Rescued by Iridium phone...!!!

[starboard]

The following on the Coastgurad web site makes for interesting reading....one very lucky man I think.
Paul.
http://www.mcga.gov.uk/c4mca/mcga-newsro...;m=7&y=2007

 

[jimi]

Probably needed the immodium when he got the phone bill!

 

[Koeketiene]

When you're in such a situation 1$/min's a bargain

Paid more on roaming charges on the mobile last year /forums/images/graemlins/mad.gif

 

[Jeannius]

Calls to emergency services on, I think 112, are free on Iridium. They work even when your card has expired.

 

[Anchorite]

Re: What went wrong?

Catamaran....or did he "lose" his keel?

 

[tudorsailor]

Re: What went wrong?

Was this a portable phone? Otherwise how would the phone work with the aerial under water? Why did he not have an EPIRB?

TudorDoc

 

[webcraft]

Re: What went wrong?

Iridiums are portable with a pop-up aerial - although they can also be connected to external aerials.

You don't usually get a very good signal through fibreglass though - I think he was a bit lucky.

I think the combination of EPIRB and satphone is a bit like the early days of email, when you always phoned to see if they'd received it . . . a blinking yellow light may mean the cavalry are on their way, or it may just mean the yellow light is blinking . . .

 

[Seven Spades]

Re: What went wrong?

It is a pity that can't hire an ERPIB, it would mean that many more people would use them. For the small number of occasions when people would need an ERPIB it is just one thing many people manage without.

I would not attempt a transatlantic without one.

 

[Sgeir]

[ QUOTE ]
Probably needed the immodium when he got the phone bill!

[/ QUOTE ]Back in the early 90s (or wuz it the late 80s), the original business plan by Motorola and the original partners was anywhere to anywhere for $5 (US) per minute IIRC. Seems cheaper than crossborder/crossservice providers in Europe today.....

 

[webcraft]

Re: hiring EPIRBS

A 406 EPIRB can be had for under £300 these days, so cost shouldn't be an issue for even the most impoverished bluewater cruisers wen they consider the cost/benefit ratio. I wouldn't have thought it would be worth hiring at that sort of price.

 

[BlueSkyNick]

Re: hiring EPIRBS

yep, and SAT phones don't come cheap in the first place, let alone the subscription charges ..... which is why I don't have one, but do have an EPIRB with GPS.

 

[Dave_Snelson]

That incident made his £1 per min call charges look like real value for money!

 

[30boat]

Cheap I think,for only €2 a minute .I have a Iridium phone that works and a ssb that's a bit temperamental.And two epirbs.It was cheaper to get a new one than to replace the battery on the old one wich still has some life in it.Safer than that only if I stay home...