04/27/2025
Two full pages in Canadian Boating magazine this month!
Could not be prouder that people are noticing us and helping in our mission to save lives on the water this year!
So many thanks to Mr. Jeff Evans for taking the time to trial our products and tell the world!
Check out our new website at
www.glorope.com
Transcript of article
Canadian Safety Innovation Premiers at
2025 TIBS – Jeff Evans
This past January, I attended the Toronto International Boat
Show (TIBS) where over the nine days it ran, I presented
seminars on behalf of CanBoat / NautiSavoir. Breaks between the seminars allowed me to explore the thousands
of boating accessories in the Mariner’s Marketplace. In
prior years, I would find new innovative products that improve our on-the-water experience. This year, my search
paid off when I came across a product called GLOring
which is a glow in the dark lifebuoy.
Against the multitude of new electronic gizmos at the
show, a glowing lifebuoy seems a little underwhelming
until you experience GLOring firsthand and consider the
positive impact it could have in saving a life.
As you may know, Transport Canada (TC) requires
recreational boats 6 meters (~20’) in length and up to
be equipped with a 610 mm (24”) diameter or larger TC
approved lifebuoy with a 15 meter (~50’) buoyant heaving
line attached.
GLOring is a product developed by GLOrope Safety
Solutions (glorope.com ); a Canadian company located in
New Brunswick. The company’s founder Scott Harrigan,
in addition to his 25-year career with the Canadian Navy,
spent ten years developing the GLOring and associated
safety products, all which glow in the dark.
This innovative TC approved lifebuoy is impregnated with
photoluminescent pigment which makes it glow brightly at
night. It is a passive device meaning there are no batteries
required. The GLOring absorbs light energy from the daytime
sky or onboard lights. The lifebuoy then glows brightly
in the dark and is easy to spot from a distance.
Imagine a person-overboard scenario in the dead of night.
Your time of response is critical to the individual’s wellbeing.
You may have limited to no visibility of the person in the
water. We all know to first throw a lifebuoy to mark the spot
while you come about to rescue the swimmer. It may take
some time to get your boat sorted out and on a reverse
course. Once turned around, will you be able to locate either
the swimmer or the lifebuoy while panning the dark water
with your spotlight? Colder water temperatures exasperate
the situation further. While you search for the swimmer and
lifebuoy, time is ticking away.
As GLOring glows in the dark, it is easily spotted from a
distance, allowing the recovery vessel to cautiously return
directly to the spot it was deployed while searching for the
swimmer.
Now assume you are the person in the water. You could be
in a heaving sea, and a typical lifebuoy may be difficult for
you to observe in the waves and darkness. The GLOring will
stand out immediately in amongst the waves, allowing the
individual to swim directly towards it to speed up recovery.
Clearly, the GLOring could provide a significant improvement
in recovery time and individual safety.
After discussing the product and it’s features with Scott
at the Toronto show, I bought a GLOring to install on “Boldly Go”
for the coming season. It will replace our current
lifebuoy which is hung in the cockpit for quick access and
deployment if required. My GLOring will be exposed to
ambient light during the day so I know it will always glow
every night. I also bought their 15-meter floating GLOrope
that I will attach to the lifebuoy. The glowing line could aid
the swimmer to grab hold and access the lifebuoy. As well,
the helmsperson will be able to see the line in the dark,
lessening the chance of snagging it in the propellers or rudders.
Now back home from TIBS, I wanted to test GLOring’s
performance. It is February right now, so it is hard to test
it on the water. Instead, I set up a simple test where the
GLOring sat in the corner of a room, with indirect solar and
intermittent room lighting but no direct sunlight. With room
lights off at 10 PM, it glowed in the dark. The real test was
again at 7AM the next day as the GLOring continued to
glow (9 hours later) before sunrise. Needless to say, I was
impressed.
While developing the GLOring, Scott recognized other
marine uses for the technology. A sister product is the
GLObuoy. Many cruising boaters would rather drop the
hook in a anchorage rather than tie up in a harbour. When
our family takes “Boldly Go” to the North Channel or Thirty
Thousand Islands, we always deploy a mooring ball on our
anchor to let other boaters know where we are secured.
Hearing a boat nearby at night setting their anchor or maneuvering always causes concern that they may snag our
anchor. The GLObuoy has the same photoluminescent
pigment as the GLOring and will glow right through to
morning indicating the anchor’s position. I ended up buying one of these as well.
The GLOring lifebuoy was the standout new product I saw
at the 2025 TIBS. Given its ability to improve recovery in an
overboard situation, I believe it is a must-have safety device
on sail and powerboats. I applaud Scott and his Canadian
company for developing such an innovative product that
improves boating safety
