SPOT distress failure in Sailboat Aegean loss

T

thataway

Active member
I happened across this recent Practical sailor blog revisiting the loss of the Hunter 37 sailboat "Aegean" during the Ensenada Race this year.

At first the boat was thought to have been run down by some larger vessel, Upon further investigation, the track of the Spot suggested the vessel hit the end of N. Coronado Island when under power (allowed by cruising class boats--what is sail boat racing coming too?)

This blog and the comments bring out some very interesting issues about using "spot" in a distress, the reliability of Spot's emergency relay center and the importance of a true EPRIB.

The essence was that a distress message was sent to the center via Spot, and the co-ordinator attempted to reach the contact. The message went to an answering machine, and no follow up. The track showed that the boat probably hit N. Coronado Island, but no position was given at the time of the distress (several other instances of failure to show location by spot).

There was no follow up by "spot" personal, and no effort to see if the track had stopped or run into an obstruction. Search was not started for 8 hours when other boaters found debris.

One comment was that their "spot" track showed them going across Catalina Island. Another that they also had a failure of location during Spot distress call, and relied on VHF relay for help.

I found particularly interesting some of the comments, which suggest that the investigation conclusion was wrong, and that perhaps the vessel was run down after all. Apparently there was no debris on found on the rocks like the keel or mast etc. Also the size of the debris and debris field was inconsistent with a grounding on the Island.

url]http://www.practical-sailor.com/blog/-10824-1.html[/url]

Even if you have a SPOT--carry an EPRIP or PLB
 
I'm not sure how many or which reports are available, but to me the allision of the Aegean with the island seems plausible if the SPOT track can be believed at all (which I think it probably can). The reason I say that is that you can sort of see where it "wavers" naturally in the beginning when they were likely (trying to) make way under sail in light air. Then it goes completely straight and even (by "even," I mean evenly spaced as if speed was consistent). That makes it look like they decided to throw in the towel (on sailing), start the engine, and motor or motorsail toward the destination under autopilot.

Of course I have no idea what really happened on the boat, or why they would motor straight into the island. Maybe they were at a zoom level on a chartplotter that "hid" the islands; maybe they were going to change course and someone fell asleep so they stayed on their initial course; or maybe something else happened.

I, too, have noticed that the idea that SPOT replaces an EPIRB is creeping in. From what I understand they do try to notify authorities but it is a private service and that private service is between you (the SPOT client) and the rescue/authorities - whereas an EPIRB makes direct contact. I think of SPOT as a convenient way for those who want to be able to keep friends apprised of their location and probable condition to do so.
 
Some of my thoughts, as one who has gone up and down that coast a number of times, as well as having raced at least 10 times in the "Ensenada Race"--Newport Ca. to Ensenada Mexico. Billed as the world's largest international sailboat race. There are as many 500 boats. This year there were 213 boats. It is rare to be out of site of other boats, even at night, (unless you are sailing an extremely fast multihull or super max boat and there is lots of wind). It is ironic that the boat was sailing under the burgee of a yacht club I belonged to for over 30 years (and was the Commodore of in the 70's).

There a cruising class rule allowing the engine use, but there is some time penalty for using the engine although it is legal:

"CRUISING CLASS ENGINE USE
20.1 An engine may be used for charging batteries, pumping bilges or supplying power for weighing anchor or refrigeration while in neutral. In addition Cruising Class participants may use an engine for propulsion within the limitations stated below.
20.2 Motoring time, also referred to as engine in---gear pro\\pulsion time, is restricted to between 2000 hours (8 PM) and 0800 hours (8AM) during the race.
20.3 A vessel’s speed in knots may not exceed its hull speed while the engine is in---gear propelling the boat. Hull speed is defined as 1.34 x Square Root (LWL), where "LWL" is the length of the waterline in feet.
20.4 RECORDING REQUIREMENTS
20.4.1 The skipper shall record on the 2012 NOSA Cruising Class Engine Log (as shown on Addendum C) both the GPS Latitude and
Longitude position of the boat (to the second decimal place of a minute) and the GPS time (to the nearest second) on each occasion when the engine was put in---gear and was taken out of gear. This changes Appendix D, paragraphs 2.0(e), 2.0(f), 2.0(g) of the PHRF Class Rules.
20.4.2 A minimum of 30 minutes shall be recorded each time the engine is put in---gear. This changes Appendix D, paragraph 2.0(f) of the PHRF Class Rules.
20.4.3 Record the total engine in---gear propulsion time in MINUTES.
" It is also noted that the sailboat under power has to carry the lights of a power boat--specifically a 360 degree masthead light. (in this boat it would be about 45 feet above the water. This is in addition to red and green forward lights, and a white stern light.

