On March 5th 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.