# Fired off the Spot distress.



## SaltAddict (Jan 6, 2010)

We were shooting on a few chicken coops yesterday. Around 11:30 a.m. the motor just shut off (buddies boat). We think the kill switch went bad (that's for the mechanic to figure out). We tried the radio for 30 minutes (no success). So I broke out the Spot locator. First I fired off the Tow boat US distress (need assistanc, non-emergency). The owner of the boat had a Spot also. He fired off every signal except sos. One of these sent a 911 to his parents so they knew to contact Tow boat. We heard tow boat on the radio but they couldn't hear us (we were just over 20 miles south of Pensacola pass). So here goes the SOS. He fired his, then I fired mine. All hell broke loose on the radio! Sector mobile, tow boat, vessels from oil rigs were all communicating. No one could hear us. Finally we hear sector mobile give our location. "Only problem..." the coordinates they gave were 20 miles east of our location (this was my Spot locator). A few phone calls to towboat and coast guard from friends and family... then the coast guard had proper vessel description and name. New coordinates from sector mobile (his spot locator) .... 17 miles west of our actual location. We try to disassemble the throttle and bypass the kill switch (no success). We open up the radio mic and found the mic itself corroded with salt (radio check worked 7 days prior to this event). We tried to clean it (no success). We see a boat approx 1/2 mile west and headed north... we fire a flare (no success). We see the coast guard plane (actually we heard it a few minutes before we saw it). We wait until he is in a postion to have us in line of sight and fire a flare DUD... damn! We fire another... up she goes... (no success). Now we only have hand flares (and a 3 ft distress flag on the top of an 8 ft antenna (why not, damn thing ain't worked all day). The plane goes out of ear shot 3 times. Finally after a little more than 5 hours adrift SUCCESS... the plane spots us. They try to hail us... we try back... radio mic is shot. A coast guard boat is seen on the horizon. We blink and they are on top of us (man that boat is FAST!). Then one of our buddies shows up. Then another coast guard vessel (had some big guns on that sucker). Then finally the towboat. 

Thanks to the U.S. Coast Guard!
Thanks to Tow Boat U.S. !
Thanks to every one of our friends who were on the phones, vessels standing by, and even the ones giving us hell when we got back!
A special thanks to Debbie, who lost 20 years on her life and will NEVER forget my name (story within the story).

And even though Spot corporation and I will be having a long talk tomorrow, thanks to them. It probably would have been O' dark thirty before anyone found us.

*Update* I wanted to post updated info ... The Spot worked exactly as it was intended with the connection between tow boat and our Spot locator. The misinformation came when a text message was sent to an individual via the Spot check in button. Spot is aware of the problem and is working on correcting it. 

Tow Boat U.S. highly recommends the Spot service for the simple fact that outside of vhf range you can call for towing assistance without having to directly involve the Coast Guard. After sorting it all out (phone calls with Spot, Tow Boat US, Coast Guard, friends and family) we figured it all out. I will continue to be a Spot customer and enjoy the service they provide.


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## ABailey (May 25, 2010)

Glad you made it back ok. Crazy that the spot didn't have you pinned down. I would definitelybe calling them.


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## ycanti (Jul 13, 2011)

Damn, glad you are all ok, what can cause the spot to be that bad off


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## Realtor (Oct 1, 2007)

wow, thats alot of (no success) glad thigs got worked out. kind of confused about the 20 miles off on the location, did ya drift that far?


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## SaltAddict (Jan 6, 2010)

We could not have picked a better day. We had a sprinkle of rain for 10 minutes or so. Great weather great water. 

I will NEVER say the boat has enough beer, just leave that 18 pack on the porch (what was I thinking?).


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## SaltAddict (Jan 6, 2010)

We were drifting due north. Believe it or not, if conditions stayed the same... we would have hit the pass in a day or so. Our track was dead into the pass. 

We drifted about 3 nm in 5 hours. The spot was just that far off.


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## JD7.62 (Feb 13, 2008)

What a crazy story man. Glad everything turned out ok.


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## Burnt Drag (Jun 3, 2008)

Nothing beats a Cat 1 or 2 ACR Satellite Epirb. Just saw a piece on a party of 4 who had one. THey had PFDs and a big cooler to hang onto. The idiotic media (the same bunch who want to pick your presidential candidates) credited the beer cooler and not the beacon. Glad ya'll are OK!


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## Ocean Master (May 20, 2008)

Great story and a greater learning lesson. Get an EPIRB, extra handheld radio, (instead of extra beer).


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## SaltAddict (Jan 6, 2010)

We were making a list on the boat. 2 high watt vhf's were at the top of the list. (Beer was in the middle).


