Contact:     John Bell
954-970-3394
prseitz@bellsouth.net

April 23, 2008

FORT LAUDERDALE, FL – April 23, 2007 -- On March 5^th at 7 p.m., catamaran owner Kelly Green and crewman, Mark Palmeri, were off the southwest coast of Florida close to completing the WaterTribe Everglades Challenge, an expedition-style 300-mile, small-boat race, when high winds snapped the sail on their 16-foot Hobie Cat. A brisk offshore wind continued to push the disabled boat further and further away from the bottom tip of Florida into open seas.

The two sailors rode out the adverse weather until sunrise. At daybreak, they took stock of their situation: their bodies were numb, they had been up for 25 hours and they were being blown into the vast Gulf of Mexico. Green decided it was “prudent” to set off his ACR Electronics AquaFix™ 406 PLB, purchased seven months earlier.

“It worked perfectly. With an EPIRB (Emergency Position Indicating Radio Beach), you know if you push it (the activation button), your situation must be real,” Green said. “When the Coast Guard called my wife to confirm my whereabouts, she knew that it must be serious. She pretty much knows that I’ll come home all the time because I own the beacon.”

Within 40 minutes, a rescue helicopter from Coast Guard Air Station Miami arrived on scene, deployed a rescue swimmer and hoisted them to safety. The two uninjured men were taken to Marathon Airport in the Keys and released.

Green, 47, said he purchased the AquaFix™ after conducting extensive research. He determined that the beacon could be used for both water and land-based activities that he and his wife enjoy. They hike in remote mountainous areas, and sail and kayak offshore near their Bradenton home on Florida’s west coast.

“With the AquaFix™, I saw that I could use it for both the water and land. When you think like that, the total price comes down to $250 for hiking and $250 for boating. It’s good insurance,” Green said. “And it’s small enough to fit into the kayak which has space limitations.”

Coast Guard spokesperson Dana Warr said the rescue demonstrated the importance of carrying an EPIRB. “We located them in the exact position their beacon led us to. Obviously, they were in need of emergency rescue so they operated their EPIRB,” Warr said.

Steve Isaac, race organizer, and manager/owner of WaterTribe, Inc., said he viewed an EPIRB/PLB as an important part of the rescue. “WaterTribe requires all boats to have at least one EPIRB/PLB as part of their safety equipment. WaterTribe events are unsupported, extreme, expedition-style adventure races for small boats, kayaks and canoes. Participants are out in all kinds of weather and often force themselves into sleep deprivation. Since races get spread out by hundreds of miles, a chase boat is impossible. The only safety equipment that can work in all conditions is an EPIRB/PLB. All hikers, climbers, boaters and outdoors adventurers should carry one at all times,” Isaac said.

An EPIRB is a satellite-signaling device of last resort, for use when all other means of self-rescue have been exhausted and where the situation is deemed to be grave and imminent, and the loss of life, limb, eyesight or valuable property will occur without assistance. All beacons must be registered following purchase. Simply go online to www.beaconregistration.noaa.gov.