I wasn't suggesting that SAR shouldn't have gone looking for them, or that they weren't overdue. Quite the contrary - I was responding to another poster who indicated that they were "lucky" SAR found them when they did, when it at least some instances, there's every indication that if they hadn't been found, it would have been not much more than an inconvenience.

The mere fact that SAR had to go looking for them was not evidence that they were ill-prepared or careless. You're absolutely right, though, that SAR had no way of knowing whether they were safe or not, and had an obligation to respond.

Sorry for not making myself clear. <img src="/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />