot of worry and lost sleep for families, friends and rescue personnel, as well as monetary costs.
So simply put, if you do find yourself in this situation, and you cant get anyone to respond to radio calls, flares or other telecommunications devices, dont hesitate to use the Epirb. Thats what you carry them for, and it may just be the device that ensures you get home safely, and not end up as a report on the 6 o'clock news.
Jeff.
Thanks very much for that detailed and informative report.
Very good advice, Thanks again.
(Using Tapatalk on iPhone so can't easily 'thank' or 'like')
Very informative & relevant...Thank you.Originally Posted by Short Fuse
Ray & Kerri.
Jeff,
Thanks for the clarification. I think that is pretty much what most readers would do if in that situation, as you would have no alternative.
I will be very interested in hearing the response from a certain person, as I am sure many will.
As you said, the time, the increased cost, the grief the family were suffering, how do you put a cost on that??
If activated, they know exactly where you are, more than likely one vessel or a chopper involved, not multiple searching that awfully big paddock, saving a huge amount of resources & worry.
Thanks again for the info.
Tony
I usually let my epirb off just before i leave the house to head to the ramp. Covers all bases then.
1. Rule #1 mobile phones are not to be relied upon. Quoting being out of mobile phone range is simply a waste of print
2. Rule #2 radio communications would have saved an extreme amount of worry, headaches and waste of emerency services, chopper time in this situation. What is not totally understood at this time is the situation of the radio communications, no response? Why? obviously radio was not functional as there were other vessels in that particular area at that particular time.
3. This incident does nothing more than highlight the on going issue with attitudes towards proper radio communications, maintaining that radio equipment and ensuring the radio equipment is in good working order.
Thats actually not just a theory mate its direct from Marine Safety Queesland typed word for word and in response to a question asked by another member.
" waste of print". Seriously?
Gee I hope you are not in a position of power over anyone... or as bad... an instructor of any kind.
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So... to summarise, an EPIRB should ONLY be activated when there is "grave and imminent danger" pretty simple and clear to me, however, who makes or when does the call get made that you are in "grave and imminent danger"? that's what we are in two minds about! To Satnav, it is when every effort to make contact has been exhausted, your boat is on fire and sinking, there is sharks circling the boat, and a hurricane is raging blowing you straight on to the rocks, right? To the majority, it seems as long as you are disabled, and have little chance of getting help right away, that's good enough. To me it is a bit of in the middle, who is right is anyone's guess, I do know that the authorities take an EPIRB activation very seriously, and it is not a toy that is handy to get someone's attention when it all goes to shit.
Todays rescue can easily end up being tomorrow's mayday. Good post
SatNav- here is a serious question for you, & I would appreciate any help from anyone else as well.
I fish the Hards a bit, but as soon as I get past say, 40km out, my reception drops out. Phone reception as well is lost.
Due to this problem, Linemaster, our local Furuno & everything to do with boats supplier, replaced my VHF & upgraded it to an Icom, replaced the aerial with a better, longer one, but I am still losing reception.
We go up to 100km out, & it is very unnerving having no communication.
Now before you give me a pasting, I have a 28ft Sailfish with twin 150 Hondas serviced every 100 hours & they only have 250 hours on them. I always fill to the brim before leaving & I have 480 litre capacity, so regarding fuel & reliable well maintained machinery, I believe I am covering all bases, as well as they can be covered.
I am a mechanical idiot, struggling to work out which way to turn a tap on, so if something did do wrong engine wise, I couldn't fix it anyway, hence the twin engines.
I was told by a mate to try channel 80 when I got out of range, as Noosa has a repeater station, & I should be able to get reception on this. I tried several times, but nothing. If afeter doing everything I have done, & still can't get reception, what is my next move??
Thanks all,
Tony
Hey Tony....
My uneducated guess knowing not very much at all would say that a sat phone or an HF radio and appropriate class license to use it would be a good measure.
doubt a change of channel would increase your range in any way (but you never know) radio reception is in a way, line of sight, have a read of this, it is a sort of simple explanation of how it all works.
http://www.boat-project.com/tutorials/vhfant.htm
I guess I should add (not that it makes any difference) but I started life as a radio technician, (back when we used to fix things) and worked in the field for a lot of years.
For me if you constantly fish out there and have no communication on VHF then its time to add a HF radio in i think.
If there are other boats around that can relay your message great, but that is not always the case.
Your EPIRB is there when there is nothing else you can do to get help, Your Boat is broken down, no radio communication, guess what, its now life threatening, so it should be as a Last resort in a Breakdown Situation but you may not have any other choice.
Depending on the location the first thing you will see is an Aircraft, be it HELO or Airplane. From there once they can establish comms with you on emergency channel 16, If your Radio still works they will notify the SAR Authority (water police) and relay messages back to them.
Then a VMR or Coastguard Boat will be the next most likely thing you see to tow you home.
When you get back the water Police no doubt will be waiting for you but as long as you were justified in your use of the EPIRB then there would be no issues.
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