Just a plug for Southern Boating, for those of you down in that lower-righthand corner of the USA. I’ve got an article in the March issue on MOB alarms, and I’m pretty pleased with how it turned out.
Let me know if it makes any sense! Explaining the operational principles used by the various products is not easy, but it is NOT mere technical mumbo-jumbo, I assure you.
See, one thing became crystal clear during my research: There is a market for every one of the products currently on the market. Differences in operation modality and features, not to mention price, make each product ideally suited for a certain subset of recreational or commercial vessel operators.
In other words, it’s critically important to understand the different modalities these devices use if you’re trying to select the right one for your boat and your usage profile. That’s what I tried to get across in my article.
For instance, while Raymarine Lifetag is probably the most well-known MOB alarm, reasonably priced, and would interface easily with my C-series chartplotter, it’s not the right choice for me.
I want another product entirely, one oriented around "killing the engine" rather than "setting a waypoint" when somebody falls in the water.
In coming weeks, expect to see more article on which product I’ve selected, why, and how the installation goes.
{ 4 comments… read them below or add one }
I am not sure why you would want to kill your engine when a MOB alarm is activated. This could occur in a busy harbor or channel, or in severe wind and sea conditions where maintaining steering and boat control are essential to the safety of those still aboard, as well as the crewmember who has landed in the water. A kill engine feature would severely limit your options to handle this situation.
Can you further elaborate on why you think this is a better idea than a loud alarm and instant GPS marker of the MOB location on your plotter?
Absolutely! I operate a small power boat, and I’m often aboard alone or with my young children. If I fall overboard, it does me no good whatsoever for my navigation electronics to know where I fell off. I get to die in Puget Sound and my kids get to crash into whatever they crash into when the boat reaches the edge of the navigable water.
But if the boat stops, I have a fighting chance to get myself back to the boat, and back aboard. Also, while my kids can’t be relied uon to run the boat back to my location and not chop me up with the prop, they MIGHT be relied upon to hold down the “Distress” button on my DSC radio, and if the Coast Guard responds to my boat’s location, I like it best if I happen to be floating around nearby.
See, this is EXACTLY what I’m talking about: each skipper’s situation is different, and what makes perfect sense aboard one boat might be ridiculous aboard another. If I’m sailing offshore, LifeTag or Mobi-Lert are excellent choices. If I operate a commercial fishing boat in Alaskan water, then I want SeaMarshall or Alert2. If I run a small powerboat alone in coastal water, I want MariTech’s Virtual Lifeline.
Anyway, I’ll go into all of this in coming weeks. Readers in the Pacific Northwest can look forward to another version of my survey article in the April (or is it May?) issue of Pacific Yachting-PNW.
If I were often boating alone or with small children, I’d want to have a 406 MHz GPS-equipped personal locator beacon, like the ACR PLB-300, clipped to my PFD. That is the only way you have some direct control over whether you get rescued or not. The Virtual Lifeline will stop your boat, but if it is in a current or much wind, you and the boat are going to have a hard time reconnecting anytime soon. The VL is not a bad idea, but the PLB will get you found even if the boat goes its own merry way.
I take your point that the Raymarine LifeTag system is only useful if there are multiple boat operators on board to turn around and retrieve the MOB. However, just having a glorified “kill switch” is not the foolproof solution I’d like have if I’m the only operator on board. My $0.02.
Fair enough. I think we’re on the same page, but your comments appear to reflect a prioritization like this:
(1) take steps to ensure you get rescued, then
(2) take steps to maximize your chances of self-rescue.
I prefer to order these t’other way ’round. Anyway, there’ll be much more on this coming up over the next few weeks.
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