I have the SPOT Messenger but also a land lubber. It never occurred to me that the captain of a boat would use a SPOT device over an EPIRB. Both are life saving devices but based on the utter lack of resources available in the middle of the ocean I would think that boats would have an EPIRB standard.

As I have always done, I will carry my SPOT with me in my off grid adventures. If that includes water borne excursions, I will make sure the boat has an EPIRB and hope it doesn't need to be used. But I would still use my SPOT as a 2ndary.

Too bad for them. Thanks for the info