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## Fish-n-Fur (Apr 2, 2009)

What a sobering reminder for good como - :thumbup: Glad you all returned w/o mishap. Maybe a good reason to have a grill onboard, and to drift fish! Could have been a longer "expedition" that day.


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## TOBO (Oct 3, 2007)

Wow, thanks for the reminder. You just never know.


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## Mullethead (Oct 4, 2007)

Read many a debate on whether to choose a spot or epirb, this confirms one of the advantages of epirb, the quality of the locating signals. Image if these guys were in an abandon ship situation.
Every mariner is responsible for his safety gear selections. I choose epirb over spot and that's what I recommend.


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## SaltAddict (Jan 6, 2010)

My intent of this thread was to inform people of what they could expect from spot. I am going to try the Connect, which allows you to send text messages from anywhere. You can't recieve,but you can send actual coordinates via text.

Now that said, I will be buying an epirb and use the connect as a supplement. This was the first time I put the spot to this kind of pressure. I came home safe, but unimpressed.

Guys and gals, keep your saftey gear current, fresh batterries, take more than the minimum amount of flares, file float plans with competent people, charge your phones, do a radio check every time you launch, and this list could go on forever.

If this thread makes 1 person get a bigger compliance box, mission accomplished.

Safe journeys friends.


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## MillerTime (Jul 6, 2011)

Wow what a story, glad you got home safe. I was actually going to buy a spot a couple months ago for emergency purposes but the guy at west marine said that the spot if you hit the emergency button it goes to a secondary company and then gets relayed to sea tow/towboat/coast guard. That made me get an actual epirb.


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## ycanti (Jul 13, 2011)

I agree I thought I overkill my kayak gear, VHF radio, two way radio and cell phone And I'm usually within eyesight of land. It's diffently an eyeopener


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## SteveFL (Aug 2, 2010)

Thanks for posting this experience. Of coarse you need an epirb but just as important is a good, quality handheld, floatable VHF radio. There are some great units out there; I have this one, http://www.standardhorizon.com/indexVS.cfm?cmd=DisplayProducts&ProdCatID=85&ProdID=1558&DivisionID=3 , and find I use it nearly as much or maybe even more than the permanent mount unit. I don't think they're as susceptible to salt air as base units due to being sealed for floatation.


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## [email protected] (Feb 11, 2009)

This has happened two or three times per year for us. It makes our job very difficult sometimes. I'm glad everything worked out in the end. You might want to double check your gps for accuracy as well. 

Capt John Ward
Sea Tow Destin/Pensacola/Orange Beach
850-837-4152

www.seatow.com


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## MSViking (Oct 11, 2007)

Stories like yours are why I have such a full ditch bag! When things go wrong they frequently go wrong everywhere! Boat has two permanent mounted VHFs, one handheld, Iridium Sat phone, multiple Epirbs and PLBs, many flares of different types and launchers, smoke bombs etc...

Glad everything worked out for you and the day ended with you in your house!. What was the Coast Guards attitude towards you when they arrived? Were they cool with a "Mayday" in your situation?

Robert


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## SaltAddict (Jan 6, 2010)

The coast guard could not have been more helpful. They came up on us with the "hammer down." Made sure all was o.k. and had a very pleasant disposition about the whole ordeal.


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## SmokenJoe (Mar 18, 2011)

I want to understand the spot gave the wrong coordinates. I know I paid extra to have Bout US directly connected to the spot. 

For Captian John at sea tow You have had this happen before with Spots giving bad coordinates or situations were you were given bad coordinates some way. I was not aware spot worked with seatow. I would be happy to see anyone not trying to be an ass here. 

If it has happened to multiple people multiple times there is a serious problem with this unit.I bought a spot not to save money but to call a towing service and not send out a 911 like an epirb does. Sometimes you need help but not I am about to die help. If the thing does not give correct coordinates then it's pretty much useless. 

Joe


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## SaltAddict (Jan 6, 2010)

Smokenjoe- there were 2 Spot locators on the boat. The older model called "the personal tracker" (bulky model) was giving coordinates 17 miles east of our actual location. The 2nd Spot (newer model) was giving coordinates 20 miles west of our actual location. We thought maybe they were interfering with each other, so we shut both down and then fired one up. Coordinates we heard over vhf (coming from coast guard) were still incorrect.

I will credit the Spot locator with this: everyone knew we were in distress. No one had an exact location. Friends and family (alerted by spot transmission) communicated with coast guard and tow boat U.S. (via landline/cellphone) to put them in our general area.


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## SmokenJoe (Mar 18, 2011)

Thanks for the clarification would be nice to hear what they say when you talk to them.

Joe


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## jim t (Sep 30, 2007)

I would relay this story to SPOT... they will probably ask for you to return your locators, though I assume they will replace them for free.

