All this talk about life rafts, man overboard, and related safety issues had us double-checking some of our gear on board SUNFLOWER, including the expiry date for the battery on our EPIRB. Which is still valid. Ours is the regular Class B EPIRB. Cost was a factor when we bought this model instead of a 406 type, as well as the fact that the battery has a longer life and is owner-replaceable. It is the 406 MHz type EPIRB that transmits the registered boat data to rescue coordinators, and therein lies this tale.

Story #1 -- June 2000. Twenty boats were preparing to leave Chagos for various destinations. Craig, on ERAZMUS, decided to check his 406 EPIRB. He followed the prescribed instructions which detail the times when such a check can be made. He clicked it on for a minute. Everything worked and he put the unit back in its bracket.

A few hours later there was a general call on the VHF radio from the BIOT (British Indian Ocean Territory) Fisheries Patrol Boat, for anybody knowing the whereabouts of the yacht ERAZMUS. Craig answered. This was unusual, so of course we all listened too. The BIOT Fisheries questioned Craig about his yacht and his well being, and would he check to see if his EPIRB had been activated. The BIOT had a hard time believing he was safely anchored in Salomon Atoll, and had only done a short test of his system, as per instructions. It finally came out that Diego Garcia had had an SAR report of a 406 distress beacon, and since the patrol boat was in the vicinity, they were asked to check with the other yachts to find out when ERAZMUS had left and its probable course and destination.

It took a while for the story to finally get pieced together, and this mostly from Tony, a Ham Radio Net Control in Kenya. Craig's minute check of his 406 system sent the signal to the satellite and on to New Zealand--his country of registration for the beacon. New Zealand contacted the Seychelles. They in turn contacted the powers in Diego Garcia who got onto the Fisheries patrol. Meanwhile, the Seychelles also contacted Tony in Kenya for further information, seeing as how the Ham Nets often know what's going on with weather and yacht movements in their area. Well, a story with a happy ending--actually, no story at all, thank goodness. And were we impressed by the efficiency of the 406 system and the New Zealand SAR!

Story #2 -- July (?) 2001. (I will tell you right now that this is second-hand information from, as the news reporters say, "a credible source"!) The LEVIATHON, an American boat with 2 people, hit bad weather between Chagos and Mayotte, somewhere north of Madagascar. They didn't keep their regular appointed radio schedule with friends one morning. It had been twice daily, and they had been regular. This was reported to Tony in Kenya, and another Ham Net Control in South Africa. But at that point, they could only be regarded as "off the air." On the day they could be "officially" claimed as overdue (weather, currents, etc. taken into consideration), Cape Town Search and Rescue were notified, but were not aggressive because it was "in Seychelles waters." A few days after this, it became known that Reunion Island had picked up a 406 EPIRB signal from the LEVIATHON on the day they first went missing, but because it had ONLY transmitted about 6 hours, decided everything must be OK, the boat had switched it off, and so Reunion didn't do anything. Therefore, no search was started until about 12 days after they'd gone missing! And only then, because the Ham Net Controlers were jumping up and down for somebody to do something! Diego Garcia was notified, and an American plane was sent to do a 3-day search. Not surprisingly, nothing was ever found. Not a happy ending.

This really says more about the lack of coordination between Search and Rescue Centers, and the lack of liason between those entities and the Ham Maritime Nets, than it does about the 406 EPIRB as a safety and disaster tool. You may have state-of-the-art equipment, but unless the the countries in the distress area are willing and prepared to do the search and rescue, it will come to naught.