The owner and three crew of a Swan 44 Kratos were rescued by an Italian coastguard vessel following the activation of a McMurdo FastFind PLB (personal locator beacon) which crew member Matt Sillars said he “always carries in his pocket”.
The yacht caught fire following an electrical fault in an extraction system in the heads, and the crew were quickly driven out by the overpowering smoke and were forced to abandon ship into the liferaft.
They put out a Mayday call by VHF, but the call for help was not correctly interpreted, and when a faulty valve caused the liferaft to start to deflate, the crew began to fear the worst.
Matt decided to activate his FastFind PLB, which fortunately he had purchased a month ago. This enabled him to put out a distress signal which went via Kinloss (the 406mhz listening station) and was then forwarded to Falmouth Coastguard in the UK.
Meanwhile Matt was able to reach Falmouth Coastguard via the Solent Coastguard using his satellite phone. This call validated the signal that had already been received from the PLB, enabling the rescue operation to be speeded up.
The rescue mission was completed within three hours, the coastguard vessel using the Fastfind PLB's GPS co-ordinates to rescue the stricken crew.
“We were extremely glad to see the coastguard vessel when it arrived, although it did go past us a few times before spotting us” said Matt.
The crew had tried to paddle away as far as possible from the yacht in case the gas and fuel on board caused an explosion.
McMurdo's Jeremy Harrison commented: “This is exactly how the McMurdo PLB is meant to save lives. Matt carried the PLB in his pocket which meant that in the heat of the moment he had the right equipment with him. The abandon ship process took three minutes, leaving little time to gather any equipment from below decks. It's an example of the importance of carrying a personal EPIRB/PLB”.
Matt is a professional RYA Yachtmaster Instructor and an experienced delivery skipper, and his fellow crew-members, owner David Fuller, co-skipper Jim Prendergast and Rob Cunningham are all experienced sailors.
Yet despite making full use of all the safety procedures at their disposal they faced a catalogue of difficulties: broken VHF transmissions, a flat battery on a handheld VHF, and difficulty in maintaining a signal on a long satellite phone call, not to mention the problems with the liferaft.
“It was undoubtedly the FastFind PLB which ultimately brought the rescuers to us,” confirmed Matt.
The crew had the presence of mind to shut all doors and hatches as they left, and the fire eventually burned itself out. Kratos was later salvaged by a fishing vessel, and is expected to be repaired.
For more information visit www.mcmurdo.co.uk
