A good example of signaling leading to rescue



http://www.cnn.com/2016/04/08/politics/castaways-rescue-help-sign/index.html

So how do you end up stranded on an uninhabited island in the western Pacific? Go to sea in a 19 ft skiff and get flipped by a wave, something rather common in the Pacific. http://www.newsroomamerica.com/story/564527/fanadik_micronesia_april_7_2016.html

We often mention PLB's and other survival gear here at ETS, most of which these mariners probably did not have. I wonder how often people in this area travel between islands in open boats and don't make it to their destination.

In my USN retired mindset I was thinking about getting a boat and thinking a 30' sloop was too small even if it was designed and equipped for blue-water. Then I read about folks who live there going out in a 19' open skiff. That 30' sloop deserves a second look.

On first reading about this rescue, I immediately thought of the classic Gary Larson cartoon with the pilot looking out the window and saying (approximately)"No, don't bother. It just says "HELF."

It's probably pretty common to use open boats to island hop. Where they got stranded was only 4-5 miles from where they started from. At that distance, you're pretty much line of sight (depending on the height of the island) .