With OnBoard, Garmin is launching a new MOB system onto the market. The system is actually intended as a replacement for conventional emergency stop lines on motorboats, but can also be used as a person-overboard system on sailing yachts. The compact transmitters recognise when a person goes overboard and report the emergency to the chart plotter, which saves the position. Depending on whether a crew member or the driver goes overboard, the engine is stopped on motorboats. The system requires a compatible Garmin chart plotter. Up to eight MOB transmitters can be tracked simultaneously.
Flexible carrying options
Onboard consists of the central unit called GOS 10 and up to eight MOB transmitters. The transmitters can be worn in different ways: with a wrist strap, a floatable key fob or a carabiner. The system distinguishes between the skipper and other people on board. If a passenger falls overboard, an alarm is triggered on the chart plotter and a loud acoustic alarm sounds. If, on the other hand, the skipper falls into the water, an engine shutdown is forced in addition to the alarm so that the boat does not continue travelling without a skipper. The battery of a MOB transmitter lasts up to one season with normal use.
Automatic MOB alarm on the chart plotter
The onboard system can be paired and managed with compatible Garmin Echomap and GPSmap chartplotters. The system offers a practical function for temporary activities in the water: temporary deactivation of transmitters allows swimming and excursions without triggering the alarm. The basic system consists of the central unit and a MOB transmitter and costs around 650 euros. Additional transmitters are available for around 170 euros each.
The emergency stop function of the engine is not very helpful for gliders, as it is an electrical switching output. It might be possible to deactivate the autopilot with a little tinkering. Even better, however, would be an explicit sailboat mode that can deactivate the autopilot via NMEA2000 or set the rudder hard to stop the yacht from continuing to sail.
