I have to admit that as recently as twenty five years ago my attitude towards the possibility of ever being in a situation where I might need to be rescued was very relaxed! I had a 23 foot 4 berth long keeled yacht, which I sailed across to France and the Channel Islands and sailed the entire length of the English Channel. All without a life-raft and with life jackets that would not have passed any kind of inspection. I also sailed with what would be considered now a foolish attitude which was that if I got myself into some kind of trouble at sea it should be down to me to get myself out of it. The thought of actually having to ask for assistance was something that I hoped I would never have to do.

When my wife and children began to sail with me on longer passages my attitude began to change, this was helped by my doing the RYA Day Skipper Shorebased Course and then two years later the RYA Coastal Skipper / Yachtmaster Shorebased Course, both of which vastly increased my knowledge and understanding of the various safety issues that I had successfully been ignoring for several years.  Reluctantly I fitted a VHF radio and did a VHF radio operators course, so at the least if in trouble I could ask for assistance. More then that, I did not then feel was necessary. In addition to the ancient lifejackets I had some distress flares, and other than a compass and depth sounder my only piece of navigational equipment was a hand held radio direction finder, so if my chances of being able to give anyone an accurate position were not good.

Technology has moved forward considerably since then, and so has my attitude!! Whilst I might be happy to go up to five miles from the coast without a life-raft any further and I feel that a life-raft is essential. A GPS (Global Positioning System) set is also wonderful for giving us our exact position to pass on to anyone who might be able to rescue us. In addition we now have at our disposal an entire system known as the …

GLOBAL MARITIME DISTRESS AND SAFETY SYSTEM

Or for short GMDSS – which gives us worldwide coverage for all the equipment that we can now buy for our boat that is part of an extremely efficient system for the transmission of important safety information. In addition, when necessary for the sailor or motor cruiser, a system whereby they can initiate search and rescue and can expect a very fast and efficient response to their distress, providing of course that you have the following equipment on board.

AN EMERGENCY POSITION INDICATING RADIO BEACON (EPIRB) is without doubt the most useful piece of equipment on board it is battery operated and small enough to be carried in one hand, when activated it sends off a signal to a satellite which is controlled by organizations called COSPAS and SARSAT. The satellite re-transmits your signal (which gives information such as your position and the name of the vessel) to an LUT (Local User Terminal) from where it is passed on to an MCC (Mission Control Centre) and an RCC (Rescue Co-ordination Centre) from where it is sent to Falmouth Coastguard where it will be sent on to the Coastguard station, which is nearest to the casualty’s position. This all seems rather complicated, but as most of it is done electronically it actually works quickly and efficiently. An Epirb should never be activated unless you are in distress, if activated accidentally it should not be switched off until the nearest Coastguard station or in Portugal the Navy have been informed. All Epirbs should be registered with: The Epirb Register, The Maritime and Coastguard Agency, Pendennis Point, Castle Drive, Falmouth, Cornwall. TR11 4WZ. Tel: 01326 211569. OR do it on line at: http://www.mcga.gov.uk/c4mca/mcga-hmcg_rescue/mcga-hmcg-sar/epirb.htm

DIGITAL SELECTIVE CALLING (DSC VHF RADIO) This relatively new type of VHF radio transmits a signal on channel 70 that lasts about 0.5 seconds to initiate a distress alert. It is similar to a pager, but has the added feature that with a distress call all stations that receive the call will change to channel 16 automatically. VHF/DSC sets should be interfaced with a vessels GPS and so with a ‘Mayday’, call the vessels position will automatically be included in the transmission on channel 70, if the set is not interfaced with the vessels GPS the position will have to be entered manually which of course takes time and can lead to errors.

A SEARCH AND RESCUE TRANSPONDER (SART) Also battery operated and not much larger than a torch it can be carried on either a boat or in a life raft. It should not be used instead of an Epirb, but in addition to. It has a range of about 5 miles from a ship or up to about 30 miles for a searching aircraft. In order for it to work it must first be switched on and in this mode it will have a battery life of about 96 hours. It is activated into transmit mode as a result of receiving a signal from another vessels radar (similar to a Racon beacon). When activated it will produce a line of 12 dots on a vessels radar screen, these dots will give a bearing to the vessel in distress and as the rescue vessel draws closer the dots will become small arcs and eventually complete circles when the rescue vessel is in close proximity.

NAVTEX is an information system that sends out text messages. Navtex receivers either show the messages on a small screen, or some sets actually print the messages on a roll of paper. The subjects covered by these messages are: weather forecasts, navigational warnings such as buoys that are out of position or lights that are not working or have been changed, ice reports and other subjects relating to safety such as the fact that you are in need of assistance, the type of your distress, the amount of people on board and of course your position. The receivers have a range of about 300 miles.

PERSONAL LOCATER BEACON (PLB) A type of mini EPIRB worn by an individual crew member with a locating device on board a vessel. These small transmitters and receivers are used for crew on vessels involved in long distance racing but can be purchased by anyone for any size of boat. If you fall overboard wearing one of these the rest of the crew will be able to find you.

Finally – If you have some of this equipment on board, remember to change the batteries every year. I hope that you will never need to use it, but it will be very reassuring for family and friends either on board or at home to know that in the event of an emergency situation help can be summoned and will arrive very quickly. Don’t forget to buy a life-raft, you can take your Epirb and your Sart and your flares into the life-raft with you and it won’t be long before you are rescued. Just remember to get your life-raft serviced every two years. Any chandlery in the Algarve will be able to arrange servicing for you or get in touch with Orey in Lisbon who do all the servicing of life-rafts for the Portuguese Navy, their contact information is: Tel: 213610890 or email: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it or web site: www.orey-tecnica.pt