John Marrin wrote us after using an Iridium telephone in Alaska:
"It was really a nice insurance item to have while we were up in Alaska. I was surprised to see how many people had heard of it and had even used the system. "
"I think I told you about the sinking of a 26 foot "6 pack" day fishing boat that was fortunate to have a non required raft. The drive blew up and flooded the engine compartment which knocked out the power and all the radios. One fishing client had a video camera and an other had a cell phone. You can see him in the video standing on the roof of the cabin trying to call the Coast Guard on the cell phone. It took him 5 tries to make a cell connection! It took the Coast Guard about an hour to find them and with a 55 degree water temperature they were lucky they had the raft."
"A wilderness student was probably killed when he fell down a hole in a glacier while getting water for his camping group. The only communication the group had was a portable aircraft radio and it took 12 hours to get word out! "
"We picked up some sea kayaks who's boat never showed up to retrieve them from a rather remote part of a national park camping area. They had no radios. So, someone had to paddle out and try to stop a passing boat to get picked up! They already had to spend an extra day camping and were just about out of food. We had some room so they got home that day. "
" I'd don't think that I would even consider going to go a remote area without one. [PSN Iridium Telephone]"
Below are a couple of pictures of John's Trip. Click on the images below to see the full picture.
