Five people were rescued after a fishing boat, seen in this undated photo, overturned. (Courtesy of Shayne Sadler)

Five people, including two children, have a global positioning device to thank after they were rescued from a lifeboat off the coast of Tofino, B.C.

Their fishing boat overturned in heavy winds Saturday morning, leaving the group no time to call for help before boarding a lifeboat.

However, emergency crews were alerted by a signal from an emergency beacon at around 9:30 a.m. PT and a coast guard crew located the lifeboat within about half an hour.

"They didn't have time to get out an emergency call off the radio, but what saved them was the GPS-encoded emergency radio beacon," said Paul Tasker with the Joint Rescue Co-ordination Centre in Victoria.

'I just invested in this silly [device] and I don't think it's so silly anymore — it's a lifesaver, plain and simple.'— Shayne Sadler

He said five people were on the lifeboat, including two children, aged four and six.

"They were up to their waists in water, so there was some mild hypothermia … but they were OK physically and they were taken aboard and taken back to Tofino."

Tasker said the GPS-embedded emergency beacons are "the ultimate" in new technology.

Shayne Sadler owns the fishing boat and was on board when it overturned.

"I just invested in this silly [device] and I don't think it's so silly anymore — it's a lifesaver, plain and simple. If we hadn't had that, I'm sure we would have been in some deep trouble."