The U.S. Coast Guard has a Christmas gift idea it maintains could be the best present you'll ever give — an EPIRB.

"For the coming holidays, maybe people should think of nontraditional gifts instead of iPods and cell phones or new shoes," said Coast Guard Petty Officer Brooksann Anderson. "You could buy someone that you love an EPIRB that could save their life."

An EPIRB, emergency position indicating radio beacon, is a device that can be triggered by hand or by water pressure from a sinking boat. It alerts rescue crews and charts boat location, Anderson said.

Crew members of the longline-fishing vessel Seven Stars — rescued last week after their 69-foot vessel lost power, drifted inside the breakers and ran aground about seven miles north of Hilo — may owe their lives to an EPIRB, she said.

"Where they were is a dead spot in radio waves," Anderson said. "Even though they made radio calls, they were not picked up. They had cell phones and couldn't get any reception. The only way we received any notification was their EPIRB."

The 406 megahertz EPIRB with its integral GPS navigation receiver was first affixed to boats in 1998. It costs between $650 and $2,000. In addition to pinpointing boat location, an EPIRB sends identification information to rescue crews through both geostationary and polar orbiting satellites. The signal frequency (406 MHz) has been designated internationally for distress use only.

Commercial vessels are required to carry EPIRBs, but not recreational boats, Anderson said.

John Enomoto, manager of Go Bananas kayak store, said it's not just the big boats that need safety equipment.

Enomoto said when a kayaker was lost off the Big Island a couple years ago, safety equipment could have made finding him much easier. For example, if the kayaker had a sea anchor — a device that enables a vessel to be pulled by the current rather than pushed by the wind — he would likely not have been lost for several days, he said.

"If the current had been running back up to the island, it would have sucked him back up wind," Enomoto said. "He could have taken a nap and still sailed back to the island."

State law now requires recreational craft that are used more than 1 mile from shore to carry either a VHF radio, an EPIRB or a personal locating beacon. New pocket-sized EPIRBs cost about $650.

When the Seven Stars ran aground at about 5 a.m. Friday, six crew members were on board. One man fell overboard and was later pulled from the ocean by helicopter. The fishing vessel, now broken in half, is being thrashed against the rocks by pounding surf, according to Coast Guard spokesman Petty Officer Michael De Nyse. The 700 gallons of diesel fuel left on board has leaked into the water.

Kwang Myong, the Honolulu-based company that owns Seven Stars, has hired PENCO to salvage the vessel, De Nyse said.

In the aftermath of the incident, the Coast Guard's Anderson said, "The world around you is something you need to respect.

"Whether it be the weather, the ocean or the waves — no matter how much experience you have, you can always find yourself in trouble. That is why the Coast Guard recommends using every possible life-saving precaution you can to help yourself out in case, God forbid, we do have to come rescue you."

WHAT TO GET BOATERS FOR CHRISTMAS

The Coast Guard's Christmas wish list, in no particular order, for people with recreational powerboats, sailboats, canoes and kayaks:

Reach James Gonser at jgonser@honoluluadvertiser.com.