Len Bose (a friend of mine) has a blog about this boat, and he served as a gate keeper at the dock and his opinion was that the crew was reasonably experienced, not engaged in excessive drinking the night before the race, and turned in by 9:30 PM.

Agree with Sunbeam, that the track looks like the boat was going straight, at a fixed speed. It is possible that there was a single person on deck, and he had fallen asleep, the rest below sleeping. (Len addresses this in his blog, and I agree with his comments).

However, it is difficult to understand how the boat was put on auto pilot by experienced sailors, and not to account for the Coronado Islands (one of the big questions in the race is if you go in side (and get land
breezes or go offshore looking for Sea Breezes. So the Coronado Islands play a dominate role in the navigation and strategy of the race. They are hard to miss! Also that night it was reported by vessels many miles from the Islands that they were visible. However there is no light on the N. End of N. Coronado Island. Note that the boat was equipted with Radar.

On my boats if we were racing (and we never were in a class where use of an engine was allowed) we always had two people on deck--usually in this size boat a crew of 6--and in a 45 to 55 foot boat a crew or 8 to 10 and half were on deck at any one time. Why so many on deck? To watch for other boats, as well as items in the water, as well as "run the boat"--just one person steers. If one looks at the chart--and I suspect that would have to be done to determine an auto pilot course, it is obvious that the rhumb line goes inside of the Coronado Islands, however, if they were outside, and set a way point for the finish line, then it is possible that they could have run into N/ Coronado Island.....

Lets say that the boat does hit the rocks. The wind was very light, not much swell, and a reasonably constructed Hunter 37 foot sailboat. Why was there not the major part of the hull on the rocks--that is what happens when a boat hits the rocks. Why debris which is in small pieces in the water--no mast, or keel which will sink rapidly into the water. The northern most part of the Island has a steep drop off, but most of it fairly shoal for Calif. and Mexican Waters. I think that divers would find the keel and parts of the hull on the rocks. One crew drowned, two died of blunt force trauma, and one is missing. This does not seem consistent with a vessel which hit the rocks at 6 or so knots long swells of 6 to 8 feet. One account describes the intact stern section as floating with the bodies tied to it.

All initial reports centered about the possibility of the vessel having been run down by a larger or faster boat. The safety boat which found the debris said it "looked like the boat went thru a blender--not like it went on the rocks". The debris were scattered over 2 sq miles. Two racers in that area, near the time of the disappearance claimed to have "heard a freighter" (not sighted)... One report says an eyewitness saw a freighter hit a sailboat...(never confirmed with names)

The other side of the coin, is that the last spot track was precisely at the end of N. Coronado Island, where there is nearly a shear cliff.

Here is a quote from the article I linked to:
"Although the distress signal had no position data, Mavromatis had programmed the device to report his position every 10 minutes so that family could track the boat. Shortly after the distress signal went out, Mavromatis' wife, Loren, received a phone call from GEOS Alliance. She was asleep, so the report of the distress signal from her husband’s SPOT went to voicemail. For several hours after that, it appears that there was no effort made by the monitoring agency to contact the U.S. Coast Guard or to confirm the distress alert, even though boat’s track clearly indicated trouble.

The Coast Guard search for Aegean's crew did not begin until more than eight hours later, after fellow racers came across debris from the wrecked Hunter and contacted the U.S. Coast Guard. Initially, it was thought a ship had collided with the boat, but when the track data surfaced later, the grounding on Coronado seemed the most likely explanation."


Today I was in West Marine and looking at the newest Personal Locator
Beacons by FastFind and ACR. They are just a little bigger than a deck of cards, and cost from $215 to $300.

