EPIRB, Flares & Coast Guard Rescue Yacht in Storm

by Coast Guard on 21 Dec 2008 A yacht with a disabled engine and shredded sails has avoided a disaster in cold stormy seas with little visibility, with the help of their EPIRB, flares and the speedy and skillful attention of the Coast Guard.

The incident occurred in the Atlantic Ocean off Rhode Island, USA, this week, and shows again the importance of these safety items.

The Coast Guard rescued four sailors aboard the storm-ravaged sailing boat Friday, about 7 miles south of Block Island, R.I.

The crew of the 45-foot Moonshine left East Greenwich, R.I., Friday morning, bound for Puerto Rico, little dreaming that they would need their flares and epirb when they set off.

However, it's not when one thing goes wrong, it's when they all go wrong together that you're in trouble. They were caught in an offshore storm, which ripped their sails and then their propulsion became disabled. They activated their emergency position indicating radio beacon (EPIRB). The Coast Guard received the signal and tracked their position.

The First District Command Center in Boston, launched a 47-foot motor lifeboat crew from Station Point Judith, R.I. and a helicopter crew from Air Station Cape Cod. Both crews arrived at about 1 a.m., at the last position the EPIRB indicated, but because of the 30-40 knot winds, the sailboat was drifting out of position faster than the beacon could transmit. Visibility was less than one mile, and the seas were 8-12 feet.

The crew of the Moonshine shot off a flare, and the rescue crews located the disabled sailboat and determined no one was injured.

The motor lifeboat crew took the Moonshine in tow. After a nearly seven-hour transit, they arrived near Montauk, N.Y., and transferred the tow to a Station Montauk lifeboat crew who took the Moonshine and crew safely to Montauk at about 9 a.m.

'If they didn't have the EPIRB or flares, it would have been extremely hard to find them out there in the snow,' said Lt. j.g. Ben O'Loughlin, the watchstander at the command center in Boston.

Air temperature was 39 degrees and the water, 42 degrees.