Another “major” piece of kit has been acquired now and ticked off the list. We’ve decided to go with a satellite phone for emergency use rather than a radio set although we’ll have the VHF set for “local” communications.

To save some of the budget we went for a second hand one so have been keeping an eye on eBay for the right combination of price and condition. The one we eventually bought came complete with a waterproof Peli case and 60 units prepaid so we can experiment with it and get familiar with it’s features without worrying about the cost.

We went for an Inmarsat Isatphone Pro which seems to be well regarded and certainly initial impressions suggest it’s a well put together piece of kit. It has a whole load of features and options but I guess the most important for our use apart from voice communications is the ability to quickly email or SMS our exact location.