Using a Laser Flare To Spot Man Overboard When Sailing

As a recreational small boat sailor who often ventures offshore at night I think that laser flares, or laser rescue beacons as some call them, are one of the best new inventions for marine safety.

Sailors can use a laser flare, such as those made by Greatland Laser to help rescue parties find their exact location or to summon help from passing planes or ships far out on the horizon.

They are not yet Coast Guard approved as emergency signaling devices but are becoming more and more common on voyaging sailboats, powerboats and planes. Hikers and hunters who venture into the far back country are even carrying laser flares to summon help if needed.

First you should note that these are not toys. They are not laser pointers and they are not cheaply made. Real laser flares send a line of light at a distance of a mile is several meters long, instead of a pinpoint that laser pointers put out. This helps prevent temporarily blinding your rescuers.  In order to signal a rescuer at a long distance with a common laser pointer, you would have to accurately hit your target in the eye in order for them to see you. Real laser flares draw a line which fans out the further it goes. At sixteen miles, the line of light is 6,000 ft. long and can easily be seen from the air.

 Laser flares come in green and red colors and some may have an adjustable beam pattern.

Aside from summoning help I think that one of the best uses for these devices would be for locating a man overboard. All members of your party should be wearing safety harnesses with incorporated PFD devices. In case a tether breaks, etc, and you end up in the water you could use the laser flare to locate the reflective tape on the sailing harness or life jacket.

I tested one of these recently on Lake Travis, an inland lake. The red laser flare I purchased was able to illuminate a life jacket featuring reflective tape at over one mile. It shone like a bright flashlight back in our direction. Granted the lake was calm and this kind of reflectivity would be difficult in choppy, rolling seas, I believe a laser flare could be used to help find a man overboard. Since the long line of the laser beam would not be as likely to blind the man overboard than a laser pointer I think the extra expense of a real laser flare for marine use would be worth it.

Taking Man Overboard Laser Flares The Extra Step.

Ideally your man overboard would be wearing a PFD or safety harness with a whistle, mirror, waterproof VHF and a compact, waterproof laser flare in an attached pouch. It would make more sense for the person in the water to have the laser flare than someone on the boat, provided they were not unconcious.

If you can afford it, it would be nice to have a laser flare and compact waterproof VHF on each person's life jacket or safety harness. In several years of sailing I have only had a man overboard situation happen once. It was while crewing on a racing yacht in a choppy bay during the evening, just before sundown. Though we followed the standard drills of having crew members point at the person while getting thier compass heading, it was still very hard to see them bobbing in the water a hundred yards.

Finding Navigation Markers With A Marine Laser Flare

Another use that I see for laser flares is in locating channel markers or bouys at night. I think that now laser flares are starting to be recognized as distress signals you may want to do this very sparingly. Yet, if you are in dangerous waters where you must find the channel, using a laser flare to sight the reflective tape on a distant bouy or channel marker could surely be justified. Greatland Laser states the following on their site: "laser technology to literally draw lines of light on the surface of the water. The observer approaching the illumination perceives a solid line of light in the correct corresponding color making it easy to stay inside a safety corridor through an unfamiliar area."

Which Is Best, Red Or Green Laser Flares?

Green laser flares have higher visibility at night however red laser flares are more reliable. Greatland Laser lists the following specs for red laser flares:

Red: 10,000 hr. meantime to failure. Green: 5,000 hr. meantime to failure.

Battery life for red laser flares is much better with 80 hours for their lithium model and 40 hours for the AA battery model but only 5 hours for the green laser flare. All of those made by Greatland Laser are waterproof to 80 feet. Red laser flares have a lifetime warranty but the green laser flares only have a 180 day warranty, indicating that they have a higher failure rate.

The photo below shows how a laser flare can illuminate a channel marker.

There seems to be so many potential uses for marine laser rescue flares. It's a product that I am glad is now becoming affordable for the average sailor.