A few must have items

When traveling to remote reaches of the globe communicating with family and friends can be nearly Impossible. Back in 2008 I picked up a Spot personal emergency beacon. This was a simple way to let a select few know that you were safe. When you hit the okay button people that you have predetermined would receive an email or a text saying you were okay with a Lat and Lon. If there was an emergency you would hit the 911 button and wait to be rescued, fortunately I never had to use this feature. The Spot at the time was around $150 and there is yearly service fee of around $100. The newer models work with your smart phone and allow you to send one way custom text messages.

Affordable Satellite Phone

A satellite Telephone was a very expensive option until recently. The Globalstar GSP-1700 is an affordable satellite phone for around $400 and monthly service starts at less than $25 and there are seasonal plans for you offshore canyon fisherman. Not so bad for peace of mind. No matter where you are you can call 911 and your call will be routed to the GEOS Rescue Coordination Center and they will send out the rescue team. Mike Dituri of General Audio -Visual Inc.  Freeport Long Island is a fisherman and a dealer in this technology and he can help you pick the plan that is right for you.

516-623-8500

Ditch Bag

Whenever I am offshore I always prepare a ditch Bag. I use the top half of my camera bag for this, here are the items like to include

• Spot
• Cell phone in water tight pouch
• My yellow slicker for visibility
• Led Flashing Light
• Sunscreen
• Nutrition Bars
• A few bottles of water
• Whistle
• Jumbo Hefty zip lock bag (fill it with air and you have a PFD) 

If you are close to shore you can make a call on your cell phone if you had to. Way off shore is another story chances are you will see the rescuers well before they see you and you can get on the VHF and send them in the right direction. The sat phone is not waterproof so not sure how much use it may have but you can most likely use it from the jumbo hefty. If you have other items I would love to hear from you, so please leave a comment.

Tim C. Smith 

Global Star GSP-1700 an affordable Sat phone option and the SPOT Personal Emergency Beacon

My Ditch Bag