G at Australian Seachange Newsletter - Southern Freedivers

operated the distress flares. The life raft carried virtually everything that we would need, food,
water, medications, torches etc. The sun went down and we avoided some exposure to the extreme
cold by being in the life raft.
However it was the EPIRB that was the real star of the show. All my contact details, had previously
been registered on line in Canberra. The signal was picked up almost immediately and my wife
Anthea was contacted to confirm that I was at sea on that particular day.
The State Emergency Service in Ceduna was contacted and within a short time a fixed wing aircraft
was getting ready to leave Ceduna airport, at the same time they put to sea in a 31’ Catamaran.
Once the position was pinpointed by the second satellite going overhead the plane left Ceduna to
locate us. The boat drove directly out to where the coordinates from the EPIRB indicated. The plane
spotted us and the boat arrived a short time later. Phil from the Canberra search and rescue office
was able to convey to my family at this time, that we were both well although the boat had rolled
over.
We were picked up after 3 hours, an amazing short time considering our position off the coast. The
S.E.S. is partly funded from boat registration fees (recently increased in S.A.) and it is money well
spent. I cannot emphasize how good these 406 MHz EPIRBs are. They are a vast improvement over
previously available ones (which only got the search area down to 5 square kms).
I think every spear fishing boat should have one of these 406 MHz EPIRB s considering some of the
remote areas being dived these days. I would like to thank the S.E.S. for their professional service at
all times. They are all volunteers and they deserve a heap of praise for their efforts.
We recovered the vessel, conducted a complete refit and are fishing again.
AUF Mission: Bring Sport, Conservation and Awareness to the Underwater World