{"id":33196,"date":"2022-11-10T14:44:51","date_gmt":"2022-11-10T19:44:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.acrartex.com\/?post_type=survivor-stories&p=33196"},"modified":"2025-05-22T08:26:19","modified_gmt":"2025-05-22T13:26:19","slug":"globalfix-v4-epirb-coast-guard-rescue","status":"publish","type":"survivor-stories","link":"https:\/\/www.acrartex.com\/de\/survivor-stories\/globalfix-v4-epirb-coast-guard-rescue\/","title":{"rendered":"EPIRB Aids in Rescue After Explosions to Vessel"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Before Sailing Trip<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

A buddy and I got the 37-foot sailing vessel Rhapsody<\/em> in shape and set sail from Houston for Isla Mujeres, Mexico. Equipped with the best technology, including an ACR EPIRB<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Halfway there, at 2AM, a heavy duty Li-ion battery pack exploded 4 times, setting the boat interior afire.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Chaos Aboard Ship<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The wave-on-hull impacts damaged the cordless drill, even though I had nestled it in a dry locker. Ignition was 30 min AFTER heaving-to for sleep. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

We broadcast “Mayday” after the 2nd explosion, set off the\u00a0EPIRB\u00a0after the 3rd explosion, and expended both fire extinguishers. The US Coast Guard <\/a>diverted an LPG tanker and launched 2 fixed wing planes to ascertain the situation. Seas were too rough to safely transfer onto the LPG tanker’s\u00a0and dawn shown no better. The USCG launched a helicopter to\u00a0rescue\u00a0us. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Coast Guard Rescue<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

We jumped into the sea and swam to a cage with the assistance of a diver before being winched aboard. Rhapsody<\/em> and the EPIRB were abandoned 288 nm SE of Corpus Christi, and was last seen afloat pointed toward Mexico. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The kind folks on Anadarko’s platform loaned us dry clothes and fed us a hot meal while the chopper re-fueled. Our wives retrieved us at Ellington Field and have us on substantially shorter leashes. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Treat Li-ion batteries with kid gloves. Crew sustained only minor injuries. I could no longer guarantee the safety of the crew far offshore with depleted fire extinguishers, expended EPIRB, charred interior, and no PPE to decontaminate and to secure food and water supplies. No tow in range. All gear was lost.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

*Now planning to sail Nauticat 43 Tango<\/em> from Seattle to Boston across the Canadian Arctic through the Northwest Passage. ACR PLB on my life vest and EPIRB on my boat! I don’t sail without ACR!*<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

We broadcast “Mayday” after the 2nd explosion, set off the\u00a0EPIRB\u00a0after the 3rd explosion, and expended both fire extinguishers.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":130630,"featured_media":33195,"template":"","survivor-category":[11],"terrain":[22],"survivor-event":[133],"survivor-cause":[49,124],"survivor-rescue":[137],"class_list":["post-33196","survivor-stories","type-survivor-stories","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","survivor-category-boating","terrain-ocean","survivor-event-rogue-wave","survivor-cause-boat-sinking","survivor-cause-mechanical-failure","survivor-rescue-coast-guard"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.acrartex.com\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/survivor-stories\/33196","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.acrartex.com\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/survivor-stories"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.acrartex.com\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/survivor-stories"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.acrartex.com\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/130630"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.acrartex.com\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/33195"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.acrartex.com\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=33196"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"survivor-category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.acrartex.com\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/survivor-category?post=33196"},{"taxonomy":"terrain","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.acrartex.com\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/terrain?post=33196"},{"taxonomy":"survivor-event","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.acrartex.com\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/survivor-event?post=33196"},{"taxonomy":"survivor-cause","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.acrartex.com\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/survivor-cause?post=33196"},{"taxonomy":"survivor-rescue","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.acrartex.com\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/survivor-rescue?post=33196"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}