Crew Overboard Locator Review
A breakthrough in saving lives at sea

by Staff
Blue Water Sailing

"I always thought it might happen to someone else, never to me," wrote Ted Sierks in a 1951 article for Yachting. "But there I was in the drink, more than a thousand miles out of San Pedro and 880 miles from Honolulu. My ship had disappeared over my limited horizon in the frothy seas . . . ."

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It was two in the morning on the Ohio River in winter. The tug and her barge were proceeding upstream, not due to dock until daybreak. The deckhand was back on the barge. Suddenly the Man-Overboard Receiver in the wheelhouse tripped, sounding its 95 decibel alarm. The skipper slowed the tug and barge and put their small rescue boat in the water. They found the deckhand in minutes and got him out of the frigid water, chilled to the bone but alive.
It’s now company policy to wear the Alert Man-Overboard Alarm on your life vest at all times.

It was a sunny day off the Florida coast. Perfect day for a fast trip aboard the family motorboat. The owners were steering up at the flying bridge helm station. Their two teenaged kids played on the aft deck, out of sight, but wearing life preservers. Suddenly the Man-Overboard Receiver down below tripped, sounding its 95 decibel alarm at the lower helm station, and a second remote alarm on the flybridge. A check by dad of the aft deck revealed every boating parent’s worst fear: a child overboard, rapidly being left behind in the boat’s wake. The vessel quickly returned to the rescue the child, shaken and cold, but very much alive. Immediate alarm notification when a crew member falls overboard is essential for a successful rescue.

Alone in the cockpit or on deck at night, who hasn't imagined what would happen if we somehow went overboard? Even if you're tethered, could you pull yourself back aboard while the boat kept sailing? Or arouse the sleeping crew? Here's a product that will make those nightmares go away. The ALERT 2 System consists of a water-activated radio transmitter, which begins to transmit a unique 418 MHz signal upon total immersion. A receiver sits aboard the boat, and it howls like mad when it receives the unique signal. It also has the ability to shut down the engine and mark a position on a compatible GPS or Loran (with the PC Interconnect Kit). The transmitter works with just two lithium batteries. The receiver wires in to your vessels 12 volt system. For short-handed offshore sailors, this device could be a real life saver.