Port Macquarie Marine Rescue unit commander Greg Davies said that for every 20 boats who go out of the river, five do not log on.

“We have crews working 24 hours a day seven days a week in the radio base as well as at the boat shed but we aren’t much good if people don’t inform us they are going out to sea,” Mr Davies said.

“Whether you are in a boat, yacht or on a jetski, logging on to channel 16 when you go out in to the ocean could save your life.

“When you log onto our system we take the details of the boat, crew on board, general destination and time or arrival as well as where you launched from and get a best contact number so that if something goes wrong we have an idea of where to start a search.”

Mr Davies said that for the past 25 years Port Macquarie Marine Rescue have also run a PM Supporters Group whereby local boat, yacht and jetski owners can get a membership which ensure extra supervision when out on the water.

“Our PM Supporters Group is a group where water craft owners can sign up for a yearly membership and every time they go out we check in with them every three hours,” he said.

“And if someone misses a check in we proactively take steps to ensure they are all okay and safe.

“If someone misses a regular check in, we give their contact number a ring, if we get no response we check where they launched from to see if their car is still there and if it is, within 15 minutes we have launched our vessel to see if we can find them.

“Being a part of our PM Supporters Group is just an extra security measure we like to give our local boaties when they go out of the river and into the ocean.”

The Camden Haven Marine Rescue unit also have a similar program.

He said that in most cases the boat or yacht owner had knocked the radio and it has turned off but when they arrive the owners are always glad to see them.

“It probably happens a few time a year that we go out and look for a PM Supporter who has missed their check in with us.

“In most of the cases either they turned their phones off or the radio was knocked to a different channel but they are always glad that we went and made sure everything was okay.”

Mr Davies said that despite the added protection, local fisherman need not worry about disclosing their best fishing spots.

“So people are cautious about giving us their location as we might disclose their best fishing spots but it really is just a case of doing our job and ensuring lives saved on the water.”

To sign up to the PM Supporters Group click here or head to the Marine Rescue Radio Base at Town Beach.