bshillam I would go with the Fast Find, because it has built in GPS. With the Aquafix I , it has to be connected to the ships on board GPS to give a GPS location. That is fine if you have it connected, but once you loose the ship's GPS (capsize, sink etc)--you no longer have the GPS--SAR can still home on the 121.5 mhz signal. We have the model similar to this, but it has an IR connector to the ship's GPS and the built in GPS--We don't usually connect to teh ships GPS (although we should).
The problem I see as a rescue with the SPOT, is that it is complex for the Lat / lon broadcast by the Spot to be picked up by the SAR craft--it has to go the SPOT rescue center, and they then have to have some way to communicate with the SAR craft. With the 406 EPIRB, you are working through government agencies who have direct communication. The second issue is that of lack of a homing beacon on 121.5 mhz in the SPOT. PLB and 406 EPIRBs all have the 121.5 mhz homing beacon, which makes SAR faster. Most rescue craft have a system to home onto the 121.5 mhz signal. This is very helpful in finding the victim. I don't think that the SPOT broadcasts the GPS position continously, but neither does the PLB.
Sea anchor--hard to know--but I doubt that the sea anchor would have made much difference here. We don't know why they were anchored--if they were still fishing, if they wanted to stop drift, keep the bow into the wind/waves, or if they had engine problems. A sea anchor is not cheap--and is somewhat complex to use--as well as requiring stowage space. The sea anchor is usually used in the Gulf at night in deep water to slow any drift and let some of the crew get some sleep. In heavy seas, it might not pull the bow down as much as conventional anchors, but if the seas were 10 feet +, this size boat was in trouble no matter what. The FIORENTINO'S Offshore sea anchor for a boat less than 30 feet is $460 and 6 feet in diameter. I would have rather had the EPIRB and been rescued.
I do agree that a C dory 22 would have had a better chance in these conditions than an 21 foot open boat with 4 large people aboard. It would be nice to have survival suits, but from a cost, and storage standpoint in a boat this size, survival suits are rarely carried in the Gulf of Mexico waters. The issue here was staying out of the water, because of the rapidly of heat loss in the water. If they had lines tied over the boat to allow them to grip or tie themselves so that the exposure to water was limited, there would have been less chance of hypothermia---but again, the EPIRB would have been better.
I mention storage space--I have an 18 foot Center Console, which I take out at least once a week. There are a couple of built in ice chests under the helm and a seat in front of the console. There is usually some storage space under the front deck--but often life jackets and fishing gear take up most of this space. Add in the personal effects of 4 big guys--even though the boat is 3 feet longer, there is just not much storage space in a center console.