There are some excellent comments on Panbo:[/url]http://www.panbo.com/archives/2012/05/spot_connect_works_fine_deserves_attention.html
 
May be a silly question but can we assume that the "investigation" will include a historical review of AIS data from that date and time to see if any "freighters" were in the area. Not conclusive but I would think it necessary.

I also wonder why the spot stopped transmitting. If the distress signal was activated manually then it must have been working after the event that caused the emergency.

I agree with all the comments about SPOT not being a replacement for PLB or EPIRB. It's a handy tool for creating a trip log but it only reports where you are at time "t" and does nothing for the other 9.999 minutes.
Also it costs about $170 or so a year for continued "service". so EPIRBS look cheaper all the time.

One usefull and informative tip if you have a spot if to include your own cell phone/e-mail on the list of people to be notified. That way you can tell when it has done it's job. On our recent trip to Desolation there were at least 2 occasions when it did not send a message and the LED's indicated that it had done so. (and Yes I did have cell coverage :oops: )

M
 
Grumpy":2xkdrjrs said:
May be a silly question but can we assume that the "investigation" will include a historical review of AIS data from that date and time to see if any "freighters" were in the area. Not conclusive but I would think it necessary.M
Click to expand...

Merv from another article.

http://www.ocregister.com/articles/aegean-352663-brewer-cornelius.html

A spokesman for the U.S. Coast Guard said Thursday that neither theory has been ruled out.
"It's going to be a pretty methodical investigation," Petty Officer Henry Dunphy said – an investigation, he added, that could take "weeks."
In addition to the Coast Guard probe, the U.S. Sailing Association, in Portsmouth, R.I., has appointed an independent panel to look into what happened to the Aegean
Click to expand...
.

...Dunphy, of the Coast Guard, said investigators have identified all the large vessels in the area the night of the Aegean accident and will examine them for signs of a possible collision.
Click to expand...
 
Thanks for the additional info. They will also have to check other records as many military boats do not transmit on AIS (at least not always).

In any case the real issue was the lack of instantaneous distress signal, with position information to authorities.

Since installing AIS I have constantly been amazed at how that small dot on the horizon can often be a hazard that you simply would not believe without the luxury of having a computed CPA and time available (and that's when you can see them !!) and it's not just about avoiding being hit, the wake from 900+ ft of big guy at 20 Kts is no fun.


M
 
Not that a slow distress response is a good thing, but considering that - if I remember correctly - three of them died of something like blunt force trauma (maybe the fourth did too - I forget now because the fourth person was not found until later), it seems reasonable to think that even a quick response would not have been quick enough to save lives in this case.

In reading notes from people who commonly boat around that island, it sounded like even a "small" surf/swell there could be pretty powerful/destructive when it hit the sheer shoreline.

Re: SPOT. I guess the main thing is to know the capabilities of the signaling devices you have (or don't have), so that you are fully aware of what they may - or may not - be able to do for you when you ask them to.
 
So far it sounds like some one hit the SOS button while in the tracking mode.  Seems to me in the violent collision someone was able to press the button but perhaps not able to keep it in position to have the coordinates sent & received too.    In the tracking mode it sends location every 10 minutes & in SOS mode it's a distress then coordinates every 5 minutes if its in a position to acquire the satellites.  The SPOT web site states if the SPOT gps in the SOS mode can't acquire the location coordinates & it very well couldn't in the sailboats circumstance if not positioned properly then it will just send the distress signal which it did.  

Jay
 
Great comments. One thing I didn't include is that this was the SPOT connect--they had sent messages along the way.

To my knowledge the investigation is not complete.

Yes, the AIS tracks were examined. However, there are a number larger vessels which do not carry AIS, especially in Mexican waters. I would not suspect the following scenario in this case, but it has happened to me, and several of my friends.