I'd bet they want better performance from their units.

Jim


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## [email protected] (Feb 11, 2009)

Let me clarify. When things go wrong they go wrong everywhere, unfortunately we only get called when things are going wrong, that's why sometimes we get bad info, gps errors, VHF radio problems, cell phone connection etc. This is the first time I am aware of the spot device malfunctioning. A lot of my members have my personnel cell phone in there spot device and I will receive a text message from them with your name and location and I will dispatch a Sea Tow boat. If anyone is interested in this just give me a call.

Capt John Ward
Sea Tow Destin/Pensacola/Orange Beach
850-837-4152 

www.seatow.com


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## jim t (Sep 30, 2007)

Capt. John,

I certainly did not mean to suggest that SeaTow did anything wrong. I am saying that SPOT would like to see these units to figure out why they reported a position that was not accurate.

Jim


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## Evensplit (Oct 2, 2007)

If the crazy coordinates were being reported by the Coast Guard, there's always the possibility that the USCG was goofed up. It's not uncommon for them to have trainees running things on the weekends, and I can see them not knowing how to interperet the coordinates that the units may give them.


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## SmokenJoe (Mar 18, 2011)

Thanks Captain John I would have preferred sea tow but spot works with bout US. I live on fowl river and there is a Sea Tow right here. Good to know you can be added for those who do not have the Boat US deal. I also feel a little better about the spot.:001_huh: Not much better.




[email protected] said:


> Let me clarify. When things go wrong they go wrong everywhere, unfortunately we only get called when things are going wrong, that's why sometimes we get bad info, gps errors, VHF radio problems, cell phone connection etc. This is the first time I am aware of the spot device malfunctioning. A lot of my members have my personnel cell phone in there spot device and I will receive a text message from them with your name and location and I will dispatch a Sea Tow boat. If anyone is interested in this just give me a call.
> 
> Capt John Ward
> Sea Tow Destin/Pensacola/Orange Beach
> ...


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## Play'N Hooky Too (Sep 29, 2007)

I bought a SPOT last fall. Took it to Colorado with me on my hunting trip in November. I was gone 7 days and each day I sent a check-in message to several of my family members as well as to my personal e-mail (just to double check). When I got back I looked at the coordinates that it sent with the daily messages and they stacked up to within +/- 20 feet of each other. I thought that was pretty good, especially since we were camped in the bottom of a canyon. I also sent periodic trip progress messages while we were driving up and those coordinates were pretty much dead on. Based on this, I would definitely trust them. The only draw back being that they have to be manually activated. 

I would suspect some form of human error in this case if you had two of the units and the coordinates were off by 20 miles.


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## SteveFL (Aug 2, 2010)

I'll be checking my unit over the next few months to see how accurate it is. The new unit giving bad coordinates is not acceptable "at all." I too bought the unit so a non-emergency such as this wouldn't require full epirb activation. It would be a good thing if a Spot Rep could fill us in on how this could happen.


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## Bean Counter (Nov 15, 2010)

Thanks for the post. Glad you guys made it back and that the CG was nice when they showed up. I have always wondered what there attitude would be when they got to one of us little guys stranded. I have the old spot and an epirb. Please post what the Spot company says as to why both units were so far off. I am going to test mine as soon as I get back out on the water.


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## SaltAddict (Jan 6, 2010)

OK, I just got off the phone with Spot. When they send coordinates to tow boat US and/or coast guard, they send them in decimals. They said that the other agencies convert them to minutes and seconds. I told them I thought that was a little ridiculous when quite possibly some one's life was on the line. They are working with GEOS (don't know who they are) to correct this problem. So in the conversion it is possible for there to be a 20 mile offset in actual location vs. the location given to emergency response (they did not say this, that is info from my situation). Spot was very apologetic and made sure my contact info was correct so that they could keep me informed.

This seems just ludicrous. They advertise peace of mind and security. Yet, in my opinion do not fully provide either. 
I will be getting an epirb for sure. I will be switching to the spot connect. It has the same features as the locator, but it allows you to send one way text messages via satellite. If a similar situation happens, atleast I could send my actual coordinates along with an "inform tow boat of these coordinates" to a friend or family member (some one informed of my float plan and knowing this message may come).


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## MrFish (Aug 21, 2009)

Redundancy is your friend offshore. Two or more radios.


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## Head Kned (Mar 21, 2011)

Looks like my SPOT will be the last to be fired if i get in an emergency situation. Glad everyone is safe. 

I have a Connect, I have sent several messages, it seems the pre-set up messages go out immediatley, but the typed ones take forever to load and send. I was using an iPad when i sent mine, but it took 30 minutes or so to leave the outbox once I hit send. Just an FYI. 

