SPOT distress failure in Sailboat Aegean loss

There are ways to test the PLB. A service is offered by

http://406link.com/

There is a review of the new small Fast Find at
http://www.equipped.com/McMurdoNewFastFind.htm

There is also a piece on getting the beacons tested at Coast Guard facilities--not sure if this is still in effect or not.

http://www.equipped.org/406testing.htm

A link to Panbo's on a recent ACR product. These units have a self test which shows status of transmission bursts etc. This alone might be worth the difference of cost over the Fast find.

http://www.panbo.com/archives/2010/02/acr_two_big_miami_safety_debuts.html

As a ham operator it is fairly easy to test the output of these units. You can put them in a shielded container and run the tests without actually "hitting" the satellite. I have tested our units every year and we are in the 5th year. Probably will buy new units rather than replacing the battery, although the current battery will most likely be good for a couple more years.
 
Sorry for the blank post apparently I posted a broken link, and the whole message did not post.

There is a bit more difference between the EPRIB and PLB. The EPRIB is registered to a specific boat. The PLB is to a person. The EPRIB can be auto deploy by hydrostatic or moisture. There are two categories. The EPRIB does have a 48 hr battery.

The PLB can be taken boat to boat, to an airplane, (probably not a substitute for a locator beacon)--when you hike, camp, Ski etc. It only has a 24 hour battery at - 20 C--but actually will last longer, and is probably adequate for coastal and inland use. There are PLB which have 48 hour batteries if that is important.

We choose to carry two PLB with us at almost all times (boating, kayaking, hiking, camping, cross country driving etc). Each of us has one of these on our person when on the water, along with a hand held waterproof VHF radio.

There are some PLB which will send a simple message. Spot is specifically for tracking, as well as some units (connect) sending short messages.

There are ways to test the PLB

Here is a service which you can subscribe to which will test a PLB:

http://406link.com/

A ham operator can test the beacons, and I have tested ours yearly. They are at the 5 years battery replacement later this year. However because of technical advancements, we will replace the two, and keep the current ones as back ups.

There was also a program where Coast Guard Stations tested bacons--not sure if this is still in effect:

http://www.equipped.org/406testing.htm

There are also reviews of the Fast find at Equipt to survive:
http://www.equipped.com/McMurdoNewFastFind.htm

And the ACR

http://www.equipped.org/blog/?p=284

Panbo has a good review of the most recent ACR at:

http://www.panbo.com/archives/2012/03/the_smallest_plb_acr_resqlink_or_satro_plb-110.html

And another take on Spot and AquaLink at:

http://www.panbo.com/archives/2010/08/acr_aqualink_view_406link_hands_on.html
 
My EPIRB is an ACR model Cat 1 which means it has a hydrostatic self launch case, that being said I took it out of the case which means I would have to activate it manually, or as soon as it hits the water it will activate. It has a self test mode and is designed to be tested once a month, it will go thought it's self test mode and show you digitally in messages what it is testing. The battery life is 5 years with once a month testing and still give 48 hrs in signal mode. It is also linked to the GPS for a quicker first burst of lat/long info. It is registered to the boat or you could put it in your backpack, it is very lightweight. For hiking I would go the route that Bob does and use a PLB, they are lighter/less expensive. The products keep getting cheaper and better every year.
 
On my ACR unit, the self test is battery and internal system only. I don't think there's a way to send a test signal to the satellites and have some confirmation message returned from the internet. So in that regard there's no way to test the whole system, as can be done with the SPOT.

That's why I like having the SPOT in addition to the PLB. Hopefully if I really need help some day, at least one of the devices will do its job. And I do keep them with me in the car, truck, boats, and camping.

I was out in Death Valley one winter, driving around on a back road at night and getting low on fuel. I thought about the PLB in the trunk and it was comforting.

-Jeff
 
There is a post on the Wavetrain blog (Charles Doane) this morning about the Aegean incident/U.S. Sailing final report preview. It includes information and photos showing that divers have found parts of the wreck on the bottom pretty much just below where the SPOT track ended at the island, and it also includes commentary and analysis by well-respected sailor, cruiser, and writer Evans Starzinger. It's an interesting read, and rather than try to summarize it in more detail here, I will post a link to it:

http://www.wavetrain.net/news-a-views/393-aegean-tragedy-us-sailing-final-report-preview

Sunbeam
 
Good reading, and some real lessons to be heeded. We have done many tens of thousands of night sailing offshore, and always make sure that a person is standing watch. This person also charts the position at least once an hour.

It looks as if this debris is the boat which was lost. The point of inside or outside of the coronado Islands is made, but there is some fault there--in that the decision is made many miles north of N. Coronado, not just a few miles North. (from a several time winner of his class and second over all in the Ensenada race).

We have pruchased a Fast Find but will replace the battery in one of the ACR PLB. Remember that one of the failures here was not the SPOT, but that of the agency which should have initiated the search!
 
thataway":7exwbq74 said:
Remember that one of the failures here was not the SPOT, but that of the agency which should have initiated the search!
Click to expand...

I would like to understand this better. I understood that SPOT was a private company and that they try/intend to relay emergency messages, when possible, but that since the messages don't go directly to the search agencies (like, say, an EPIRB does) there is room for error, messages may not always be sent, etc.. That's also the impression this passage (see below) from the linked article gave me - that there was perhaps a problem with the SPOT folks relaying of the message, vs. the actual people who (would have been) doing the responding. Or did I somehow get this wrong?

"Some of the crew were alive and alert after the impact as someone pushed the SPOT SOS button approximately 7 minutes after the impact. Unfortunately this SPOT SOS message did not get communicated to the authorities and no search was launched until the next day when other vessels found the debris field."

Edited to add: I did a bit of poking around to see if I could find more on the chain of distress call/SPOT and found this article (then looked back up at the beginning of the thread and found you had linked it in the first post as well). I still get the impression that the SPOT distress call was not really relayed "properly"?

http://www.practical-sailor.com/blog/-10824-1.html
 
We used SPOT for 2 years on board SleepyC and also traveling on land. There were times that the tracking breadcrumbs did not get through, (a problem that was addressed in the update SPOT II, by it sending the current, plus the previous 2 GPS locations), and we had reception capability on board (phone with text message reception) and never had an issue with the messages, (check in OK), not getting through. We had no way to follow the track until we got home or to a place with I-net capability. The missing bread-crumbs were generally when driving and not having a good sky view. Tracking the boat was very regular and interesting.

That SPOT is gone now, and if I was going to replace it it would be with the updated SPOT II. The Spot Connect may be even more useful due to text message compatability but I believe it carries a higher annual fee for that service. IF I was going to carry a SAR initiation device it would be a GPIRB type -- GPS built in and outputs the GPS locating info in the first signal burst.

Barry (and others) are right. SPOT should not be the primary SAR initiation device, but it is a good tracking, I'm OK messaging, and peace of mind device.

Dr Bob is right, carry the PLB on person and carry a waterproof handheld VHF. If they (the hilo) is looking for you and you can talk to them you will be much easier to find. (Typical GPS fix is 30 feet to 30 yards. That could be 100 square feet to find a bobbing volleyball in a quarter of a city block of wind whipped white caps.)

Somedays we and they get lucky.

Harvey
SleepyC :moon
 
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