Solo Sailor Rescued Because of PLB

[RunAgroundHard]

No, you not being over cautious, your not going regret having one if you fall overboard, but likely would if you didn't. As with all stuff, understand how to use it and maximise the opportunity to be rescued i.e. read the manual.

 

[Juan Twothree]

I've been reading this thread with interest as I single-hand most of the time, mostly inshore or coastal these days, and as I've aged I've become ever more aware that my single greatest risk is going overboard when under way.

My boat is a very safe and seaworthy design despite its small size, and if I have to move around on the foredeck I do so either clipped on in bouncier conditions or just very carefully gripping my way as I go. The vessel itself carries a fully-serviced EPIRB as well as in-date flares, a DSC radio and of course my non-waterproof mobile phone. BUT the only safety item that is on my actual person when under way is a self-inflating life-jacket! I don't doubt that I'd only have a short time in cold Channel waters before hypothermia gets me (if cold-shock induced cardiac event didn't get there first), so am considering one of these.

Am I being over-cautious?

Definitely have something about your person. The advantage of a PLB over a waterproof mobile phone or handheld VHF is range, and also that it will continually send your location, including a homing signal, even if you go unconscious.

 

[ylop]

Definitely have something about your person. The advantage of a PLB over a waterproof mobile phone or handheld VHF is range, and also that it will continually send your location, including a homing signal, even if you go unconscious.

That may be optimistic. Most plb’s will not effectively communicate your distress location if you are not able to keep the antenna in a roughly skyward direction. The 121.5 MHz signal might make it out for RDF but only if it’s kept above the water level.

 

[Mark-1]

I've been reading this thread with interest as I single-hand most of the time, mostly inshore or coastal these days, and as I've aged I've become ever more aware that my single greatest risk is going overboard when under way.

My boat is a very safe and seaworthy design despite its small size, and if I have to move around on the foredeck I do so either clipped on in bouncier conditions or just very carefully gripping my way as I go. The vessel itself carries a fully-serviced EPIRB as well as in-date flares, a DSC radio and of course my non-waterproof mobile phone. BUT the only safety item that is on my actual person when under way is a self-inflating life-jacket! I don't doubt that I'd only have a short time in cold Channel waters before hypothermia gets me (if cold-shock induced cardiac event didn't get there first), so am considering one of these.

Am I being over-cautious?

I can't judge scale. Is it so bulky that you end up not bothering to carry it?

 

[RunAgroundHard]

I can't judge scale. Is it so bulky that you end up not bothering to carry it?

Rescue Me PLB3 is 200mm long, 36mm wide and 22mm thick. My old Ocean Safety life jackets and new Spinlock lifejackets have a marking on the bladder indicating where it is to be sat, when connecting to the oral inflation tube. This model does not increase the bulk of the lifejacket. However, on older Crew Saver ocean style lifejackets with hoods, lights, buddy lines (I can't remember the model) were packed so tight that something like an AIS would not fit. They can also be attached to the LJ belt but at 200mm length that is getting bulky horizontally or vertically orientated on a belt.

I use a belt pouch on the Spinlock to carry a McMurdo Fastfind PLB, it doesn't really get in the way and is better than being in the pocket of the waterproofs, at 135mm long.

 

[Marsali_1]

I can't judge scale. Is it so bulky that you end up not bothering to carry it?

rescueME PLB3 Scrolling down this page and clicking on the Description tab brings up a thumbnail image for a Youtube video. From that image it seems that the beacon is about 7-8" long, about 1.5" wide. and likely about 1.5" thick. There is no information on weight but it doesn't look very heavy. ...or you can use Runaground's numbers^^^,

 

[RunAgroundHard]

rescueME PLB3 Scrolling down this page and clicking on the Description tab brings up a thumbnail image for a Youtube video. From that image it seems that the beacon is about 7-8" long, about 1.5" wide. and likely about 1.5" thick. There is no information on weight but it doesn't look very heavy. ...or you can use Runaground's numbers^^^,

The weight is 190g

The only reason I have the data at hand is that I have been researching to upgrade my McMurdo Fastfind to a new unit with AIS.

 

[Babylon]

Thank you, all good advice. I've decided to buy this PLB unit or similar (although how necessary or effective the AIS component is I'm not sure?!) and as it's time to renew my own LJ as well I'll go for one that will work best and least obtrusively with it.

In the last few years I've had a few relatively minor mishaps (e.g. losing a fingertip pulling closed my own front door, damaging my shoulder holding onto a mooring-line from the pontoon when I nearly lost control of my boat with no-one else aboard in a tricky windy/tidal situation, etc) and have become aware of a gradual falling off from the peak competency of earlier years, plus a slight drop in general processing-speed.

 

[[70521]]

so am considering one of these.

Am I being over-cautious?

No. For the same reasons that you stated I invested in a PLB3 last year.

Tucked neatly inside my life jacket it should deploy facing the sky even if I am in the water unconscious.

