I've been looking for some information on Eprib's. I just thought I'd pass along some good websites for others to review. What are other distance racers buying?

Difference between 406 and 121.5 Epirb: http://www.equipped.com/406_vs_1215.htm

Information on the Aquafix by ACR:
http://www.equipped.com/terrafix_406gps_plb.htm

Independent evaluation of different Epirbs: Note some of these have been improved since this test. http://www.equipped.com/406_beacon_test_toc.htm

Cheapest 406 epirb /w internal GPS I've found: http://www.roguewavemarine.com/ACR_27974_AQUAFIX_PLB_w_GPS-p-1164.html

Cheapest 121.5mhz Epirb: http://www.marine-electronics-unlim...ure+Personal+with+In%2DLine+Speaker.html

Cheapest plain 406mhz I've found: http://www.marine-electronics-unlimited.com/ACR+EPIRB+PLB+406+Personal+Locator+Beacon.html

This is a lot of money but I'm tempted to get the Aquafix after reading these websites.

Mike Hill
www.stlouiscats.com

Yeah, they're not cheap...we used the 121.5 MHz ACR EPIRB B300 ILS that you listed above as did most of the Tybee 500 racers. It is interesting to note that the 121.5 MHz system will not be supported after four more years. Also check http://www.defender.com - they have some really good deals on the high end marine electronics.

After sailing in last year's OBX 500, I'd go for whatever has the internal GPS. Yea, it's more expensive, but spotting a speck on the water can be very tough. John McLaughlin and I plucked one of the Accelerated Chaos guys out of the water after they capsized and lost contact with the boat. We didn't see anyone in the water until we were just a few hundred yards away and that was only because he had a whistle and was was waving wildly. These guys are very competent, experienced sailors and in an instant were facing a very grave situation. The extra money seems like folley when there are so many other places to spend while preparing for the race, but if you're floating IN the Atlantic Ocean with nothing but a drysuit and a GPS, you would spend those extra dollars in an instant if it ment getting rescued more quickly.

For those of us that are way to cheap to be able to afford one:

http://www.boatus.com/foundation/EPIRB/

We're renting two for the week of the Tybee. 406Mhz.

To expand a little on what Steve was saying... Nate did end up in the water after we rounded Cape Fear. We had just popped the kite and he was in the process of going out on the wire, something he has done thousands of times before, and hundreds of times already in that week alone. The shock cord got pinched just before he went out and the upward pressure on his trap wire released momentarily, he went out on the wire without being clipped in and was in the drink before either of us knew what happened. I was left on the boat with the kite up in 15-20 knts of breeze and good size rollers. We had practiced man-overboard recoveries many times before in preperation of this race and others, but on this occasion while triing to douce the kite the boat rounded up before I could get the sail down (tramp set spin where I couldn't stear and get the sail down without having it drag in the water). The boat went over and I was left triing to right the boat by myself. It quickly became apparent that there was NO WAY Nate could swim fast enough to get back to the boat. Our day and race suddenly went from and awesome run up the coast to a survival mode situation in an instant. I can't even begin to tell you all the things that went through each of our minds in the 10 - 15 minutes he was seperated from the boat, but I can assure you that carrying an EPIRB on both of us (and having a good VHF) was one of the things that kept me calm in knowing that we could call for help if our situation were to become peril. In the end the combination of wind and waves and shear physics prevented me from righting the boat (I am 6'1" and 190 lbs) and the sight of John and Steve turning back to help us is still the best feeling I can remember (don't tell my finace as I am sure she would want some other moments to outweigh this!).
I have spent a lot of time thinking about what could I have done to prevent this situation. Sugestions I would have for all of us... Have a system in place to single handedly right a capsized boat, and practice practice practice man-overboard recovery! I am incredibly thankful for having all the safety equiptment we did. Although we didn't use it, were it not for Team Chesapeak we may be telling a different story right now.
To top it all off, when we got back to the beach that night, the top story on the news was the sighting of a 15 ft great white shark in the water within 50 miles of where Nate was in the water.
Thank you again John and Steve!!! Unfortunately we will not be able to do the race this year due to other commitements, but WE WILL BE BACK! If the cost of EPIRBS are preventing others from doing the race, give me a shout... this race can turn from an awesome week of sailing to an instantaneous emergency. Be prepared and try not to gripe too much about the cost of equiptment that in the end could save your life!
Chris
www.acceleratedchaos.com

One piece of safety equipment required is a tether. I think it had to be 16ft long, and able to attach the crew to the boat. We didnt use it, but had it on our person, which was all that was required. We felt that it may have been more of a safety concern to keep us attached to the boat that to not have it attached, but with stories like Nate and Chris, maybe it would have helped.

