Nautilus Lifeline old generation

[Kevrumbo]

kev-
As the OP said pretty clearly: "there is NO rescue operation here..."
COSPAS/SARSAT is NOT universal. It is NOT the magic help that we in the US often think it will be. Even where the system is deployed and there are rescue assets? There aren't always assets. Even the USCG has had substantial delays because ALL of the equipment in range was either on previous assignment, or literally down for maintenance with no spares available.
Given a choice between "COSPAS/SARSAT has no responders here" and "Maybe someone has their radio on" which would you choose?
There are even fairly large nations where there is no "Coast Guard". There's an all-volunteer coast watch of limited means, and a widely scattered Navy with large areas uncovered by air assets. Satcoms are not the magic bullet that they are often made out to be.

For the US, if Coast Guard assets are unavailable or already dispatched out, there is inter-service back-up coverage and support from the US Air Force or Navy (example, read Perfect Storm).

Unless a US Navy ship happens to be in the area, or South Africa SAR assets are able to sortie, there is at least general container ship traffic rounding South Africa/Cape Agulhas --and while not as busy as other shipping lanes such as through Gulf of Aden, they can be tasked for a reasonable search and rescue along the Mozambique Channel. Perhaps a long-shot chance, but if available, this potential "last chance" civilian rescue can only be coordinated through activation of the COSPAS/SarSat Network.

See also reference to rescue of:
Abby Sunderland - Wikipedia

 

[Rred]

kev-
I'm thinking specifically of an account on equipped.org (great site) from a small craft pilot who ditched en route to Hawaii. There was exactly one USCG base within range of him, with four aircraft. Two on missions, one very down for maintenance, and IIRC the fourth couldn't launch immediately for similar reasons. Documented.
And then not to many years ago, there was a SAR response somewhere east of Atlantic City, where assets from the old Southampton AFB had to respond (NYS Guard has an air rescue unit there) because nothing else had the range and duration to get out to the area in question on that dy. (NYC Floyd Bennett field no longer has SAR assets beyond the NYC Harbor units.)
There ARE gaps in the system. The system has severe budget constraints. Yes, they're damned good at pulling rabbits out of hats (like the rescue of Rebel Heart in the Pacific) but if the OP says there are NO ASSETS in his part of South Africa...I'll take him at his word.
And I should mention, even ACR had a very embarrassing recall involving EPIRBs that had a bogus test light. The test light said "Good", the EPIRBs did not transmit.

 

[Kevrumbo]

kev-
I'm thinking specifically of an account on equipped.org (great site) from a small craft pilot who ditched en route to Hawaii. There was exactly one USCG base within range of him, with four aircraft. Two on missions, one very down for maintenance, and IIRC the fourth couldn't launch immediately for similar reasons. Documented.
And then not to many years ago, there was a SAR response somewhere east of Atlantic City, where assets from the old Southampton AFB had to respond (NYS Guard has an air rescue unit there) because nothing else had the range and duration to get out to the area in question on that dy. (NYC Floyd Bennett field no longer has SAR assets beyond the NYC Harbor units.)
There ARE gaps in the system. The system has severe budget constraints. Yes, they're damned good at pulling rabbits out of hats (like the rescue of Rebel Heart in the Pacific) but if the OP says there are NO ASSETS in his part of South Africa...I'll take him at his word.
And I should mention, even ACR had a very embarrassing recall involving EPIRBs that had a bogus test light. The test light said "Good", the EPIRBs did not transmit.

Just because there may be gaps in the COSPAS/SARSAT system (or in the US Coast Guard's Mission for that matter), you don't fatalistically go into a remote part of the offshore world unprepared at all for a "lost at sea" contingency -nor OTOH should you naively expect the USCG/Navy and other first world SAR assets to always find and rescue you because you carry both a functional working with fresh batteries Nautilus Lifeline AND a PLB back-up ready to deploy.

That being said above, here is some useful objective information:
SAR contacts for Mozambique:
Mozambique - Search and Rescue Contacts

The US Embassy in Maputo (Capital):
Emergency Contact | Maputo, Mozambique - Embassy of the United States

However, the most serious caveat/warning regarding the latest Maritime Security Threat and SAR in the Mozambique Channel:

. . .It should be noted the the SANDF (South African National Defense Force) will not be able to assist Search and Rescue operations in the Mozambique Channel. . . The likelihood of a piracy incident in the Mozambique Channel is at its highest since 2010.

http://mast-security.com/i/Downloads/Op_Copper_Intrep.pdf

------
With regard to COSPAS/SARSAT, here are few recent documented rescues from just this year so far::
Yacht abandoned in severe storm recovered after drifting hundreds of nautical miles
2017-03-14 14 hours to reach circumnavigating yacht trapped in rough seas near Sydney for 100 hours - International COSPAS-SARSAT
2017-03-20 COTS divers rescue fishermen in distress in Great Barrier Reef - International COSPAS-SARSAT
2017-03-07 Former lifeguard out fishing rescued from Port Fairy sea, Australia - International COSPAS-SARSAT
2017-03-21 AMSA and Navy aid South African nationals with broken mast in remote Southern Indian Ocean - International COSPAS-SARSAT
2017-02-16 Alaskan snowmobile trip to hot springs cut short - International COSPAS-SARSAT
2017-04-10 When a plane crashes on a mountain side and no one is around can you hear it? YES! - International COSPAS-SARSAT

 

[Denis Sab]

Hi Kevrumbo.