We were cruising along under sail, and a 55 foot steel Mexican Fishing boat headed right at us. They would have collided, but I started the engine, put it to the firewall, and did a 360, getting right on the tail on the Mexican Fishing boat. Since I had a powerful diesel in the motor sailer, I could go as fast, or faster than the Mexican fishing boat, and was more maneuverable, despite our size (large rudder and prop). (tactics left over from match racing--controlling from behind) After we had chased them for awhile, they broke off, and went out to sea, shadowing us for a few hours and then left the area. One of my friends was not so lucky--Her boat was hit, badly damaged, but the Mexican boat claimed that she had hit them, and had her boat seized --wanted payment--which the insurance company gave to get the boat back. She also had to post bond. Was this "proper" absolutely not. But you are in Mexico. Again, no evidence that a fishing boat was involved, but it can happen i foreign lands, and not just Mexico....

Yes, there are very strong forces even with relitatively small swells. The cliffs are shear, but again divers or a robot could go down and check for the keel and rig. Maybe it is not worth the costs, and it is in Mexican waters.

My take on the hitting the distress button is that at that point the person was alive, and could have been activated an EPIRB---When did the blunt force trauma occur--immediately--or as bashed against rocks or from an impact--we don't know. Maybe one or more survived for an hour or so. At 8 hours you are looking at hypothermia, and it is possible that the person who drowned or even those with blunt force trauma would have survived long enough to have been rescued in an hour.

Lessons--1. Always stand a watch--better with two people. Always! We never slept at night, and I have hundreds of nights at sea, as I know some others on this list do. 2. Always plot the course carefully on a chart--not just use the chart plotter. 3. Always wear a life jacket 4. always carry a PLB on your person. 5 Always carry a waterproof VHF radio on your person (we have pockets on our life jackets for these, as well as a strobe light).

Incidently, Ben Ellison (Panbo) had some suspicions about the Practical Sailor blog part about the SPOT center response, and no co-ordinates from the distress. but I did not see any follow up. I'll see if I can check this out, or e-mail him.

I am sure that others will add to the list with very good suggestions.
 
I took my Spot to the DR and then 70 miles out to sea on the Silver Bank. I sent two OK messages while at sea with good signal indications on the device (greens for Sat connection and green for message sent). The messages did not go through. My Spot is now a paper weight.

It's the latest model - and I had brand new batteries. Next trip I will have a Sat phone.
 
Ok, while we're on this subject, I've been following Jay and Jolee on Hunky Dory via Spot and was considering getting one because it at least is useful in some regards. I have not been, however, convinced that I would want it for anything but a fun toy and progress tracker for those at home. On the other hand, I have an ACR personal EPIRB 406mhz with gps and it is coming up on battery replacement time. When I was in Anchorage a couple weeks ago, I inquired about the process at the dealer where I originally purchased it and was told that it would cost somewhere around a couple hundred dollars. Part of that was dependent upon whether or not it had a 24 hour or 48 hour battery and if thy could get them. Apparently, there are issues involving shipping etc. especially to Alaska. With that, I said that I would likely just throw it away and start anew. The lady at the counter gave me an incredulous look as if I was being a jerk. I explained my logic which was that for not too much more, I could replace it with a new one, which hopefully used a little newer technology, rather than several years from now having an 8 to 10 year old unit. She told me that due to environmental/shipping issues, most of the newer units had shorter battery lives than previously available. That part sounds bogus. I think the pricing competition is driving the use of cheaper, shorter lasting batteries. I'm not sure that over 24 hours transmit is necessary?? I'm wondering if it makes any sense for me to get a full size EPIRB for the boat, over the PLB or even both. Bob, I'd especially appreciate your input on this too.
 
we bought spot for two of our kids who often hunt and hike alone. They have proved very helpful in keeping us up to date with their locations. They can leave a breadcrumb trail to show where the holder has been, they are good for that too. Our peace of mind is the main benefit for us and if we did not have a check in when we expected one we could start paying more attention, try to contact, etc. We think the Spot is good for those things but it is no substitute for an eprib, plb, or even a well done vhf call.
 
The posts about SPOT failure has me to some degree re thinking the decision I made to leave the Sat phone at home on the cruise we'er now on & at the same time wondering about the necessity of these devices.  I think they could easily become relied on to the point of dependence where cruise  preparation & personal responsibility takes a second seat to pushing a button to get out of trouble.  At some point the lack of risk takes the adventure out of the adventure.  

