Bushwalk Australia

Just read this report on an episode of inappropriate beacon application. With their widespread availability, I would not be surprised there'll be more copy cats. Unfortunate!

http://www.greatlakesadvocate.com.au/st ... nk/?cs=445

is there a tendancy for boaties to leave the beacons where anyone can get access to them? do they have to be up on deck?

No good having them buried in the bottom of the boat wayno.

Good practice to secure them when you're off the boat by the looks of it. Most boaties probably hang them somewhere handy and leave them there.

Could always attach them via a hydrostatic release if worried about security.

With a hydrostatic release the beacon will have to be in a visible position and still subject to theft, or some moron simply pulling the release until it activated. Securing it out of sight while alongside seems the best option.

You must have it within arms reach of the helm, as most problems on boats that require their use are bordering on catastrophic. Life jackets need to be put on and every one accounted for within seconds, you have no time to think "right I'm going to need that epirb when that next wave hits".

Giddy_up wrote:You must have it within arms reach of the helm.

In what state? I do know that in Tasmania there is no such rule for commercial vessels. Some one else may be able to confirm for recreational.

Not sure how the EPIRB came to be taken from the boat in this particular case, but to address a few other comments:

The problem with the hydrostatic release is that it can fire if you take a big wave over the boat, so mounting the EPIRB externally is not a good idea. The AYF Special Regs for racing require the EPIRB to be mounted in a "dry well-marked location near the companionway" but there are no such requirements for purely recreational vessels, so you can stick your EPIRB wherever you want.

I suspect the EPIRB was either left somewhere visible or the boat was broken into and the EPIRB taken.

I find it more disturbing that a break into a boat seems normal enough for people to be debating where they should keep the PLB for such an instance.

Surely the boat owner cant be blamed for keeping HIS/HER plb where it would be the most useful in an emergency situation?

Don't report on incidents like this in the media.......it only encourages the morons who are the offenders. It feeds their fragile egos.
Treat it like a (costly) training exercise.

ILUVSWTAS wrote:I find it more disturbing that a break into a boat seems normal enough for people to be debating where they should keep the PLB for such an instance.

Indeed disappointing when one has to alter the safest practice to prevent a criminal behaviour.

Strider wrote:

Giddy_up wrote:You must have it within arms reach of the helm.

In what state? I do know that in Tasmania there is no such rule for commercial vessels. Some one else may be able to confirm for recreational.

Its a law of the sea strider, not a law of the land.

I don't understand why the chopper went searching for the beacon? I thought that after a beacon is activated, the contact number associated with the device is rung to check if it has been set off by mistake.

Allchin09 wrote:I don't understand why the chopper went searching for the beacon? I thought that after a beacon is activated, the contact number associated with the device is rung to check if it has been set off by mistake.

as the article says, it can interupt satellite transmission and airliners also pick up the signal and get involved in communicating the signal on...
i've read before where any beacon activated is searched for ideally until it's located and deactivated... to stop the interference and distraction and diversion of resources that takes place as long as the beacon is transmitting...
i've read about beacons that have gone off and its known its not an emergency, beacons that go off at the refuse tip or go off at home, emergency services will still hunt down the beacon and if at all possible , get to it to turn it off if the owner of the beacon can't do so

Giddy_up wrote:

Strider wrote:

Giddy_up wrote:You must have it within arms reach of the helm.

In what state? I do know that in Tasmania there is no such rule for commercial vessels. Some one else may be able to confirm for recreational.

Its a law of the sea strider, not a law of the land.

It just common sense and good seamanship, but definitely not mandated in any way.

There is a recent post on packraft about some experienced blokes in a snafu and one lesson the fella writing the post was to keep the thing on you. Where you keep it is irrelevent to when you use it.

davidf wrote:There is a recent post on packraft about some experienced blokes in a snafu and one lesson the fella writing the post was to keep the thing on you. Where you keep it is irrelevent to when you use it.

have you seen how big the average EPIRB is? they make them a lot bigger than PLB's because they have to float high enough out of the water to keep the antenna clear.. they may have bigger batteries as well..

Allchin09 wrote:I don't understand why the chopper went searching for the beacon? I thought that after a beacon is activated, the contact number associated with the device is rung to check if it has been set off by mistake.

Yeah, I assume that checking is part of the procedure. Even if the helo crew were already on standby, it would still take 15-20 mins for them to get airborne by the time they conduct briefings, file flight plans, check weather forecasts, etc, so the checking could happen simultaneously.

Maybe they couldn't get hold of the registered owner/contact.

And even if the owner knew nothing about it, a bunch of joyriding idiots might have stolen the boat and got themselves in trouble, and they could still need to be genuinely rescued.

I suspect a lot of the registration data are out of date. Not surprised if the agency can't find the owner.

GPSGuided wrote:I suspect a lot of the registration data are out of date. Not surprised if the agency can't find the owner.

I would be surprised if this was the case with marine beacons. They are a requirement with the boat registration process and so lapsed beacon info would only be associated with unregistered boats and as such they wouldn't be able to be used on the water. It still does not negate the fact that stupid people are capable of some really stupid things, which is what we are primarily talking about here.

Also could have been an old 121.5MHz beacon, as they did not have the ability to send registration data.

That could be very correct Srider.

Giddy_up wrote:... fact that stupid people are capable of some really stupid things, which is what we are primarily talking about here.

Stupid and misbehaving people. Unfortunately.

Its a law of the sea strider, not a law of the land.[/quote]
It just common sense and good seamanship, but definitely not mandated in any way.[/quote]
Most epirbs are next to the exit. On yachts they live just next to the companion way bulkhead. On motor boats usually the back door as this is the most likely point you will exit through in an emergency. All this is a case by case thing and different boats have them in different spots but the 2 above are the most likely.
All this is just common sense, there is no need to have to have them within arms reach of the helm.
The most important thing is that every person on the boat knows where it is and how to use it.