Logging this here as a good idea for bigger groups: Temporarily share your location via Whatsapp.
I guess this is probably a good idea as everyone will have Whatsapp installed and know how to use it, and it’s pretty reliable. Maybe as a coordination more than pure safety, but never hurts
I’ve had pretty good luck sharing my positon in Google Maps with my shuttle driver. The main exit point and alternates are saved in a shared list in Gmaps so it is super easy for her to see how my progress is going, and whether I am heading to the main pickup or bailing out to an alternate.
Any device loses GPS fix at least briefly when you crash. Different apps handle this differently, Gmaps does report some pretty wild position deviations sometimes until a good GPS fix is regained, which is my main complaint with it. Will have to test Whatsapp to see if it smoothes things any better.
Interesting about Google Maps, I’d presume it kills battery constantly trying to reroute you to a road? It’s surely not designed for how you’re using it?
It’s fine, it just shows a pin at your position on the water or off
While you still need a phone - I use the “safety and tracking“ feature on the garmin app. The watch gps does a great job at being accurate GPS and it even broadcasts heart rate data so your friends can see how pinned you are 
As @J_L says no need to have a route running, just have to make sure battery optimisations are turned off in Android so it doesn’t get killed if it ends up running in the background. Uses a bit of battery, but only a few % over baseline.
good safety considerations
Why delete? VHF is probably the best way to get a rescue
oops must’ve happened on accident, can’t remember exactly what I wrote but a few of us have been carrying vhf and not sure why its not the norm yet. easier coms than calling each other on the phone and you don’t have to rely on someone hearing the phone ring, having the dexterity with wet hands to answer etc. just push button and talk. the small ones we’ve been caryig fit in a viakobi pocket with the antenna sticking out the little hole
Which vhf models are you carrying
cant remember off the top of my head what model but it’s a standard horizon, i think mini or something like that, whatever there smaller one is. seems to work fine, obviously in nuking wind it’s gonna be hard to hear but any wind you can make phone call in you can use radios. a rashy with a hood would help block wind but too cold for that here now. maybe send a dozen runs with it so far, seems to hold up fine, a few of those runs in negative temps
Do you put it in a bag? Or trust it’s waterproof rating?
no bag, none of the other guys use one either so we’ll see how long they hold up but so far so good, they’re never really submurged for more than a minute or two and they’re made for harsh conditions / emergency situations
Standard Horizon HX40 is what most of us use, but it has both limited range, as well as needs a bag/cover/case in high wind situations to be intelligible.
a bag is sometimes recommended by the coastguard because it makes the audio better (worth validating)
Yeah, wind noise is tough. RIB crews used to use throat mics in the Canadian Coast Guard, but that was decades ago, not sure if that is still the standard.
As far as VHF goes, if I was buying new now I would definitely spend the money on a unit with GPS, DSC, and a dedicated distress/MOB button. One touch will alert every AIS equipped boat in your area and the coast guard in any country with a service that monitors VHf. The Cobra HH FLT is my front runner so far, but no hands on experience.
Worth keeping in mind that using a VHF on marine frequencies requires an operators certificate in a number of countries these days. Canada and Norway for sure.
I’m in the US Coast Guard and VHF is a great tool only if you’re in range. The standard handheld horizon that everyone uses doesn’t get very far with range so it’s possible the CG’s land antenna will not hear you and hopefully another boat is nearby that can hear you. Doesn’t matter if it has DSC and MOB since it all works off line of sight. Now DSC pings off other VHFs until it reaches the CG so there is a better chance of getting your signal out but there still has to be a boat within range of you.
If your DW offshore hands down a PLB is the way to go. They work everywhere using a satellite system and we are required to respond until we find it just like someone said earlier in this post I think. If I had to pick one, I’d personally spend the money on a PLB over a radio for DW, unless your 100% confident you’ll be in range of other boats/land then a radio might be better in that case. Having both on hand is the best option for a successful rescue.
do you think this is roughly correct in terms of range? likely 5-8km max? unless you get a sailboat or repeater mast then up to 15km and 20km at the limit
It’s hard to say what the actual distance a radio will work at due to environmentals and the atmosphere and other factors but I’d say that’s a decent estimate of what to expect. At least in the US, the CG Rescue 21 towers are supposed to cover up to 20NM so you should be able to hear the CG if within that range and you SHOULD be able to talk to them. I emphasize the “should” because it’s an older system and there plenty of factors that may obscure the signal or degrade it etc. Plus on a handheld at that distance you might sound very broken and unreadable. Here is a link to the rescue 21 tower locations and their coverage in the U.S. https://navcen.uscg.gov/rescue-21-distress-system-coverage
If you’re sticking close to shore in the summer with lots of boats around you should be ok to hail someone with your radio, but if you’re more isolated I would definitely use a PLB. It’s foolproof as long as you register it and let your emergency contact know you are going out.
we’re using vhf for coms with the other guys on our runs, coast guard involvement is worst case scenario. if that’s the concern then yeah, Epirb or PLB all day.
Example, a buddy and I sent a 40 mile unsupported run end of the summer and for a large portion of the run we couldn’t find each other. challenging conditions made phone calls a total PIA and as it turned out we were within a mile of each other the whole time. easier to stick together and talk / work as a team also enjoy the company lol.
Example 2, on our local runs in jersey CG is last line of defense, first line is other foilers. for both help / rescue and prevention. Twice this year we’ve had less experienced downwinders not make the cut around the military base we have to pass and they didn’t have radios. I was ahead and capable on both occasions, if they had radios with them they would’ve heard my calls telling them to abort and head to the beach to get picked up. On one of those occasions our buddy took a good 2hr prone paddle in the dark in freezing conditions to get in. His wife was thrilled lol
We’ve had countless other experiences where better coms would’ve saved a huge headache, simple coms with larger vessels and fishing boats on summer runs can save a life, we have some big boats all over the jersey shore that don’t expect to see us out there and some that are dragging nets. A quick radio call to confirm they have eyes on you as you pass each other could change everything.
As far as a life and death emergency Calling land with a phone should be used before vhf. If CG is near it’d be convenient to have coms with them but Epirb or plb is unmatched. Even then, a fellow foiler on the run with you will likely be able to get to you faster.
