Fifty miles off the Baja Peninsula, a crew of five people aboard a
40-foot sailboat happened upon a pod of humpback whales and were jolted
by an impact with one of the giant mammals. The steering rudder became
completely dislodged and tremendous amounts of water began pouring into
the disabled vessel.
For 45 minutes everyone attempted to keep the boat afloat. Crew members
furiously pumped the manual bilge pump, while the others tried to secure
the rudder and slow the ingress of water. Although they were stunned by
their urgent situation, the crew went about their tasks. They were a
disciplined team of two sail instructors and three students from the J
World Performance Sailing School competing on October 28th in the Baha
Ha Ha rally from San Francisco to Cabo San Lucas, Mexico, according to
Barry Demak, one of the instructors aboard the boat.
The crew was sure they were well prepared for emergencies, Demak said,
because they had pre-packed an ACR Electronics' RapidDitch™ Bag with
safety and survival gear and the boat had an ACR SATELLITE2 406™ EPIRB
mounted in a bracket inside the cabin.
Traditional means of communicating their plight proved unsuccessful.
They had placed Mayday calls on the VHF radio in Spanish and English but
there were no answers. They were out of cell phone range.
Eventually they realized they couldn't stem the flow of seawater.
Captain Eugenie Russell grabbed the EPIRB and brought it on deck and
assigned a crew member the important task of protecting the EPIRB,
eventually transferring it to the life raft. Some minutes later when it
was clear that abandonment was imminent, Captain Russell activated the
satellite-detectable emergency distress signal.
Captain Russell went below to retrieve the RapidDitch™ bag and water
already was above her knees. According to Demak, “at that point things
began to accelerate.” Demak also went down below to secure additional
food and water and found seawater at waist level. Russell, Demak and
crewman Ray Quinn went forward to deploy the life raft. Finally, with
the deck going underwater, the crew went into the water and held onto
the raft. They scurried into the covered life raft, bailed out cold
seawater for over an hour, took stock of their emergency stores, read
the raft survival instructions and then floated in windy, high seas
awaiting rescue.
"We were absolutely confident that once we were in the life raft, we
would be located and would be rescued. We were confident because we had
the EPIRB and because of our relative proximity to San Diego," he said.
Around 2 p.m., they heard a USCG Jayhawk helicopter in the distance. The
elated survivors used their VHF radio to make contact, and Captain
Russell launched a flare. A USCG C-130 aircraft from Sacramento provided
long-range coverage. The helicopter crew hoisted all five sailors safely
aboard for transport to San Diego, where Russell later received medical
care for a minor hand injury.
USCG Petty Officer 3rd Class Henry Dunphy described the rescue as
"pretty incredible" because of how isolated the racers were and how
flawlessly the technology worked. "The first sign of trouble came to us
from the EPIRB signal. As soon as we got the signal, we launched right
away. The EPIRB brought us right to them. Then survivors set off flares
and we went straight to the raft. Everyone who owns a boat should have
an EPIRB," Dunphy said.
Demak reiterated the importance of the EPIRB in his rescue. "Without
question, having the EPIRB and knowing how to use it saved our lives.
Everybody needs to understand how to register the EPIRB with accurate
and up-to-date information. Our actions and our level headedness helped,
as well as being prepared with the right equipment," he said.
An EPIRB is a satellite-signalling 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 online at www.beaconregistration.noaa.gov
following purchase. There are no monthly service fees for 406 MHz
beacons.