Really, I CBA making the authorities feel good about themselves and allow them to give me a... new sticker!

If I don't do anything about this, and hit that big red button when I break a leg mountaineering or after being swept overboard in Bass - a helicopter will still show, right?


Australian 406 MHz Distress Beacon and MMSI Database

Dear Sir/Madam,

Our records indicate that your 406MHz Distress Beacon Registration sticker is due to expire on xx-Apr-2014. To enable the issue of a new Registration sticker we require you to check and confirm your registration details via our web site www.amsa.gov.au/beacons , by Email to [email protected] or by phoning 1800 406 406. Your new Registration sticker will be valid for a further two years.

Information contained on the register is critical to search and rescue operations and to your personal safety. It is your responsibility to ensure the details are kept up to date to help make our lifesaving task a lot easier when you most need it.

If a yachtsman sets out to sea , and I don't mean up the coast or across the Bay , Then he should never, ever, expect to be rescued. There is no good reason for' stuffing up', at sea. I have used this principle in donkey's years of travelling , under sail , throughout the World. Preparation and due care is your best safety aid. Yes I do carry an EPIRB . As a matter of interest , I carried one on a voyage Australia to UK . Sitting quietly in St. Katherine's Dock , in London, decided to test the bloody thing - it put out a lot of smoke and the guts melted ! It is still in St. Katherine's !!

It encourages/reminds you to keep your details current so they can provide a proportional and appropriate response to an activation. My PLB is recorded against my vehicle and thats where it normally lives, it will confuse the hell out of them and delay a response if I decide to take it out to sea and activate it from my kayak.

Usually in an activation a risk matrix is done on the information available and then some effort is made to contact the registered owner of the PLB or their next of kin to gain further basic details, they can't do that if you have changed your phone number or wife . The last marine/boat drowning I was involved with the bloke that drowned passed away about 2 minutes before sea rescue arrived, so minutes really do count.

Arguably if you activate it from a boat that will come to where its pinging from but they also like to know what type/size/colour boat you are in to make it a bit easier.

And for what it's worth keep your PLB somewhere really accessible, ie somewhere really annoying, lots of boats sink with the PLB/EPIRB safely tucked away in a locker with the PFD's...