The Tale of Two EPIRBs
Originally created on May 10 2008
On this anniversary of the loss of Sean Seamour II and the traumatic experience of clinging to a life raft in seventy foot seas with the belief that no help is on the way, I call on all mariners to read and consider appropriate measures to avoid our predicament.
Your EPIRB can be the only link left with the world, and as such, is a critical element of security for all mariners regardless of purpose. Ensuring their proper registration and operation is just as critical to avoid adding another entry to the long list of “lost at sea statistics”. Even then, do not take for granted third party assurance that you are fully operational, redundancy can be the best hedge against the odds. Had I not kept my old and obsolete EPIRB I would not be here to tell the tale of two EPIRBs aboard s/v Sean Seamour II.
Above my head attached in its cradle the old EPIRB kept for redundancy is attached to the port side of the hard dodger. Little could I imagine the circumstances in which this unit would save our lives four and a half years later. With no hydrostatic release, the hard dodger gone after being sheared from the vessel by the rogue wave…
(full account of events coming soon)
We are not usually as laid back. Resting in Mindelo after a gruelsome passage from Sardinia to Cape Verde in November of 2002 behind the Route du Rhum race, flotilla that bore the brunt of a depression that eliminated 20 of the 58 contenders. On my shoulder our Sardinian stowaway. The day before leaving for our Atlantic crossing a local Sarde aware of our imminent departure comes alongside asking me if we are willing to make this young Yorkshire Terrier into a little american – Mayke is down below but I already knew her answer. “Bentley” would take to sea and I back to the supermarket for a month of canned dogfood.
(photo courtesy of my wife Mayke Sassen)
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.
