RE: [Paddlewise] epirbs

EPIRB use is not discouraged in Canada. 

When a signal is made, the military sends a plane to drop a VHF to determine
what the emergency is, following which an appropriate rescue is preformed.
The rub lies in there only being a very few bases that must cover a huge
territory, so it can take hours before the plane arrives.
http://www.airforce.forces.gc.ca/vital/v2/images/Y2008-D393-01.jpg 

A good approach is to use a VHF in the first place, and only activate the
EPIRB if no one receives the VHF signal (a common problem, given that most
of the country is empty), but only if the situation is serious or will
reasonably become serious, as opposed to "Call Marge and tell her I will be
late for dinner."

-----Original Message-----
From: owner-paddlewise_at_paddlewise.net
[mailto:owner-paddlewise_at_paddlewise.net] On Behalf Of PeterO
. . . 
After considering all of this I was on a kayaking course at the weekend and
we had a Canadian, an affable fellow, who expressed quite a bit of concern
when the discussion got around to safety gear and EPIRBs. It may be an
example of the validity of quite opposed viewpoints provided each is taken
in context. I just don't know what the contextual differences are in this
case. The Canadian described how problematic EPIRBs were in his country
where their use was associated with over-reaction and mobilisation of
extraordinary levels of resource to effect a rescue; whereas here in
Australia the rescue authorities encourage the community to take them on
substantial bushwalks and when boating, to minimise the time and resources
needed. 

All the best, PeterO
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