Good News Rescue in OZ.

[BruceK]

A float free VHF, and an Epirb requiring an underwater dive, led to the rescue of a father and 2 young sons off Perth in Western Australia. The three were fishing offshore when their open runabout was sunk by a freak wave. While in the water, the VHF floated free, and they made an emergency call. Then Dad dived to find the Epirb and activated it. And that`s how rescue authorities homed in and rescued them in around 2 hours.

The elder son`s greatest concern was the fish he lost in the sinking.

Float free Epirbs are being mandated in some classes of boats, not non commercial boats like this one but mandated or not, seem a good idea. Sure worked with the handheld VHF.
https://www.9news.com.au/national/m...-wa-news/958a9eec-3b19-4363-8af6-f583df5ac82c

 

[Peter B]

They were indeed lucky Bruce. Actually there have been several similar emergencies involving fathers out fishing with young sons, and getting flipped or swamped by so-called 'freak' waves. We had one such incident the other day here out in Moreton Bay.

What bothers me is that in each instance the people were not wearing life jackets, even though their vessels were not that big, and they were mainly saved only by being able to cling to the bow of the boat, which in each case was still above water because of air trapped in it. If the boats had gone completely under, they would have perished, even with EPIRBs and VHFs.