Light & comms
Marine VHF Radio
The maritime radio standard, monitored by coastguards on channel 16. Licensing rules vary by country.
Scenario
The water is closed. Nobody will say so.
There is something in the bay that has learned people are food, and a town whose entire year depends on the bay staying open. The animal is the smaller problem. The meeting about the animal is the larger one.
What kills you
Water, and the economics of admitting it.
Rules
The book behind it
Peter Benchley, 1974
The book is about a town's economics and a failing marriage, with a shark in it. Spielberg cut the subplots and found the film — but the municipal cowardice is all Benchley.
Phones do not work offshore. This does, and it reaches everyone at once.
The maritime radio standard, monitored by coastguards on channel 16. Licensing rules vary by country.
The one piece of equipment that works while you are unconscious.
Packs small until it is needed. Manual and automatic inflation models handle an unconscious wearer differently.
Everything on a boat is either sealed or ruined.
A roll-top bag that keeps contents dry when the outside is not. Roll it three turns or it is just a bag.
Expensive once. Free every day you do not need it.
Transmits a distress signal with your position on a dedicated satellite system. Registration is required and free.
Being found is a separate skill from staying afloat.
Panels, mirror and flag for being seen deliberately. Passive signalling that needs no power.
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