I'd have added a decent shipboard radar, GPS and a plotting display for them and datalinked weather information, along with PLBs. That way I could have avoided the wreck in the first place or been much more successful in calling for help.

For Amelia - a decent GPS (or if you claim no satellites a good Inertial Nav) and a PLB. Stay on course or get found faster.

-Eric

The new aviation survival vest I have carries an Icom M72 radio (discussed earlier) and a small Garmin GPS in a clear vinyl dry bag -- that's my comm/nav system. An ACR ResQLink PLB is attached separately. One attached pouch is used to carry flashlights, chem lights and my laser flare.

I'm not about surviving and thriving at sea or on a desert island. I'm about being found and rescued in the shortest and most efficient manner. A PLB gets the SAR system activated, but as we know that can take time. If a ship is nearby and responds on channel 16 I can give them a lat-long from the GPS. If a Coast Guard helo responds, I can give him a bearing and range from one of the aviation navaids he will be using (navaids are programmed into the Garmin as waypoints).

In a modern day SS Minnow, the PLB would suffice, although I don't think coconuts would replace the lithium battery; it would void the warranty.

In Amelia's case, a portable HF radio with a good long wire antenna. In the 70's we had one that was hand-crank for electricity for use from a 12 man raft -- the AN/CRT-3 was not a new design, but I seriously doubt they were available in the 30's. Amelia only had the radio in her Electra and when it was pulled off the reef and sank, she had nothing.

Modern day Amelia -- PLB, GPS, Sat phone, bug repellent & sun tan lotion while you wait for help to arrive.

This reminds me of the story about Tom Hank's, stuck on the deserted island, and he has one box that he won't open. Zemeckis, the director, jokingly said in an interview that the box contained a waterproof, solar powered, GPS enabled satellite phone.

But if Gilligan had a satellite phone, I'm sure he'd screw it up and drop it in the fire or something.

The most important thing the SS Minnow was missing was a weapon to kill Gilligan. All they ever had to do was get rid of him and they would have been rescued 1,000 times over. But I'm not bringing up anything new - entire books have been written about killing Gilligan and the metaphor it represents.

Sort of like this?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=alSQpinagp0

Jeanette Isabelle