I liked your comment about the beer.


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## SaltAddict (Jan 6, 2010)

Head Ned- thanks, that's important info. I will be certain to test the connect when I get it.


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## Dragonfire21281 (Apr 7, 2011)

was this on sat?


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## SaltAddict (Jan 6, 2010)

Yes.


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## SAWMAN (May 24, 2010)

*Just Gotta Ask*

I ask this with respect to my fellow outdoorsmen. I am not a fisherman anymore. I did however fish the Gulf and the Atlantic for several years.

With the cost of a good offshore boat being 30K$'s ++,how much would the initial cost of a satphone be + service each month ?? Especially if split with a couple of your fishing buddy's. --- SAWMAN


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## SaltAddict (Jan 6, 2010)

I just had a phone conversation with tow boat US. It seems where everything went wrong was when we fired off the message button. Which sent a text to a family member. The gps numbers converted to decimal format because it was a text message. This is what diverted them to the wrong location (family member called tow boat with these "converted numbers"). From my spot account record we compared gps numbers of original "distress/ non-emergency" to gps numbers when met by the tow vessel. They were very close. Spot knows the problem and is working to correct it. Tow boat US is aware. If you own a spot, keep this in mind.

Tow Boat US said they are big advocates of spot and have responded to many spot distress/ non-emergency calls with great success. 

Make sure you link your spot and Tow Boat US account, and you should be fine.


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## dockmaster (Sep 27, 2007)

Your pretty lucky the weather was calm, visibility was good and your problem was only a non working engine. Change anyone or two of those and it coud have been swim call or worst. A working radio offers direction finding capabilities not only from the land base SAR resources but the assets that are looking for you. PLUS the calls are recorded. Thats a biggie if you only get off one call. Of course a a 406mhz EPIRB is also right up there with a radio, due to there accuracy. Flares speak for them selves. 
Pretty sure the CG came cause there was a report of a distress with no communications. Thats a requirement of the Non Emergancy SAR Manual, amongst a few other things.
Cell phones and SPOT devices are tools that should not be place above the other required or recommended lifesaving gear. 
Glad it worked out ok. 


BillD


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## Orion45 (Jun 26, 2008)

Float plan + VHF radio + 406 MHz EPIRB.

406 MHz Epirb has a 1.5 nautical mile accuracy and a second signal provided to use for homing. Beacon is coded with owners name, address, phone, vessel type, etc.

Take it from me...I've been involved in many SAR flights. Even flying at 200' over the water , you're extremely hard to spot.

How much is your life worth?


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## Play'N Hooky Too (Sep 29, 2007)

I would have thought the message would have gone directly to Seatow or BoatUS if you had the service set up that way. Decimal degrees is a standard format recognized by any service that provides SAR and is actually less prone to errors than DD MM SS format for input to any electronic device that accepts gps coordinates.

My brother David works as a remote site paramedic out of Anchorage, Alaska and has told me that during the past few years there have been dozens of lives that he is personally aware of saved by people having a SPOT locator. Some company's consider them standard safety equipment for their personnel. They have to be manually activiated but due to their compact size you can carry them with you _on your person_ anywhere you go, not just on your boat.


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## Orion45 (Jun 26, 2008)

There are many personal sized 406 MHz EPIRB on the market today. Here's just one:

http://www.rei.com/product/804323/a...r:adType=pla&gclid=CMSq3tPww60CFRBb7AodJHxYBw


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## aroundthehorn (Aug 29, 2010)

SaltAddict said:


> My intent of this thread was to inform people of what they could expect from spot. I am going to try the Connect, which allows you to send text messages from anywhere. You can't recieve,but you can send actual coordinates via text.
> 
> Now that said, I will be buying an epirb and use the connect as a supplement. This was the first time I put the spot to this kind of pressure. I came home safe, but unimpressed.
> 
> ...


Preach. You can never be too safe or exercise too much caution.


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## grey ghost (Jul 24, 2011)

glad it worked out safley!! just curious, how much did that tow cost ya??


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## SaltAddict (Jan 6, 2010)

Annual member. No charge for the tow.


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## lobsterman (Sep 30, 2007)

Sounds like a good bit of excitement, and glad it all worked out well for you and your gang.


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## RORO (Oct 25, 2007)

Well i just tested my spot out again at the house to do an experiment of accurracy. I sent a check in message and it goes to my wife, email, and her moms cell. The email i get has the location where i sent it and a linc to google earth of where i was when i sent it. Dead on accuratte.


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## Dragonfire21281 (Apr 7, 2011)

*we were out there*



SaltAddict said:


> Yes.


 
We hurd the CG callin about a unknown arial flare. and the called of the search due to no responce


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