 

[Stemar]

On my Snapdragon, I'd pretty much got into the habit of putting on my LJ, with lifeline attached, the same way I put on my seat belt in the car, but I confess that on Jazzcat, I've got lazy, but I'm well aware that if I do go over the side, Madame may be able to get back to me and put a ladder over the side, but if I can't get myself up the ladder, she won't be able to help, so either the cavalry arrives pretty quickly, or I'm a statistic.

 

[Juan Twothree]

I'm well aware that if I do go over the side, Madame may be able to get back to me and put a ladder over the side, but if I can't get myself up the ladder, she won't be able to help, so either the cavalry arrives pretty quickly, or I'm a statistic.

But the main thing is that there is someone there to raise the alarm.

In most of the fatal incidents I've been involved in over the years, the casualty had been dead for some hours before the Coastguard was even alerted.

 

[[70521]]

That may be optimistic. Most plb’s will not effectively communicate your distress location if you are not able to keep the antenna in a roughly skyward direction. The 121.5 MHz signal might make it out for RDF but only if it’s kept above the water level.

The PLB3 is designed to fit around your lifejackets inflatable bladder. On inflation the device sits on top of the bladder with the antenna pointing towards the sky. If you are conscious you could check after muttering 'Oh f&&k...'

There has clearly been a great deal of thought that has gone into the produce.

 

[ylop]

The PLB3 is designed to fit around your lifejackets inflatable bladder. On inflation the device sits on top of the bladder with the antenna pointing towards the sky. If you are conscious you could check after muttering 'Oh f&&k...'

There has clearly been a great deal of thought that has gone into the produce.

Yeah it does look like they’ve addressed a lot of the potential criticisms of PLBs - ais so your own boat can find you; automatically triggered by LJ; feedback loop so you know it’s working; faces sky when attached to LJ; compact enough to keep inside LJ…. Shame they’ve priced it as “top of the range” rather than aim for mass market dominance!

 

[obmij]

It's better to have a PLB than not, but if you go over single handed you're still in the lap of the gods. If there is nothing nearby you're brown bread.

The kind that are fitted in lifejackets - if they are fitted correctly - will transmit a distress signal for a couple of miles in calm seas. It's just an AIS transponder with the range restriction that entails. The older kind transmit on 121.75mhz. Less visibility (only SAR really or commercial with the receiver turned on) but the same range.

Realistically, their primary use is to pick up an MOB with the vessel the man fell overboard from

Singlehanded - can be a false sense of security, but better than nothing! Best policy, don't go overboard

Edit: sorry seem to have duplicated other posts.

 

[greeny]

Yeah it does look like they’ve addressed a lot of the potential criticisms of PLBs - ais so your own boat can find you; automatically triggered by LJ; feedback loop so you know it’s working; faces sky when attached to LJ; compact enough to keep inside LJ…. Shame they’ve priced it as “top of the range” rather than aim for mass market dominance!

Looks a good bit of kit and will probably buy one but at over 500 quid it probably falls outside the budget of a lot of small boat budget sailors. That's a years berthing for me.
What price your life you may ask, but then the "won't happen to me" creeps in along with the many and varied costs of boat ownership and general life for that matter.
Can't believe that the £500 cost is anything like the true manufacturing and licensing cost plus reasonable profit. And all those costs come down the more you make and sell. £300 is more like it and I'd bet they'd increase their sales massively.
Tag onto that, that as an essential? piece of safety equipment that saves lives, there could also be tax (vat) incentives to encourage purchase.
Just my thoughts and they're never going to fly cos all boat owners are rich and have money to burn in the eyes of the general public and government.
Or is everyone happy to pay £500 plus? Or like me, think boat gear is ludicrously overpriced.

 

[[70521]]

Yeah it does look like they’ve addressed a lot of the potential criticisms of PLBs - ais so your own boat can find you; automatically triggered by LJ; feedback loop so you know it’s working; faces sky when attached to LJ; compact enough to keep inside LJ…. Shame they’ve priced it as “top of the range” rather than aim for mass market dominance!

Its 'new technology', well the combination of multiple technologies and that is always expensive to start. Perhaps in 5 or 10 years it will be priced for the mass market.

I am hoping that there will be a 3 NM radius for an AIS signal, just in case somebody is just over the horizon and can make their way over to me as I bob about in the ocean.

 

[Juan Twothree]

The kind that are fitted in lifejackets - if they are fitted correctly - will transmit a distress signal for a couple of miles in calm seas. It's just an AIS transponder with the range restriction that entails. The older kind transmit on 121.75mhz. Less visibility (only SAR really or commercial with the receiver turned on) but the same range.

They are much more than that:

These are what the RNLI uses, albeit an earlier version:

ACR ResQlink 400 PLB

The homing signal on 121.5 might only have a mile or so range at sea level, but it also sends the GPS location to HM Coastguard via a satellite.
I thought all PLBs did this?

 

[requiem]

The fact that epirbs/plbs now have GPS makes it much easier to determine whether an alert is likely to be genuine. In the past we been launched to carry out a search for a vessel in distress, only for the epirb to be found in someone's shed, or in once instance left on the local recreation ground by some kids,

The MEOSAR layer also helped. IIRC the time to a confirmed fix was around 45-90 minutes or worse prior to that (either GPS + a satellite pass, or multiple satellite passes), but now it's around 20 minutes or less.

