AquaFix™ Prevents Sailor from Becoming a Statistic

Like many people, Michael Smith didn’t want the extra expense of buying an EPIRB for his solo sailing trip from Rhode Island to the Virgin Islands. But, his wife, Terry, insisted on it.

Smith is delighted that he relented and purchased an AquaFix™ I/O P-EPIRB, with GPS interface. He survived an unexpected full force gale that dismasted and rolled his 34-foot sailing vessel three times. “I don’t give a damn about the price. You’ll mortgage your soul when you’re in serious trouble and you’re alone on the radio with no one to raise. It works!” Smith exclaimed. “I’m so glad to have this thing. The one time I had it, it saved me. I didn’t become a statistic.”

The first leg of his trip from Rhode Island to Bermuda was calm sailing for five days. So smooth that Smith put the boat on autopilot and went below to make breakfast. Without warning, the vessel was slammed sideways so violently that he thought he had hit something. Before he could climb out of the hatch, it rolled three times in less than five minutes.

With conditions deteriorating, mast broken, no power, no one in sight and 260 miles northwest of Bermuda, Smith activated his AquaFix™, interfaced it with on-board GPS and anxiously awaited help. Three anxious hours later he heard the roar of a U.S. Coast Guard (USCG) C-130 airplane.  

USCG Lt. Jody Popp, co-pilot of the rescue crew from Air Station Elizabeth City, N.C., said, “It was pretty nasty out there. With whitecaps it was hard to see him without the (AquaFix™) 406 EPIRB to get us to his location,” she said. “With the GPS we were able to fly directly to him.”

The USCG directed two shipping vessels to his position. Smith abandoned ship, and was picked up by a 500-foot bulk carrier. He remained onboard until it arrived at its next port of call in Canada. Smith never dreamed he would end up in snowy Canada rather than the Virgin Islands, but he’s very happy it ended the way it did. “None of this would have been possible without the EPIRB. It literally saved my life,” he said.

Learn more about how these ACR Beacons work!