In July, 2021, two men found themselves in distress while sailing from Nova Scotia to Newfoundland and Labrador.
They were 30 nautical miles south of La Poile, on Newfoundland’s south coast, when their 38-foot sailboat began taking on water.
Mark Gould remembers that July afternoon very well. Gould is the regional supervisor for the Canadian Coast Guard’s Maritime Search and Rescue Sub-centre (MRSC) St. John’s, and he uses this case as an example of all the things that can go right if there’s an accident at sea.
“First of all, when the call came in, we were thankful to hear that these folks were well prepared with safety equipment, including radios, lifejackets and a personal locator beacon or PLB,” Gould says.
Being prepared saved their lives that day.
“Second, they were quick to call MAYDAY on their VHF radio. They called as soon as they knew they were in trouble.”
At that range, radio communication wasn’t great, but it was enough to get the message out, setting the search and rescue (SAR) system and Gould’s team at the MRSC St. John’s into full swing.
SAR coordinators tasked the CCGS Cape Edensaw from the Burgeo search and rescue station and a Canadian Armed Forces Cormorant helicopter to respond to the sailboat.
A mayday distress broadcast from the Marine Communications and Traffic Services Centre (MCTS) in Port aux Basques prompted the ferry Gallipoli to respond as well. A Canadian Armed Forces C-130 Hercules aircraft was also tasked to illuminate the search area with an overhead flare and relay communications between the MRSC St. John’s and helicopter support.
Although the communication was broken, MCTS officers had enough time to instruct the people on board to get their life jackets or survival suits on and to activate their PLB.
One hour later, radio communication with the sinking vessel was lost.
The broken radio communication resulted in difficulty determining the sailboat’s exact position.
“But when they pressed the button on their PLB, it gave us all the information we needed,” Gould says. “It gave their position, which was the most important thing. Their call gave us an idea of where they were, but the PLB gave us an exact position as well as emergency contact information for their next of kin, which allowed us to update their family members that something was happening.”
When the CCGS Cape Edensaw arrived on scene, the crew followed a distress flare, which led directly to the sinking boat.
Both men were rescued.
“It was an extremely successful mission that went smoothly and almost felt routine,” says Gould. “But the truth is, cases like this rarely go this way. It’s because the people on this vessel were prepared with simple things that can be the difference between life or death. A VHF radio allowed them to call for help. When communications became difficult, a registered PLB gave us a position to track and once on scene, a distress flare, something all boats are required to have, brought us right to them.”
The next day, a surveillance flight in the area looked for the vessel, but it was never located and was presumed to have sunk. The two men likely would not have survived the night had it not been for having and using their on-board equipment.
PREPAREDNESS CAN MEAN LIFE OR DEATH
Gould and the team of SAR coordinators at the MRSC St. John’s see a lot of situations where being prepared with the right equipment, like beacons, made the difference in the outcome of a rescue effort.
“It’s a sad reality that lives are sometimes lost because nobody knew there was trouble until it was too late. By the time someone is reported overdue, it might be getting dark, family members have just started to get worried and they call it in. If someone was supposed to be in by two o’clock and something happened to them around noon, it could be hours after they first ran into trouble before anyone starts to search.”
Survivability is short in the ocean.
If you become immersed in the cold waters of the North Atlantic, you will lose function in your arms within about 10 minutes. If you are not wearing a lifejacket when this happens, you are likely to drown. A properly fitting flotation device can give you more time: even if the cold prevents your arms and legs from working, the life jacket will keep you afloat.
There are a lot of things that factor into an accident. It’s not usually one single thing that goes wrong. It could be because the weather turns unexpectedly, something happens with the engine and then something else: a cumulative effect of relatively minor things.
“We do everything we can. Every single case, we give it our all, but the single largest factor in whether we can rescue someone is whether they were prepared for the situation,” says Gould. “If someone doesn’t have a flotation device and doesn’t have any way to call for help, they have almost no chance of survival in the water.”
Gould’s advice is clear.
“Be prepared and do anything in your power to help take the ‘search’ out of search and rescue.”
And always leave a sail plan with somebody on shore before you go out.
“Someone who knows what your boat looks like, where you normally go, and when you will be back,” Gould says, “someone who will not hesitate to call for help if you are overdue.”
He also encourages every person heading out on the water to keep a registered locator beacon like a PLB or an electronic position-indicating radio beacon (EPIRB) on their person.
SMALL INVESTMENT, BIG RETURN
PLBs generally cost around $600 and in contrast to larger and more expensive EPIRBs, are about the size of a deck of cards. They’re activated by pushing a button, which sends a signal to a satellite. When that satellite is in range of a land station, it sends a signal to the land station with a position, accurate to within about 300 metres. That information goes to a mission control centre, which automatically sends it to the nearest rescue coordination centre.