Jay
 
First, I think that SPOT is a great tool, and if it was not for SPOT, there would not even be a conversation as to what happened to Aegean. Fully agree that it is not a substitute for an EPRIB--and most folks agree with that. I think that the SPOT Connect or In Reach (by DeLorme) is an even better tool. On the other hand there are some real advances in the Sat Phones in the last year, which make them more attractive for messaging and phone calls. My Daughter is traveling in Japan, and she has a Japanese cell phone, her I phone and rented a Sat Phone.

SPOT has some limits as a tracking device--and part of that is battery power. I believe that there are previsions for 12 volt hookup on some models.

As for the battery replacement. I would say nonsense to the clerk who said that the battery life is less. In fact the batteries are smaller, lighter, and cheaper. This is one of the reasons that you can buy a new unit for $215 which is the size of a pack of cards.

I cannot address the shipping. Lithium batteries have gotten a bad rap. I am doing some investigation about using them on a C Dory--two friends have put them on RV's and one friend is building a solar catamaran which will use lithium ion batteries--different, but similar issues, as the PLB battery. That is a whole other subject.

I am also coming up on battery replacement time. All of these batteries have a shelf life of 11 years from date of manufacture (probably longer), but once in the PLB or EPRIB, there is a very small current draw. Testing also draws down the battery, as well as if you have to set it off. A good replacement center will completely go over the PLB?EPIRB first and if any problems not replace the battery. HOWEVER, the battery cost is somewhere in the $250 range. You can buy a new one for $215! It will be smaller and lighter, and have some other features. It will not have the connection to your boat GPS, if that is important. We will probably buy new ones, and keep the old to see how long they last!

As for EPIRB vs PLB. The PLB is registered to Marie and I. It is good when we are hiking, RVing or just traveling. We see it as a back up for cell phone/ham radio if we have an emergency and cannot summon help.

When we were crossing oceans we carried two EPRIB--one at the companionway, one in the life raft. Currently I would do the same, plus carry the two PLB.

For the C Dory, mostly coastal work--I think that the PLB is adequate, and in some ways better, because it can be on your person--lets say that you are hiking ashore in AK, and fall. The PLB is in your pocket and you can get help.

Battery life. The 24 hours is rated at -20C, so it will be considerably longer at most of our ambient temperatures. There is also a PLB Max by Fast Find which has a 48 hour battery. Fast Find also advertises some of their new units with a 6 year battery rather than 5 year. Yes, I think that 24 hours is plenty of time to get found. Since we carry two, then if we had a boating accident, we would only activate one, wait and if no rescue in 24 hours, then activate the second one . But I think the 48 hour life is far more important in the middle of the ocean than coastal cruising, even in remote areas.
 
I have an ACR Cat 1 Globalfix IPRO EPIRB that was a Christmas gift this year. My brother in law was concerned he might get stuck taking care of his sister again I guess. Fortunately as part of the package it came with a first aid kit and a certificate for a battery replacement. The current batt expired in 2017 and it is rated for 1 test per month and I think 24 hours continuous after that. There was a bunch of info on the shipping limitations. If I was doing a big trip I would also get the personal unit as they are getting so inexpensive these days.
 
thataway":3q39fmwe said:
My take on the hitting the distress button is that at that point the person was alive, and could have been activated an EPIRB---When did the blunt force trauma occur--immediately--or as bashed against rocks or from an impact--we don't know. Maybe one or more survived for an hour or so.
Click to expand...

Good point - I can see that potentially being the case, now that i think about it.
 
I carry a SPOT and a PLB (I think that's what you guys are calling an EPIRB, but I think the EPIRBs are attached to the boat and the PLBs are hand carried, although I might have that wrong).

Every time I've played with the SPOT, it's worked. That makes me feel like it might work when I need it. The PLB however, is an unknown. It's supposed to work, and if you need it, you'll use it, but there's no way to know that it's working. You can do a battery or system test once in a while, but you can't test the whole system all the way to reception like you can with the SPOT.

Something as important as the EPIRB / PLB system should have been designed with a once a month test window time or something like that where people could actually test them instead of trusting the manufacturer's quality control people and some rubber stamp certification.
 
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