erice 732 Posted December 20, 2015 Share Posted December 20, 2015 A fisherman was floating in the water for over an hour when Coastguard located him about 3km east of Great Barrier Island. The man called his partner via cellphone (when?) She then contacted Coastguard, however the agency's attempt to contact him failed. (so they didn't start a search until she called him again?, guess he hadn't filed a trip report?) ...the search for the man began about 3.47pm. .... was found about 4.59pm, cold, confused and disoriented and was taken back to Sandspit, near Auckland. A Westpac Rescue Helicopter was called and the man was treated for hypothermia. ....life jacket and distress signal beacon had saved his life. ...a huge factor in finding him and ultimately saving his life," Leever said. http://www.stuff.co.nz/auckland/75309564/man-rescued-after-boat-sinks-near-great-barrier-island no vhf, or no coverage? no dinghy? sounds like they wouldn't have found him without his beacon did they home in on the local signal it broadcast at sea level? or was the beacon an old version without gps perhaps 2 or 3 hours not enough time for the gps data to be picked up overseas late at night and transferred to wellington before getting to auckland rescue centre? lucky it wasn't winter Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Island Time 1,239 Posted December 20, 2015 Share Posted December 20, 2015 Yep lucky. Deodar went (or was) out there, and I heard them and the Westpac chopper on 16 when I was coming back in.... And they were talking about being off LITTLE Barrier, not Great Barrier... Quote Link to post Share on other sites
erice 732 Posted December 20, 2015 Author Share Posted December 20, 2015 ^ makes a little more sense wouldn't think many people fish alone off the east coast of great barrier (the open pacific ocean) in dodgy (it sank), poorly equipped, (no dinghy) boats Quote Link to post Share on other sites
wheels 543 Posted December 21, 2015 Share Posted December 21, 2015 Yet another media story poorly written, so I would not take a lot for gospel. Like "a huge area to search" and yet he had a beacon. And yet still didn't find him till 5PM? So I suggest the story is far from accurate. I do love the "urged his wife to call Coastguard". I can just imagine it. "Umm dear, would you mind giving CG are a quick call? Your watching home and away? well what about at add break dear?? You aren't sure you can fit making a cuppa and making a call all in the one break? " Quote Link to post Share on other sites
erice 732 Posted December 21, 2015 Author Share Posted December 21, 2015 more + better detail "The man was prepared in that he was wearing his lifejacket and had recently purchased flares and an EPIRB [emergency beacon] from Trade Me as we understand it the previous week." The incident was a reminder of the importance of carrying appropriate forms of communication, he said. "The VHF Radio continues to be number one for us as far as communications goes as if we can't hear the person in trouble it makes an efficient search and rescue effort more difficult. "The area between Great Barrier Island and Sandspit is vast and it's just fortunate that Coastguard Volunteers located him when they did." While the man had deployed his EPIRB which had activated the Rescue Coordination Centre, the beacon was actually registered to its previous owner with no GPS fitted -- and this required additional time for another pass of the satellite to provide a location, Mr Leever said. http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11564403 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
marinheiro 352 Posted December 21, 2015 Share Posted December 21, 2015 Surely the incident is a reminder to only go to sea in a seaworthy vessel of a suitable size for the area you will be passaging. Safety gear is important but should be regarded as secondary to basic seaworthiness Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Island Time 1,239 Posted December 21, 2015 Share Posted December 21, 2015 More info here http://us1.campaign-archive2.com/?u=3d399774bc25fdd586c93900b&id=d3f5c67766&e=96880dcb36 Damn idiots!! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
wheels 543 Posted December 22, 2015 Share Posted December 22, 2015 OK so I don't understand how it all works in the fine details, but I am scratching my head why registering makes it harder to search. Simple, EPIRB goes off, Sat picks up, rescue centre send search. Finer details of who it is registered too shouldn't come into it. Even if it was registered to someone in Invercargill, the point is, the EPIRB went off and the Sat picked it up. End of story I would of thought. Why on earth did another trip around the globe be needed by the Sat.Registering just means that the centre has all the details of the boat and possible crew numbers. Just like VHF call sign. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Island Time 1,239 Posted December 22, 2015 Share Posted December 22, 2015 The older non GPS models can take several hours and multiple Sat passes to get a fix. We discussed this before - I'm sure a search would find it. Registration helps simply because they can use the contact numbers to call and hopefully find out details of the vessel, trip, crew etc directly from someone who should know. Of course that does not always help - no answer, contact is actually on the boat as well etc! Not fool proof, just another possible source of info to speed up the search. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Chewing Gum 17 Posted December 23, 2015 Share Posted December 23, 2015 Occasionally these things are set off by accident. Registration means attempts can be made to contact the relevant people and also obtain useful information as IT said Quote Link to post Share on other sites
harrytom 648 Posted December 23, 2015 Share Posted December 23, 2015 And what would the outcome be if it was a overseas vessel?,Yep have this boat registered in the netherlands,what a load b/s,as said before epirb goes off,sat picks up signal,s nr go out find boat/vessel end of story. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
grant 40 Posted December 23, 2015 Share Posted December 23, 2015 And what would the outcome be if it was a overseas vessel?,Yep have this boat registered in the netherlands,what a load b/s,as said before epirb goes off,sat picks up signal,s nr go out find boat/vessel end of story. The signal goes to the rescue centre in the country of registration and then once it's verified gets passed to the local centre. Earlier in the year a Kiwi tramped set off his PLB while tramping in the US, RCCNZ contacted his son who confirmed he was tramping in the indicated area, so RCCNZ rang the states and they sent a helicopter. Registration stops callouts for false activations and makes the system work a whole lot better Quote Link to post Share on other sites
too_tall 15 Posted December 23, 2015 Share Posted December 23, 2015 We registered all of ours ( 4, we have a couple of small PLB's for hunting also ). Sure, its not vital to get them registered. But, it can make a rescue mission easier if they know the type of person/vessel etc they are seeking. Also being able to get the background information on the person who has set it off could make a big difference to a rescue operation. Is the person experienced in whatever they are doing? Is the person possibly going to need special gear/attention due to a medical condition which could be the reason the epirb was set off in the first place? Also, should the rescue be unsuccessful, it would be nice for the family to know that it was indeed their loved ones who did come to grief. Think of the family of the Nina crew. Knowing would be better than not knowing. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.