Dave Mosley
Team SEACATS

This may be a dumb question, but has anybody ever tried using a heavy bungie cord for a tether? I realize this makes for some interesting imagery of possible scenarios; but it just seems as though, if you were trapped or trangled in the line somehow during a capsize, it would be easier to free yourself if the line were somewhat stretchy.

Oh, the joys of ebay...I ran a quick search, and there is a range of epirbs on there, from cheap to expensive. But like Tad said, I think we are just gonna rent them for the week (you know, the budget thing). I'm sure we'll eventually buy a pair, but other things are more important right now.
Trey
I-20 314
www.velocitysailing.com

Ahh, the joy's - and folley - of youth.



Reread Accelrated Chaos' post. The things that seem important now will appear nearly worthless if you find yourself in a survival situation. Rent a good pair of EPIRBs. Being prepared for the worse makes pushing your limits much more fun.

Hence the reason we ARE RENTING them, gosh, read the whole dang thing before making assumptions. Nowhere does it say that we aren't gonna have them.
Trey
I-20 314

Trey,

The EPIRBs that I've seen that in those advertisements are the type that are intended to be carried on the boat - not on a person. You might want to make sure that they rent personal EPIRBs (and let us know!).

I checked into this. BoatUS rents the following epirb:

http://www.westmarine.com/webapp/wc...&catalogId=10001&productId=23973

This model is the type that when exposed to water self-activiates. It wieghs about 4-5lbs as far as I can tell. BoatUS ships it in a large waterproof briefcase. This unit has no internal GPS. Also the unit is registered under BoatUS so they have to call BoatUS first to get the contact information.

I don't think this is what I'm looking for. It looks like the best bet is the ACR aquafix with internal GPS. However I've not seen any independent tests of this product. I'm assuming it would work well based on the tests of the other ACR product line.

$600 is a lot to spend per person but I'm thinking if I'm in the middle of the ocean I might decide it was the best $600 I ever spent.

The Aquafix model claims to be about 12oz.

Mike Hill
www.stlouiscats.com

Some magazine recently had a special on personal epirbs where they test several of the new GPS enabled models. The results were pretty bad in that some of the units did not send out very good signals in anything but ideal situations. Damn....what magazine was that? I'll look around at home.

Since you're soaking wet from the start and constantly battered by waves, a water-activated model won't work too well. Also, 4 pounds seems like a lot wear on your chest.

"Some magazine recently had a special on personal epirbs where they test several of the new GPS enabled models. The results were pretty bad..."

I read that in either Snailing World or Sail. I think it was Sail.

I was suprised with the eye-opening test results because one expects these products to be robust and to work as advertised. One company in particular fared very poorly with their products. As much as these products cost and with as much that could be at stake when they are used, there should be a government agency, not a magazine, responsible for testing the manufacturers' claims. Since a multihuller's ditch kit is pretty much what is attached to his PFD when something happens, don't buy or rent an EPIRB until you read that article.

I was going to say that it wasn't Sail Magazine because I don't have a subscription - but I bet it was. I think I read it over the holidays at my Parent's house where my Dad has a subscription. That would also explain why I couldn't find it at home! Look back to the December or January issue of Sail Magazine - I too was pretty shocked at the results.

Well maybe not relevant but, I recently read a book "117 days adrift" and these people were passed by seven ships within a mile of there position, they had flares and made smoke bombs, and all seven passed by without notice. If you are adrift it would be nice to have an electronic noise maker. Of course I would get a radio and a gps first, and rent an EPIRB. Any one know the effect of SA on the GPS feature of an EPIRB? Although I guess 300 yards is acceptable for a helicopter to see you, and maybe the USCG is not effected by it.

I just know this is going to make me feel stupid ... but what is "SA" in this context?

"SA" is "Selective Availability" - basically something added to the signals from the satellites so that the gps positioning wasn't too accurate. Idea was it was to stop hostile artillery being ranged in too quickly on "friendly" positions. Even if you were stationary the gps unit would show you moving in a random pattern. Meant you knew where you were within maybe 50 yards but no more. US govt turned off SA years ago though so it's all a bit academic... Should expect accuracy to be within 20 - 50 feet now.

It's shocking how tough it is to spot even large objects on an open ocean. During an Atlantic crossing a few years ago, we would hail every ship we came across and at least 50 percent said they couldn't see our 34-foot sailboat even when we gave them a bearing, distance and exact location. We were nearly run down twice, once by a cargo ship and another time during some stormy weather by another small sailboat flying a spinnaker is 40 knots of wind and 15-foot seas.

It's easy to imagine someone on a small liferaft, or floating alone in the water, being overlooked.