EPIRB Activated as Sailboat Sinks in the Atlantic

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EPIRB Activated as Sailboat Sinks in the Atlantic

EPIRB Activated as Sailboat Sinks in the Atlantic
Lives saved

1

Boating

Boating

Ocean

Ocean

Boat Sinking

Boat Sinking

Normal conditions

Normal conditions

Boating

EPIRB Activated as Sailboat Sinks in the Atlantic

28.272129183736°N, -79.0126953125°W

Posted on November 1, 2022 by Steven Hicks

What happened?

I was hesitant to spend a few hundred dollars on a EPIRB thinking it would just be hanging on the wall, probably never be used collecting dust, but my wife insisted that if I wanted to go sailing, I had to have one. So I bought the GlobalFix V4 EPIRB, mounted it on the wall in my boat, and forgot about it.

On August 5th, 2022, 60 miles due east of Cape Canaveral, Florida in the Atlantic, I had just finished my dinner and was laying down staring at the stars when I noticed an odd sloshing sound from inside. When I got up to look and it was knee-deep in sea water down below!

Running down, I grabbed my emergency bail bag and the ACR EPIRB from the wall and threw them into the Inflatable dinghy.  I lowered the dinghy, jumped in and untied from my sailboat and pushed away.  After the boat’s last mast antenna submerged I gathered my thoughts of what just happened.  

I attached the beacon to my wrist with the included Velcro and tied the line to the dingy and pressed the emergency button. It started blinking Red and a few seconds later the green LED flashed indicating, to me, the cavalry was on the way. And boy was it ever!

A couple of hours later a Coast Guard chopper appeared over the horizon and hovered over me. As we communicated via VHF walkie talkie, he offered to lift me only right then, or wait for the Coast Guard Cutter that was on the way full steam to get me and my dinghy. I opted to wait and the chopper hovered over me until the Cutter crew plucked me from the sea.  

An hour later, I was eating a home-made breakfast aboard the cutter headed home!   

After we got ashore and my brother and son picked me up the Coast Guard Station, and they told me that practically the whole family was woken up by the Coast Guard telling them what happened and that they were on the way.
Amazing technology! Don’t skimp on the emergency beacon! And as a tip, also have a water-proof VHF radio.
 

Words of wisdom

Never go out of sight of land without an Emergency Beacon.  Try to mount beacon in position reachable from outside via a hatch or companionway in case flooding water is electrified from Boats Inverter or electronics.

Thank you note

Thanks to the crew at ACR. You may not think about it, going to work day in and day making these things but each and every one of you, are responsible for saving lives. Keep it up.

Rescue location

Cape Canaveral

Rescue team

Coast Guard

GlobalFix™ V4 EPIRB

Go to product details

When you’re setting out on a boat adventure, it’s important to have safety equipment you can count on. Designed with high-efficiency electronics that are built for performance, the GlobalFix™ V4 GP Emergency Position-Indicating Radio Beacon or EPIRB provides the protection you can trust in an emergency. Should the unexpected happen, this EPIRB will relay your location to a vast network of search and rescue satellites, allowing local first responders to get you home more easily. "Discover these available EPIRB solutions!"   Which One Should I Buy?  

This product is currently out of stock and unavailable.

GlobalFix™ V4 EPIRB saves lives

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