Hi, JRCC Australia here (Joint Rescue Coordination Centre). We are the guys that recieve the EPIRB alerts and coordinate the rescue. Ref the initial thread above 1, 2 and 4 are all partially correct.
This guy had two epirbs, an old 121.5Mhz beacon which he beleived he activated that night but it turned out he only pushed the "test" button (they are actually illegal under the communication act and should be disposed of properly).
When nobody arrived to help him the next day, he swam under the boat and retrieved the 406mhz beacon and activated it. He was rescued within about 1.5 hours of the activation. He probably would have been rescued half and hour earlier if he had a GPS equiped beacon as the first detection was via a GEO stationary sattelite which does not provide any position unless the beacon has a GPS chip. About 25 minutes later an orbiting satelite went overhead and gave us a position that was passed to the WA water police (who were already looking for him) and there search helicopter flew straight to him and rescued him.
The message is very clear:
Carry a 406Mhz beacon, GPS preferred.
Make sure it is registered with AMSA.
Know how to operate your beacon.
Let someone know where you are going (this applies to flying, boating , bushwalking, 4WDing etc.).
Cheers
