You 're right. I have always reckoned that if I went overboard when Alex was asleep, there is no way he could wake up, get topsides, and turn Aleria around in time to save me. Same for him. Perhaps the AIS PLB is an answer. But I 'd rather not find out. Short tether is the #1 defense.

Vice Commodore, OCC 

Couldn 't agree more, John. That 's why our first rule of sailing for all newbies onboard is... #1 STAY ON THE BOAT.

Vice Commodore, OCC 

Agree entirely with the last posting. The PLB and EPIRB are complementary not mutually exclusive.

However, a PLB in a MOB situation is useless unless it actuates to warn those still aboard the boat because by the time the signal reaches any rescue athorities you will have died from exposure.

Think about it. With a two man crew if one goes MOB while the other is sleeping below the sleeping partner will never know until too late unless the PLB can actuate a strong audible signal on board.

Daria, suggest a PLB be it AIS / EPRIB is an individuals MOB piece of safety equipment. Hence the size etc.

An EPRIB is for the vessel and has many more ways of being stored, launched and activated. The PLB is a way of enhancing your overall safety package and should complement what you have especially if you sail with crew and have AIS on board.

It 's all about budget, the risks you are prepared to accept and the type of sailing you undertake. Husband and wife teams would clearly benefit from AIS PLB during night watch.

Here 's the newest tiniest PLB yet. The rescueME PLB1 from Ocean Signal has amazing 7 year battery life and weighs only 4 ounces.

http://www.oceansignal.com/
http://www.oceannavigator.com/Web-Exclusives-2013/Worlds-smallest-PLB/

Can a PLB replace an EPIRB these days?

Vice Commodore, OCC 

I have frequently sail single handed so the choice for me was the PLB which is attached to my life jacket.

The bad news is that unless the weather is poor or I am on deck at night my life jacket not worn. But that is another story.

I understand from tests done in various magazines that the small AIS systems have a very limited range due to the aerial being so low down in the water. But for a crewed yacht this seems to be the route to go down.

SY Avista

John Bailey

Here 's another article about the SPOT like devices. There are issues.

http://www.practical-sailor.com/blog/-10824-1.html?s=FB11162012

Vice Commodore, OCC 

I should have said: EPIRB based kit is all well and good but it doesn 't talk to the people most able to find you - your crew. No point in waking up MRCC if there is someone nearby to pick you up. Waste of time for ocean passage making, IMHO.

We have the Raymarine Life Tag proximity system and the Kannad AIS system. I view them as complementary rather than either/or.

Recognise issue about false alarms on Life Tags. One have two aerials one aft and one forward and have eliminated most false alarms. Battery life is an issue but otherwise they seem Ok.acid test is to walk off the boat with one and see if it works. I have one for each crew member.we do have an agreed routine if it goes off accidentally, so it is not a real hardship.

The life tag system is reasonably inexpensive compared withe the AIS version. The latter is Circa £400 for each unit from memory. We have three, one for each person on watch.

Both require the chart plotter to be fired up to get maximum advantage. But they do different things. The life tag needs no casualty action but it only tells the boat where you went Overboard. The AIS requires me to activate it and to make sure it is above the water but if i do it tells the boat where i actually am! So I have to be conscious for it to be useful.

So I think both is good. If I fall over having hit my head - hopefully the crew will respond to the Lifetag. If I am conscious, then they will find me faster.

With the advent of the new AIS type PAB 's(personal AIS Beacon), Polly & I have also been re-considering what to use. We used to have the 121 mhz type with RDF, and now have the (first gen) ACR 406 PLB 's. As mentioned, the 406 PLB 's are attractive as we can use them hiking, mtn climbing, etc. Our one concern has always been that ours must be activated manually and that we had no way of homing in on the POB...we were simply left to wait for outside resources to initiate a rescue. When the Kannad PAB became available, we immediately became interested. This would theoretically allow us to manage the location of a POB ourselves through our AIS system. Again...we were concerned that this appeared to be manual activation only. This concern was further reinforced recently by the tragic loss of Ned Cabot off the coast of Newfoundland this Sept. As I understand it, Ned was indeed wearing a 406 PLB, but presumably was unconscious and could not activate it. After checking the Kannad site again http://www.kannadmarine.com/en/safelink-r10 I discovered that the new ones have an option for "semi-automatic" activation. Apparently, the PAB can be fitted professionally to one of a number (there is a list on their site) of auto inflation PFD/Harness ' so that when the PFD inflates automatically the PAB is activated. This is very interesting to us. I will be contacting our emergency gear supplier which is Liferaft & Survival Euipment in Portsmouth RI, USA to look into this further.