I always take my phone out with me in a waterproof plastic case. I've got a few spare ones that MSV gave out for free at the boat show. Ask for one next time you see me.
I've only met about 10 of you and you probably don't remember what I look like anyway 
FYI, life savers patrol on weekends and public holidays from the last Saturday in November, until Easter Monday. Patrol times vary from club to club but LSV Comms is operational 24/7 and they will know who is available. Let's hope it never comes to that.
If you have a VHF radio, why not log your trip with Coast Guard? You can call them up on channel 16 or the local VHF repeater, tell them your plans and then call them back when you come off the water. If you don't call by the nominated time, they'll call you for a welfare check. If you do this regularly, they might suggest you pay the $50 fee to become an associate member, which gets all your vessel (yes! a kayak is a vessel) details and contact details stored in their database, so if you don't check in and they can't raise you, they can check your home, mobile and emergency contact person numbers before calling out the troops to search.
