Starlink to the Rescue

[AA3JY]

https://loosecannon.substack.com/p/w...1ut2bqbUl1lR30


Clay AA3JY
aboard s/v Tango


sent via Starlink

[chubby]

impressive work by the crew and props (again) to the sailing community..


i truly believe the best examples humanity is cruising the the waters of the planet..




...


i do find the quips concerning starlink RV/roam not being "approved" by the FCC for marine use...interesting.











should cruisers attempt to influence the FCC? (i have no clue if users of starlinks RV have influence...or what would be a critical mass)





...is this one of those cases where it is better to just be quiet and enjoy being in purgatory(which including starlink functioning offshore)?

[Zanshin]

The FCC has no jurisdiction in this case, it is the ITU which is responsible for frequency allocation and licensing.

[Nicholson58]

Easter Caribbean and probably other locations I understand there is licensing and local political hurdles to prevent official local use. It still works well here. I’m presently operating by my Redport booster on a neighbor’s Starlink. We notice a ten-fold speed decline when a cruise ship is near. We assume their big, high end Starlink takes precedence.

[chubby]

from reading the 1st person accounts on facebook... that rescue was even more impressive.


Raindancer sunk within 15 mins of hitting a whale mid pacific (day 13 of a 20+ day voyage crossing)...yet somehow they were rescued in that vastness...within 10 hours....without use of their EPIRB.


i'm guessing the more typical result of that type of greeting with a large mammal in the middle of the pacific is "missing vessel...and crew".

maybe i'm just easily mindblown..







//images via facebook

[Zanshin]

Wow - amazing indeed!

[dksail]

We met Rick on Raindancer last year in the Chesapeake and then again in the Bahamas. Competent sailer and solid boat and deserves the credit for getting himself and crew off the boat and safe. Grabbing the Irridium Go was another key to the rescue.

[wholybee]

Having seen this posted a few places now, all holding up the Starlink having been used, they seem to glass over the point that the actual rescue communication was made from the liferaft via the Iridium network. This article cites a Go!, another an Inreach, but for sure, the Starlink was NOT used from the liferaft. (I think the confusion is that in the liferaft was a Go!, and on the boat they were communication with was an Inreach.)

Starlink was used in coordination with the ARC, that was nearby. But even without Starlink, ARC boats are in close contact always, via email on Iridium, predictwind posts, and sometimes SSB. So that coordination still would have happened.

Starlink was certainly useful, but it isn't a factor that lead to the rescue. The rescue occurred quickly because the vessel has an Iridium network device, and used it to contact a vessel 100 miles away. That vessel was in proximity of the ARC, and notified them. Certainly, there is more evidence here that you need to carry some other device, a Go! or Inreach, etc. as well as a Starlink if you have Starlink.

But, the fanboys will cheer for Starlink. FWIW, I am a Starlink user and agree it is a useful "game changer." But I have to be real, it isn't an emergency comms device, and if the boat that hit the whale had a Starlink and got rid of their Iridium Go! because of it, or the boat they contacted gotten rid of their Inreach, the outcome might have been different.

Also, a recent update to the article corrects that the EPIRB did in fact work.

Edit:
Regardless of the means of comms, good job by the ARC getting it done!

[jordanbigel]

Originally Posted by dksail

We met Rick on Raindancer last year in the Chesapeake and then again in the Bahamas. Competent sailer and solid boat and deserves the credit for getting himself and crew off the boat and safe. Grabbing the Irridium Go was another key to the rescue.

I read the part about taking the Go! and so I don't really understand why StarLink is getting the kudos here - sure, some of the other boats used StarLink but the crew in the life raft was (presumably) using the IridiumGo (with a cell phone?) and if so, it seems like that should be the takeaway here - your EPIRB may not work so you better have a satellite texting/telephone device in the ditch bag.

Personally, I'm mainly impressed that they were able to use a Go! in a life raft before its battery and the mobile phone batteries died or got soaked.

[Mike OReilly]

What I'm curious about is why the official international rescue system (what's it called?) didn't kick in and take over. The EPIRB did apparently work, but the rescue was coordinated by sailors all connected initially via Starlink and then by Iridium -- all private systems.

Where was the SARSAT in all this?

[jt11791]

Originally Posted by Mike OReilly

Where was the SARSAT in all this?

Well Mike, as someone on one of the boats near the incident, I can answer that. They were more than 2000nm away, that's where. They made some calls and a cargo ship did divert toward the scene, but there were at least a dozen private yachts closer than that ship and one of them arrived first and scooped the Raindancer crew from their liferaft. The land based resources alerted by the EPIRB were helpful in notifying the family and coordinating communications to some extent, but what else do you expect from them?

[jt11791]

Originally Posted by jordanbigel

Personally, I'm mainly impressed that they were able to use a Go! in a life raft before its battery and the mobile phone batteries died or got soaked.

The GO worked well and they also had a handheld VHF, which helped once the rescuers got close, it was dark by then. The very first mayday reports stated that their GO battery was low and they were worried about it dying. It didn't, but that sure sent me running to plug mine in and make sure it was at 100%!

[jt11791]

Starlink's big contribution here was facilitating comms with all the other boats in the area. We got the mayday via SL (WhatsApp) and were able to divert the closest boats. Thankfully, the raft was easy to find, but what if that wasn't the case? What if a real search had been required? We also knew which boats in our fleet had the most medical training, and we diverted that boat to the scene. Again, very thankful that they were not needed this time, but if there had been injuries, this might have been crucial to their survival.

[jt11791]

Holy ****! While I was typing the above a whale surfaced about 100 yards in front of us. Normally, I applaud all wildlife, but today I'm still a bit freaked out.

[Mike OReilly]

Originally Posted by jt11791

Well Mike, as someone on one of the boats near the incident, I can answer that. They were more than 2000nm away, that's where. They made some calls and a cargo ship did divert toward the scene, but there were at least a dozen private yachts closer than that ship and one of them arrived first and scooped the Raindancer crew from their liferaft. The land based resources alerted by the EPIRB were helpful in notifying the family and coordinating communications to some extent, but what else do you expect from them?

Awesome info. Thanks. I'm just curious about why they didn't manage the rescue. I know in Canadian waters, even if others are first on the scene, the Coast Guard prefers to manage the event. But this is a different scale.

I'm not trying to suggest anything. I'm just curious about the apparent lack of involvement by the SARSAT folks.


ADD: Just wanted to add my deep appreciation for what you, your crew, and the other boats did here. A great example of boaters helping boaters.