Len & Lisa, ACR Survivors Use TWO Beacons for TWO Different Rescues
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla., June 10, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- ACR Electronics shares a first: within just six months a SurvivorClub replacement Emergency Position Indicating Radio Beacon (EPIRB) saves a crew of three and their dog from the raging seas of the North Atlantic.
Just this past October, and without warning, Len and Lisa Rorke's sailboat rudder broke and drifted away leaving the sailboat without any means of steering, forcing Len to activate their EPIRB. Their ACR GlobalFix iPRO EPIRB signal was received by the USCG who coordinated their rescue with a local fishing trawler which was 20 miles away. The good Samaritans aboard the trawler pulled the Rorkes, and their Jack Russell Terrier, Dexter, up on board and took them back to safety.
To everyone's shock and disbelief not even six months later, lightning struck again. This time the couple, Dexter and a crew mate Henri Worthalter were 13 days into crossing the Atlantic Ocean, from the Turks and Caicos Islands, heading to the Mediterranean via The Azores. Their journey ended with two days of gale force winds and high seas which broke the rudder and aft bulkhead on their sailboat, The Blue Pearl. "We were 950 nautical miles from the Azores (about halfway between the Azores and Bermuda), and could not have been further from land if we tried. We had been battling heavy weather for a week and the last two days of storms battered our boat so badly that it sank right in the middle of the North Atlantic in huge seas, strong winds and in the dead of night", stated Len, Captain of The Blue Pearl.
Forced into a life raft 900 miles north of Bermuda, the couple watched as their home sank before their eyes. As fate would have it, their new EPIRB given to them just months before by ACR Electronics as part of the SurvivorClub program was put to proper use. They activated the EPIRB once they got into their life raft and within minutes the EPIRB sent the USCG the exact location of the displaced crew.
The USCG District Command Center located two ships to help with the rescue: the Tilda Kosan, a 351' tanker, which was 32 nautical miles to the south of their position, and an automated mutual-assistance vessel rescue ship (AMVER). The tanker reported they were six hours away from the EPIRB's location and would divert off course to assist the distressed mariners. Around 12:30 a.m. the tanker located the life raft with Len, Lisa, Henri and Dexter whom the USCG previously identified.
Clearly relieved, Len said, "We were extremely lucky to have survived, but that luck came because we did everything right and without a question because we had properly registered our EPIRB, once again, with the US Coast Guard."
Rescued, recovered but now homeless, the Rorkes are in good and grateful spirits despite watching their sailboat, their home, just drop to the bottom of the ocean. Their crewmate, Henri returned home to Europe, but the Rorkes and Dexter were transported to Bermuda and then flown into South Florida. Currently they are residing at a good Samaritan's home in Jupiter, FL while regrouping and raising money to join their family in the United Kingdom.
To read both of the Rorke's survival stories please visit SurvivorClub.com.
ACR designs and manufactures a complete line of safety and survival products under the ARTEX and ACR brand names including Emergency Locator Transmitters (ELTs), Emergency Position Indicating Radio Beacon (EPIRBs), Personal Locator Beacon (PLBs), Search and Rescue Transponder (SARTs), Strobe Lights, Life Jacket Lights, Search Lights and safety accessories. The quality management systems of this facility have been certified by TUV USA to AS9100C / ISO 9001:2008. Recognized as the world leader in safety and survival technologies, ACR and ARTEX have provided safety equipment to the aviation and marine industries as well as to the military since 1956. The company is headquartered in Fort Lauderdale, Florida and employs over 180 at its manufacturing facility.
Media contacts:
Mikele D'Arcangelo, Marketing Director
954-862-2115
Nichole Kalil, Media Specialist
954-862-2180
Photo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20140609/116042
Logo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20140609/116039
SOURCE ACR Electronics
Share this article