Maputo or ANY decent SAR boats are 800km away from our dive sites… There is no way these people would help.

However, I can quickly send a dozen of boats, most of them equipped with a VHF. The lifeline’s distress button could help and shouldn’t be received by any other boat than our searching boat. But the two-ways VHF is definitely more convenient.

Due to the current here, all dive guides here use an SMB during the full dive. I guess my best option is to keep there a proper waterproof VHF with the housing Bred was talking about…

 

[Kevrumbo]

Hi Kevrumbo.

Maputo or ANY decent SAR boats are 800km away from our dive sites… There is no way these people would help.

However, I can quickly send a dozen of boats, most of them equipped with a VHF. The lifeline’s distress button could help and shouldn’t be received by any other boat than our searching boat. But the two-ways VHF is definitely more convenient.

Due to the current here, all dive guides here use an SMB during the full dive. I guess my best option is to keep there a proper waterproof VHF with the housing Bred was talking about…

@Denis Sab , for local SAR with your Dive Operation Boats/RIB/Skiffs, a VHF Beacon System with Automatic Identification System/Digital Selective Calling that uniquely identifies your clients in a lost diver contingency is a viable option. Several Liveaboards worldwide utilize this system (Nautilus Lifeline) and provide them for their diving clients: see Undersea Hunter Cocos Island Costa Rica Dive Program - Safety

You may have clients like myself who also have their own private PLB as a last resort back-up in case the VHF Beacons dropout because of range limitations (Nautilus advertises 60km maximum, but realistically at best only 20km in high swell seas & rain conditions). This is how the PLB works with local dive operations in remote locations without national SAR coverage:

The PLB when activated uplinks to the COSPAS/SARSAT System as described above --if it was my PLB for example, my emergency contact would at least have information on your dive operation (Odyssea Dive Centre), your cellphone numbers and emergency contact numbers for the US Embassy in Maputo Capital. In other words, the Rescue Coordination Center in the United States and/or the US Embassy in Maputo can still call your dive operation Odyssea DIve Centre in Vilanculos Town, and relay vital GPS coordinates to my location as determined by the satellite system.

 

[packrat12]

I am not sure where the range numbers are coming from. The specs for the old radio were 1 Watt with a DSC range of 12.5 km/8 miles. Voice of 4-5 miles. The new radio has AIS @ 1 Watt and DSC @ 1/2 Watt. I would expect the best range of 12.5 km/8 miles in the best of conditions. Considering my boat has a 25 Watt radio with a 8' antenna mounted 4' above water, I just do not see these ranges for the hand held. We have a nearby CGS and they can pickup far off signals but how many areas have one as close as us.

Two-way is great as a benefit but with just the push button, I will go satellite every time.

 

[Rred]

Packrat-
Direct range figures for VHF's come from physics and an approximation of local conditions. Meaning, the line-of-sight distances that they will work can easily be found on the web with multiple calculators. A handy base number is six feet (above ground/sea) is six miles to the horizon, a six mile range is fairly reliable IF there is no background noise and IF there is unobstructed line of sight.
We see this is terrestrial VHF's all the time. From inside one building (steel frame, sheetrock) to another? Maybe two blocks, about 1/4 mile, maximum. But outdoors? Maybe 1/2 mile to one mile maximum, if both are on ground level and there are any buildings (even wood frame) and trees in between.
On the other hand, the same radios, at 5 watts, are used to communicate with the International Space Station, an incredibly more distant object. Of course, that's not your typical line-of-sight communication as found on the surface of the planet.(G)
So the Lifeline may be at 6" or 12" elevation above the water, with an "unobstructed" view of a boat antenna that is 6-20 feet above the water, and in a remote location there will be little if any background noise. Run those heights through a calculator, and all the rest is "sales puffery" or ballpark reality, whichever you'd prefer to call it.
If you have an SMB, or a pole spear, etc., then if you triggered the distress button, you'd be well advised to get the Lifeline UP above the water as far as possible. As even a 3'-4' increase in elevation beats all hell out of being 6" above the water, for range.

 

[Rred]

Denis-
You might try PSI. They're the company that trains most visual tank inspectors in the US, and they still show them as available for sale on their web site. Possibly they have inventory still on hand.

PSI Logo Items : PSI Cylinders, Professional Scuba Inspectors

 

[Hatul]

I have the old Nautilus Lifeline and I find it too complicated. I have to reread the manual before each dive trip; something meant for emergency use in the water should not be this complicated. Also last time I tried to use the VHF radio to talk to the boat just as a test no one picked up.

 

[Rred]

I also find it too complicated, said the man who totally ignored all the programming options on his microwave for 20 years.

Instead, I know "This button is for MAYDAY, this button is for the USCG and anyone else monitoring 16, and this button is for 68." That's all. Do I remember how to change channels? Nope. Either the boat can monitor 68, or they WILL be monitoring 16. At least here in the US, if they aren't monitoring 16, I'll personally call the USCG and say "Papa, please spank!".

I have very little interest in learning Yet Another New Programming System. I suppose if I'm planning an extended trip elsewhere...I'll put the manual on my phone and read it there, the night before. (I try not to play with my phone where it can get wet.)

I wish we could still get the old Kilgore military surplus smoke pots, that came in metal 35mm film cans. Those were pressure-proof, and if they only lasted a minute...still, it beat nothing.