I was looking for recommendations for a marine radios. I'd like to get 2 (waterproof of course) so that I can give one to a buddy onshore or on the water. For down winders emergencies and such. Anyone with suggestions?

this one looks pretty good for what you are doing
http://www.bigwavedave.ca/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=7065

I have this one for sup downwinders, cheap-ish, small-ish and light and it seems to work well:
http://radioworld.ca/ic-m24-p-9167.html

this one is interesting....2 for $99

http://www.westmarine.com/handheld-vhf- ... --12008231

this one has DSC built in...pull the pin and it broadcasts your gps waypoints as a distress call....nice feature in an emergency, floating at night in unknown location

http://www.westmarine.com/handheld-vhf- ... --14273791

What they don't seem to have, is a Personal Locator Beacon (PLB) combined with VHF...that's what would be ideal

http://www.westmarine.com/personal-locator-beacons

Finally, SPOT is something to consider...kind of mixed reviews about them, especially the $150/year fee. But a benefit is you can use it to send non emergency messages too.

http://www.westmarine.com/spot--spot-ge ... --14628093

The last two I have looked into for boating mishaps...should the smelly brown hit the fan on Swiftsure Bank!

Oh, one last thing to consider....Verizon USA prepaid phone...works throughout JDF...$30 for phone, $8/month minimum fee (if you buy $100 in airtime, it has annual expiry). Keep it in a double ziploc. Call from shore "honey, come pick me up".

http://www.verizonwireless.com/prepaid/ ... d+monthly/