The homing signal on 121.5 might only have a mile or so range at sea level, but it also sends the GPS location to HM Coastguard via a satellite.
I thought all PLBs did this?

I suppose there might be some ancient ones that lack GPS, or have a very old receiver, but anything modern certainly should have GPS. I think you're responding to a post that's mixing up PLBs and SARTs though. These days everyone who's anyone would be homing on the 406 MHz signal though.

 

[ylop]

I think you're responding to a post that's mixing up PLBs and SARTs though. These days everyone who's anyone would be homing on the 406 MHz signal though.

It’s somewhat confusing because, lots of things call themselves a locator beacon with different technology in there, and just when you think you’ve understood the limitations manufacturers add an extra element!

406 MHz transmission - to satellites, communication in bursts, probably all devices bought new today will have a GPS transmitter too, but older ones did not. They encode the GPS location so no need to “home in” on this signal - satellites Receive it, pass to ground station who forward to MRCC who can radio vessels with the position. Transmission requires the antenna to point to the sky. Anyone who has turned on a GPS for the first time knows they take a few minutes to work out where they are. The first transmission will normally not have your location but once the GPS gets a fix it will keep updating your location provided it continues to be in the correct position with a view of the sky. Very early systems didn’t have GPs but could gain a rough guess on your location through the Doppler effect, but it was slow to build up anything like a position that could be used for a sea search.

RLS this is a feedback loop, via the 406MHz system to tell you that a shore station did get your message. Addressing one of the complaints people had about PLBs: uncertainty that you had got your message out. It has been suggested that this provides some hope that hanging on for rescue is worthwhile.

121.5 MHz predates the satellite based distress system, it is a continuous signal which can be homed in on - but to pinpoint its origin requires direction finding radio equipment so not something ordinary people have. ie it might help a helo or maybe a lifeboat (but at sea level the range will be short) but not your own crew. As far as I know all 406 MHz transmitters also transmit a homing signal on 121.5 MHz, but I suspect if something is to be sacrificed for space/power reasons it will be this. It still won’t work if the antenna is under water and can’t transmit through waves but may be less sensitive (at least at close range) to correct orientation of the antenna.

AIS - the fanciest PLBs now include all of the above plus ais, but there are ais only devices. These work just like an AIS transceiver on a vessel (except they know they are a MOB device and on reasonably modern plotters will show up as such). They are transmitting on marine vhf frequencies. Any vessel with ais receiver can pick it up. Like a handheld radio at sea level the range is not far and depends on the height of the recipient aerial, and may be impeded by waves. In busy areas like the Solent signals may get lost amongst the sea of other ais confusion. As AIS needs GPS you do still need to get a fix, and have a view of the sky. The ability of your own vessel to use to relocate you is key. CG don’t routinely monitor AIS, and in many cases unlikely to be in range so will not trigger SAR assets if this is the only signal.

DSC - a personal MOB device which transmits a DSC Alert by vhf (again needs GPS) - this should be received by local vessels and depending where you are the CG.

SART - is a radar based technology which any vessel with radar can use. They are quite bulky but at least one manufacturer had packaged as a personal beacon.

The rules have changed in many countries (not yet the U.K.) about AIS locator beacons - they will have to include DSC in the future. It doesn’t look like this outlaws legacy kit.

Solo sailors (or those doing long solo watches) who plan to fit to their lifejacket should probably consider the options with automatic activation - it’s another area where different manufacturers have different approaches

 

[requiem]

RLS this is a feedback loop, via the 406MHz system to tell you that a shore station did get your message. Addressing one of the complaints people had about PLBs: uncertainty that you had got your message out. It has been suggested that this provides some hope that hanging on for rescue is worthwhile.

This felt a bit superfluous to me, but after going over how the PLBs function with an older family member I can appreciate the use. I've allocated it to them for their hiking excursions, and recently they had need of it (which is a whole 'nother topic). They were asking how they'd know if it was working, should you keep pressing the button just to be sure, etc. etc.

121.5 MHz predates the satellite based distress system, it is a continuous signal which can be homed in on - but to pinpoint its origin requires direction finding radio equipment so not something ordinary people have. ie it might help a helo or maybe a lifeboat (but at sea level the range will be short) but not your own crew. As far as I know all 406 MHz transmitters also transmit a homing signal on 121.5 MHz, but I suspect if something is to be sacrificed for space/power reasons it will be this. It still won’t work if the antenna is under water and can’t transmit through waves but may be less sensitive (at least at close range) to correct orientation of the antenna.

I believe the 121.5 transmission strength has already been nerfed for power reasons, and thus even aircraft have often been unable to detect EPIRBS via that method unless extremely close. In contrast, aircraft with 406 MHz detectors (e.g. Rockwell Collins DF-430 or newer models) have been able to pick up beacons from many dozens of miles away, in some cases from well over 100 miles away.