Our local Coast Guard rescued a man off a remote beach on the back side of Catalina Island early yesterday morning. The man's boat had caught fire the night before, so he abandoned ship. The sailor made it to shore in his dinghy. His personal locator beacon played a major part in the rescue.

Shortly after 6:00 a.m. the District 11 Command Center located in Alameda, Calif. received a distress alert from a personal signaling device, coming from Catalina Island. Because the signal was coming from the Los Angeles area, the case was relayed to the Sector Los Angeles – Long Beach Command Center in San Pedro, Calif.

According to Chief Petty Officer Cory Mendenhall, the man activated his personal locator beacon which sent a signal to a monitoring company, which then contacted the Coast Guard District 11 Headquarters in Alameda. The device did not transmit on a frequency monitored by the Coast Guard.

An HH-65 Dolphin helicopter was  launched from Air Station Los Angeles. Once on scene, the helicopter crew spotted a man firing a flare from a beach on the south side of the Island.

The man was hoisted into the helicopter and transferred to Air Station Los Angeles, where he was met by paramedics to be treated for hypothermia. He was transported to Centinela Hospital in Inglewood.

"This really turned out to be a picture perfect scenario with respect to what to do in a survival situation,"  rescue swimmer Chief Albie Amescua said, "The use of the personnel locator beacon and flare, without a doubt, allowed rescuers to be notified and the survivor to be found.  Without the PLB and flare, it is uncertain just how long it may have taken to locate and rescue the individual."

Although recreational boaters are not required to carry distress alerting devices, devices such as an Emergency Position Indicating Radio Beacon (EPIRB) or Personal Locator Beacons (PLBS), are strongly recommended for ALL boaters, including kayaks and other paddle craft, along with a VHF-FM marine band radio.