"Roger Long" wrote in news:kszBf.114790$ME5.66716
@twister.nyroc.rr.com:

However, I'm wondering. Will the USCG just ignore calls like this
thinking, "Some kid hit a button again.", or wait for direct contact?


If the CG has the channel 70 capability at all.....and watches it.

The emergency declaration money is MUCH better spent on the best GPS-
equipped 406 Mhz EPIRB you can get. Then, you don't lose the
communications, just because the boat sank or the batteries got flooded.
If the boat sinks, suddenly, all you need to is throw the seawater-
activated 406 Mhz EPIRB overboard, tied off to your liferaft, and it
activates itself, sending your boat information, exact position, etc., to
the overhead cluster of LEO satellites, anywhere on the planet. NOONE
ignores a 406 EPIRB event. EVERYONE ignores a 121.5 Mhz EPIRB event
because so many go off by themselves in parked airplanes and there's no
satellite system backing them up.

I wouldn't sail offshore without a 406 EPIRB aboard. It's stupid after
so much effort was put into making the system work so well, just to save
the sailor a few hundred dollars....

Ours is attached to the end of the ditchbag, always at hand.

It also has a strobe that will blind you for when the chopper is close to
pick up the dead bodies.

The emergency VHF button is a waste of time because you'll be out of
range when you need it most. 406 EPIRB is NEVER out of range....even in
Kansas, Dorothy.