What do we think of Smartfind?

You're right, an EPIRB or PLB doesn't register any kind of AIS alert or plot.

However, the personal AIS beacons shouldn't be confused with an EPIRB or PLB in other ways - current version do not alert any SAR centre or organisation directly, they just place the AIS indicator on the screen of any AIS receiver equipped vessel within range of the MOB. Depending on the chartplotter used by that vessel it is either indicated as a SART icon (red cross in a circle) or simply as an AIS target (standard arrow).
 
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On the face of it seems an excellent bit of kit, I must admit I wasn't aware of it.

Now the big question, it shouldn't be relevant but in the real world it is;

How Much ?

Edit in response to FishyInverness,

I take your point, if say in a liferaft I'd want a proper EPIRB; but they're next to useless in the timeframe to recover a MOB, and this kit, unlike PLB's allows a great many other boats around ( hopefully ) with standard not specialised PLB homing kit to make a meaningful search.
 
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Its probably a better solution for busy waters e.g. the Solent or Firth of Clyde than a PLB / EPIRB. I am of the opinion though that if you are worried about getting detected if falling overboard then investing in good lifelines and harness is probably a better idea as far as yachtsman are concerned.

Great idea for divers who can get separated and fisherman who need to have freedom to move about without a harness tether.
 
So it's a Smartfind and a GPS PLB at around £200 each and a battery life of 5 years, a SPOT GPS tracker @ 169Euro + 99 Euro p.a., Life jacket @ £200, Survival Suit @ ~£600 - say £1800 every 5 years + new oilies 'cos the pockets are worn out by carrying all that gear vs Lifeline @ £75, Harness @ £40 and Jackstays @ £50 or £165 all in.

I feel there's an "order of magnitude" there :)
 
BlowingOldBoots said:
Its probably a better solution for busy waters e.g. the Solent or Firth of Clyde than a PLB / EPIRB. I am of the opinion though that if you are worried about getting detected if falling overboard then investing in good lifelines and harness is probably a better idea as far as yachtsman are concerned.

Great idea for divers who can get separated and fisherman who need to have freedom to move about without a harness tether.
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You're probably quite right.

But supposing the worst did happen and someone went over the side on a dark night and you lost sight of them, wouldn't they stand a better chance if they had one of these than if they had an EPRIB type device which alerted an MRCC which called a lifeboat and a helicopter? I'm not suggesting it's a replacement for the boat's EPRIB, just that it seems a better personal safety device than a personal EPRIB, assuming the mother yacht has an AIS off course.
All that said, I agree, a harness clipped on is pretty good.
 
The Kannad R10 looks reasonably straightforward to use - less fiddly than the McMurdo.

Certainly, shorthanded (ie 2-up) in heavy weather, if the other half (or me) went overboard there'd be a fighting chance of finding the victim (& easier still if the chartplotter was near the helm).

Then you'd only have to get them back on board safely :eek:.

I, too, think clipping on & making sure as far as possible that you don't go overboard is the best option but it's certainly a safety item worth considering.
 
oldvarnish said:
...... But supposing the worst did happen and someone went over the side on a dark night and you lost sight of them, wouldn't they stand a better chance if they had one of these than if they had an EPRIB type device which alerted an MRCC which called a lifeboat and a helicopter? ......
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Its a great idea and certainly takes the guess work out of finding a lost MOB. However, devices like these can diminish risk awareness to the point that a person actually exposes themselves to risk taking. There is a psychological name for the process where the safer one thinks they are, the greater the risk one takes, but it escapes me. There have been experiments to test this.

If I won a Smartfind in a competition, I would buy an AIS to accompany it, but I wouldn't go out a buy both for a low probability event.
 
Then again the AIS is useful for its' primary role, and the Smartfind becomes a sensible move if one has it.

I would certainly never advocate less diligence with the primary safety kit, the harness, but history has shown it's hard to be over-prepared when going to sea.
 
The "typical range" of the McMurdo Fastfind is stated as 4NM - I wonder what height the unit would have to be held to achieve this sort of range - and for how long?

I think I would prefer to stick with a PLB - at least until nimbusgb's proposed combined PLB and AIS beacon appears on the market.
 
Adding to the combined unit ....

AIS goes off the instant the device goes in the water and the PLB only triggers say an hour later.

An AIS alarm on the nav system or AIS receiver ie. If you see this code scream blue murder aboard 'cos the night time crew has gone overboard. Would wake up the off duty crew, if they hadn't got you back in the first hour then time to call in the big boys.

Perhaps a temperature sensor ..... If the water temp is below say 15 degrees you shorten the PLB trigger time.

Hey I claim patent on the above :)
 
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