Understanding "MOB" (Man Overboard) on a Garmin® Chartplotter

The Man-Overboard (MOB) function is a common feature for Marine GPS units. When the MOB button is pressed, the GPS automatically marks a waypoint at the current location and allows you to enable a "Go-To" navigation line to take you back to the initiated MOB location.

If the GPS device is connected to a Garmin® autopilot using NMEA 2000, the GPS device will present a prompt to enable the autopilot. If the autopilot is enabled, it will force the boat to perform a Williamson maneuver to return to the location of where the MOB was initiated.

Man-Overboard (MOB) Distress Calls Initiated from a VHF Radio

If a chartplotter is connected to a compatible VHF radio using NMEA 2000, and a man-overboard DSC is initiated from the radio, the chartplotter will show the MOB screen and prompt you to navigate to the MOB point. If the vessel also has a compatible autopilot the chartplotter will prompt to start a Williamson's turn to the MOB point.

Man-Overboard (MOB) and SOS Distress Calls Initiated from the Chartplotter

If a chartplotter is connected to a Garmin NMEA 2000 compatible radio and an SOS or MOB location is marked, the radio will show the Distress Call so you are able to quickly initiate a distress call. More information on placing a distress call from the radio can be found in the VHF radio's owner's manual.

The quatix® also allows for saving a MOB location and navigating back to it. Another option on the quatix is Automatic MOB. The Automatic MOB feature is only available when the quatix is connected to a Garmin GNT™ device. The device can be set to automatically trigger the preset MOB function if the device loses contact with the GNT for more than 10 seconds. At this point, a MOB function is activated on the device, and all Garmin chartplotters connected to the NMEA 2000 network. A MOB waypoint is also created on the device and the chartplotter. Options are then presented to "Confirm" the activation and save the waypoint, "Clear" to dismiss the activation in the case of accidental triggering, or "Disable" to dismiss the activation and turn off the Automatic MOB function.

Note: The quatix 3 does not have the ability to connect to the GNT 10, therefore is incapable of doing what the original quatix above could do.