Compare this to a call that comes in without a known position.
When that happens, rescuers are forced to develop a search plan that covers a much larger area. Their starting point is sometimes based on assumptions and incomplete information like where the vessel initially departed from and how much time has passed since then.
They have to narrow the search area as they go, as new information slowly trickles in.
Sometimes there is debris, and following the direction of currents and wind, the search becomes focused on a different location. Sometimes that location can be kilometres away.
An emergency beacon does the narrowing down automatically, adding precious minutes or even hours of opportunity for rescue.
“How great is it that you can buy a device that fits in the palm of your hand and you can push that button when you’re in trouble and know that the most qualified people, the people whose profession and career are dedicated to coordinating rescue efforts, are going to send you help? Whether that’s sending a helicopter or a boat or whatever — and it’s not costing you any more than the initial purchase and the few minutes to get it registered,” says Gould.
PREPARE YOURSELF, PROTECT YOURSELF
Christa-Lee Cole agrees.
Cole is a deputy superintendent of search and rescue with the Canadian Coast Guard’s Atlantic region. Her job and passion is SAR preparedness: helping people, including people who work in SAR, understand the actions they can take to increase survivability and the chance of a successful rescue on the water. But Cole doesn’t just educate about the value of preparedness; she relies on those tools to keep her own family safe as well.
“I gave a PLB to my dad, who’s a pleasure boater who spends a lot of time on the water. My husband’s a hunter and active outdoors person and often finds himself in places where maybe cell service is not an option. So, it’s been an ongoing gift in my family. Even if they never have to use it, it’s still some of the best money I ever spent.”
Cole recalls a case that didn’t go as smoothly as the one in La Poile.
“A couple of years ago there was a small fishing vessel, an open boat with two people on board reported overdue. We searched for almost 30 hours, and we were coming up very close to the end of our search when debris from the boat was located,” she recounts.
“I was on watch. I remember the call came in that they’d had some sightings they were investigating. The next call said: ‘We just recovered one’ and after that: ‘He’s alive. He’s speaking, he told me who he was.’ I couldn’t believe that after all that time in the water, he was alive and he was talking.”
When the men were found, only one of the men was wearing a life jacket. Both were recovered: one alive. The second man didn’t make it. However, Cole was glad they were able to bring both men home. “Not necessarily the way that we wanted to, but we saved one life and we brought one person home to their family.”
“It can give people that peace of mind,” notes Cole. “The province we live in, we’re surrounded by water. It’s a part of almost everybody’s life in some way or another.” When the searchers have an accurate location, generally the time for rescue will be much less.
While some beacons for larger and commercial vessels are water activated, such as those required for larger vessels under Transport Canada regulations, PLBs don’t have to be complicated or extravagant.
A new project led by industry representatives in Newfoundland and Labrador is making PLBs available to harvesters at 40 per cent of the cost. With about 9,000 fish harvesters in the province, not including recreational fishers or pleasure craft operators, Cole is hopeful this initiative will encourage more people to make that investment in their own safety.
In addition to beacons, life jackets, a sail plan and a VHF radio, which is connected to the battery power of the boat, Cole recommends you have some sort of sound signalling device, a bailer, a paddle and a backup engine on board. And everyone going out on the water should follow the Transport Canada regulations for any inspections, licensing, certification and equipment required for their situation.
CHANGING THE OUTCOME
The Canadian Coast Guard’s maritime search and rescue services cover the longest coastline in the world. Canada also has one of the most effective SAR systems in the world, saving, on average, 97 per cent of the lives at risk in maritime distress situations.
Gould wants people to know they never have to feel alone in an emergency.
“Never hesitate to call for help if you’re worried. That’s what we’re here for. We’d rather get a thousand calls from you or your worried family members than one real emergency call that comes in too late.”
He adds that preparedness may not stop an accident from happening, but it could change the outcome.
“The water is inherently dangerous. It’s unpredictable. It’s unforgiving and it’s a dangerous industry to be working in. Bottom line. It really emphasizes the need to be prepared — just in case — because it can happen to the best. Sometimes experience and knowledge, those things aren’t always enough to keep you out of trouble. Sometimes the ocean is just going to take over.”
“We’re not invincible. We all have loved ones at home that want to see us come back. And when you know how dangerous it is, you see how it can take people, it can happen so quickly, why wouldn’t you do everything you can to make sure you’re safe? It’s the simple things you do that will make the difference as to whether you are brought home to your family or whether you aren’t.”
Are you prepared in case of an emergency on the water?
Be prepared by having and using your safety equipment:
- Always wear a lifejacket and remember the 1-10-1 principle for cold water immersion.
- Check the local marine forecast regularly before and during your trip.
- Carry an emergency communication device like a personal locator beacon (PLB).
- Leave a sail plan with a trusted person
on shore. - Never hesitate to call or signal for help.
