Re: [Paddlewise] Who picks up the rescue tab

Never been rescued.  Never needed an extraction from the wilderness.  But, I 
might need one, in future.  Like some others, I have at times felt I "would 
not accept a rescue" and did not notify the authorities before going on a 
tricky climb or hike.  That was 30-plus years ago, and as a single, lone guy, 
no one would have known until way too late, had I gone missing.

But times have changed.  Nowadays, if I were overdue, I could not prevent my 
loved ones from notifying the authorities, and a search would ensue, even if 
I purposely did not tell them where I went.

As the Rev. Carter's sad incident near Sitka illustrates, rescuers place 
themselves at risk just looking for someone in trouble, let alone extracting 
them.

Consequently, I feel it is my moral duty to decrease the chance they would be 
scrambled to come looking for my sorry ass.  If I have a VHF with me, I can 
use it to tell the USCG  **not**  to come looking for me:  I'm fine, just 
sitting on the beach, waiting for the nastiness to pass, enjoying the 
solitude.  In fact, that was the original reason I bought one.

As for an EPIRB/PLB:  I don't like them, and would not use one or take one 
with me unless I were going on an extended trip to some completely off the 
wall, out of the way place where if I got into trouble, there would be no 
chance of any help from passersby.  Then I might take one along.

The guy, a year ago, who went back to retrieve his lost canoe (in New York 
State? -- memory fails) who got nailed with a big fine for activating his PLB 
in conditions the authorities deemed not warranting its use is a bellwether 
for PLB's:  no one knows what the guidelines are for their activation. 
Caveat emptor.

--
Dave Kruger
Astoria, OR 
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