In the coming months we are proud to bring you our guest blogger Tom Jarvis, from San Diego Marine Exchange. His wealth of knowledge has been helping boaters in the San Diego area for years. We sincerely appreciate his friendship and support of the boating community and are thrilled to be able to share with you some of what he calls “Tommy J’s Favorites”. Enjoy!
By: Tom Jarvis, San Diego Marine Exchange:
SOS Dan Buoy
The SOS Dan Buoy product is a well thought out alternative to the Traditional Man Over-Board (M.O.B.) system available today. This safety device takes up less space and it is easier to deploy than any other system I have seen to date. The dimensions of this small package are; 8 inches wide by 12 inches long by 2 inches thick, and it weighs approximately 10 pounds. Just throw the Dan Buoy; it is light enough and small enough for a child to deploy. This is a water activated automatic inflating package that is fully inflated in 6 to 7 seconds. When inflated, a 6 foot day-glow tower with a SOLAS strobe light and an 8 foot ribbon attached to the top of the tower are highly visible. In addition to the strobe light and ribbon there are several other “life saving” considerations attached to this unit. An oversized drogue (designed to keep the Dan Buoy stationary to the area it was deployed), a whistle (to alert rescuers to your location), nylon straps for arm supports (the Dan Buoy provides enough floatation for an adult), reflective tape for search lights, and a lanyard for attaching to other floatation devices. The Dan Buoy meets the US Sailing and ISAF rules for offshore racing, and it requires NO annual service fees for inspection. The Dan Buoy can be re-packaged by the owner and the self inflating CO2 cartridge can be reinstalled as well. This then provides for multiple deployments without having to have the entire unit sent to a certified Coast Guard approved re-packaging service location after just one deployment. The boat owner simply purchases the CO2 recharging kits and does the repacking themselves. The Dan Buoy makes boating so much safer.
Their website is: www.just-marine.net