I am seeing a very high number of boaters who have the newer radios with the red 'help' button on them. We need to STRESS to the boater that the button is of no use unless they get the MMSI number entered into the radio. The MMSI number is free and can be obtained at: www.boatus.com/mmsi. They can also register on-line to receive their number. I print out the forms to give to all boaters who have the new radios. Once the MMSI is entered, there will be a record of boat name, size, contact info, etc to be used in finding the vessel. If the radio is NOT hooked to a GPS receiver, the float plan will be of major help in trying to locate the boat. When it IS hooked up to the GPS, it can give other boaters in the area a location to search.
Critical points to stress:
Float plan forms can be downloaded from the following site: www.boatus.com/seaworthy/floatplan.asp
Submitted by: Bill Martin, VFC, FSO-RBSVP, FSO-VE from 11N/08/06
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