Hawaii is often considered a recreational boater's paradise compared to just about anywhere in the world.

Sailors come here from all points of the globe to “;sail the winds of paradise,”; as our warm tradewinds are often called. And international anglers are well aware that the Big Island's Kona Coast is home to arguably the world's best fishing hole for catching giant Pacific blue marlin.

But because our state's major islands stretch from Hawaii in the southeast to Kauai and Niihau in the northwest, the prevailing northeast trades are at a right angle to the chain and tend to blow anything that is adrift away from land.

Subsequently, with nothing but open ocean to our southeast for thousands of miles, becoming lost at sea can become a reality to anyone on a vessel without power.

This is one of the reasons that emergency position-indicating radiobeacons, or EPIRBs, have become essential equipment aboard most vessels. They allow the Coast Guard to have a much better chance of finding those aboard satellite-tracked boats when an emergency arises.

All boat owners with EPIRBs though, should be aware of a recent announcement from the Coast Guard regarding these devices.

Those with the older analog EPIRBs that operate on 121.5 or 243 MHz—who were advised in 2006 to discontinued their use as of January 2007—are reminded that beginning on Feb. 1, satellite processing of distress signals from these beacons will be terminated.

This notice, however, does not apply to older beacons installed in man-overboard devices that are designed to operate directly with a base station rather than a satellite.

The Coast Guard notes the reason for phasing out these older EPIRBs is largely due to their unreliability in emergency situations, as historically only one out of every 50 alerts was confirmed as a genuine emergency situation. This resulted in a great deal of wasted time and resources.

It also has been reported that satellites are unable to distinguish analog beacons from other analog frequency sources such as ATMs, pizza ovens and stadium scoreboards.

Beginning on Feb. 1, only the newer digital 406-MHz EPIRBs will be detected by the international satellite system that provides worldwide alert and location data for search-and-rescue operations.

Those in the U.S. who use 406-MHz EPIRBs are required by law to register their beacons, which inputs an owner's contact information, emergency notification information, and a vessel description into a national database.

“;False alerts have been reduced significantly (with the 406-MHz EPIRBs),”; the Coast Guard reports. “;And when properly registered, (alerts) can usually be resolved with a telephone call to the beacon owner. Consequently, real alerts can receive the attention they deserve.”;

Boaters in Hawaii who purchase a new digital EPIRB must register the beacon online at http://www.beacon registration.noaa.gov/ or by calling 1-888-212-7283.

Those who do not purchase a new beacon run the risk of making news in the future as boaters lost at sea.