"Yeah, a cell phone is great to get hold of us, but if you're in the dead zone where you don't have any towers offshore, then it's of no use," Stech said.

More people now call the Coast Guard for help by cellular phone than by radio, but there are advantages to calling for help on Channel 16, the VHF-FM hailing and distress frequency, Coast Guard officials said.

The radios work where phones won't, and distress calls can be overheard by other mariners in the area who may be able to provide help more quickly than the Coast Guard.

It also helps the Coast Guard with rescue logistics since crews can more easily use VHF-FM to talk to people who need help.

The Coast Guard's 14th District Search and Rescue handled 743 cases in fiscal 2004, which ended Sept. 30. That is an increase from 706 cases in the previous fiscal year, but Cmdr. David Poulson of the Coast Guard's 14th District Office Search and Rescue in Honolulu said there isn't any particular reason for the rise in incidents.

The district includes 12.2 million square miles and extends through the middle of the Pacific Ocean to almost the Philippines. It includes the Hawaiian Island chain, the Northern Mariana Islands, the Federated States of Micronesia and Palau.

The Coast Guard calculates that its 14th District rescue crews saved the lives of 197 mariners and others during operations last year.

Poulson said the most critical step to surviving a boating incident is to wear a "personal flotation device," otherwise known as a life vest. Because the waters surrounding Hawai'i are relatively warm, people stranded in the ocean can survive for many hours after an accident, and it may take time for rescuers to search vast expanses.

The Coast Guard also encourages boaters to buy and register an "EPIRB," or emergency position indicating radio beacon.

The beacon sends out a radio signal via satellite that notifies the Coast Guard when someone is in distress and lets rescuers know the location of the emergency.

Some boaters buy beacons but don't register them. The beacons can be set off accidentally or satellites may falsely read other signals as an emergency beacon.

When the Coast Guard officers receive a signal from a registered beacon, they can call the owner or another pre-designated contact to confirm the alert is a genuine emergency, and can learn more about what gear the boater has on board that might help with a rescue.

With the newer generation 406-megahertz beacons, boaters can file their itineraries, contact numbers and other information by computer so the Coast Guard can tap into that information if a distress signal is received.

Poulson said state law requires that boaters have either a VHF-FM radio or a beacon when they are more than a mile offshore.

Lt. Jerry Johnson said it is also critical that boaters tell someone on shore where they are going. He cited the case of two Navy sailors who were rescued Oct. 24 miles from the Wai'anae Coast after their 21-foot boat sank.

The Coast Guard received a brief distress call, but a helicopter search was initially unable to find the pair. The Coast Guard was able to narrow the search after someone reported them overdue.