GPS homing device for boats lost at sea
As warm weather lures more boaters out to the water, one way for passengers to stay safe is to pack GPS or radio-tracking systems. Then, if a vessel capsizes far from shore or anyone gets swept overboard, search-and-rescue teams can find the boat or person.
ACR Electronics in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., has been in the marine-safety device business since 1956. And its products are battle-tested: Three models are being used right now in the Volvo Ocean Race, a 'round-the-world sailing challenge.
If one of the participating 70-foot yachts is abandoned--as the Spanish boat movistar was in the seventh leg of the race--the GlobalFix 406 ($1,649 to $1,949) lets rescuers track the boat through an Emergency Position Indication Radio Beacon, or EPIRB, until the lithium batteries run down. That's about 48 hours.
Two RapidFix 406 EPIRBs ($1,169 to $1,389) are secured in the life rafts. There??s also a personal radio beacon called the AquaFix 406 GPS ($640 to $740).
That may be fine for yachts, but are tracking systems worth the cost for recreational boaters?
A salesman at the West Marine boating shop in Norwalk, Ct., put it this way: "If you're hundreds of miles from land and you get separated from your boat, it's a long drift. You need to be rescued quickly and efficiently."
