Lifejackets are compulsory when boating, and we strongly recommend that you wear them. There are basic foam lifejackets and self-inflating lifejackets. The ultimate is the insertion of a geolocated beacon, which allows you to be immediately located on the boat's screens and by rescuers in the event of a fall. Let's see how it works and how to install this miniature beacon.
A castaway without a beacon is a needle in a haystack
You may remember Jean Le Cam's rescue of Kevin Escoffier during the 2020 Vendée Globe. Kevin was spotted on board his life raft off the South African coast thanks to his AIS beacon. At this distance offshore, without this beacon, the adventure could have turned into a jellyfish raft. On several occasions, I've been present at searches for shipwrecked people or people who have been involved in accidents at sea, by several boats and helicopters. Even in the event of an accident on the coast, the search becomes empty and hazardous if the victim is not wearing a lifejacket. A lifejacket is a plus, but a geolocated beacon is a must if you want to be found quickly.
For the 2024 season, I have installed an AIS beacon in each of my Spinlock Deckvest Lite lifejackets. These lifejackets are ultra-thin. So I needed a small beacon.
RescueMe MOB1 AIS-ASN beacon
This is the world's smallest AIS-MOB (Man Over Board) beacon. Its retail price is ?375. Such a compact beacon integrates into the lifejacket, hooked to the mouth inflation hose, and blends into the lifejacket even on a child's model. The beacon then activates automatically when the vest is inflated, alerting nearby boats. It transmits a signal within 15 seconds to all nearby AIS receivers and AIS-enabled plotters within 5 miles. It also sends a DSC alert to all compatible VHFs.
The boat's coordinates can be stored in the beacon for display on AIS alerts. Rescuers then know where the shipwrecked person is and who he or she is.
Setting up the beacon and inserting it into an automatic vest
In this tutorial, I'll show you how to set up and install beacons, which save a considerable amount of time when searching at sea. The first step is to register the boat in each onboard beacon. The second step is to attach the beacon correctly to the vest.
These two steps are the subject of two dedicated and detailed articles to follow.
