Personal Safety Devices on board
We often get the question from our Cruising Customers who sail short-handed or do lake crossings- Which personal safety device is better for my uses a Personal locator beacon (PLB) or EPIRB? This may also be of use to our MAC racers. The enclosed article from Soundings Online breaks it down.
Several years ago I interviewed an angler who had fallen overboard on a nighttime run offshore and whose friends didn't notice he was missing for more than an hour. The unlucky boater struggled to stay afloat and alive for more than 12 hours until he was finally spotted the next morning by a couple who just happened to be cruising past. He wasn't wearing a life jacket, and he had no way of signaling for help.
By the time he was found, the 34-year-old fisherman told me he had "said his goodbyes" and figured he could only hold out, at best, for another hour. He spent five days in a hospital recovering from the ordeal. When he got out, the first thing he did was buy an offshore flotation jacket, a strobe and an EPIRB.
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PLB vs. EPIRB - which is right for you?
Written by William Sisson
Several years ago I interviewed an angler who had fallen overboard on a nighttime run offshore and whose friends didn't notice he was missing for more than an hour. The unlucky boater struggled to stay afloat and alive for more than 12 hours until he was finally spotted the next morning by a couple who just happened to be cruising past. He wasn't wearing a life jacket, and he had no way of signaling for help.
By the time he was found, the 34-year-old fisherman told me he had "said his goodbyes" and figured he could only hold out, at best, for another hour. He spent five days in a hospital recovering from the ordeal. When he got out, the first thing he did was buy an offshore flotation jacket, a strobe and an EPIRB.
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