HM Coast Guard

[Mark-1]

Like Dunedin above, in the last x number of years I have only done it for a serious off shore passage to St Kilda (you would be daft not to), otherwise, no. On the St Kilda one, they mention to remember to call before turning into Village Bay as the reception disappears there.

That was almost exactly the circumstances of the second time I filed a passage plan, except it was before mobile phones. Luckily there was no action taken whatsover, but if I'd been in trouble it wouldn't have been so lucky. People forget or are unable to report their arrival all the time so (quite reasonably) nothing happens.

That's Dunedin's point and I think it's a fair one.

 

[Plum]

So what precisely was the point of submitting a passage plan to the Coastguard? Effectively none.
Hence why I don't bother.

See post #15

 

[Mark-1]

See post #15

Well yeah, but why not just tell the shore contact? Why give the CG some details that they almost certainly will never need.

 

[jbweston]

I don't get this at all. Surely you might as well notify your mother-in-law or the landlord of your local of your passage plan?

I'm not disparaging HM Coastguard as any of us VHF equipped are going to listen to nav warnings and weather forecasts, and if we get in to trouble we're going to declare a mayday, etc. Also if we are having a difficult time for example adrift near a separation scheme, we'll contact them to keep them informed. Quite apart from their obligatory services they can be very helpful and reassuring. But I can't see the point of telling them we're going to sea.

 

[NormanS]

So what precisely was the point of submitting a passage plan to the Coastguard? Effectively none.
Hence why I don't bother.

Many years ago I had a large and fairly powerful ex fishing boat. I was also a volunteer "Coastguard Afloat", which I suppose was a bit like a "Special" in the polis. I reported to the CG every time. They therefore knew roughly where I was, and could, and often did, ask me for information or to give assistance.
Now, with so few CG stations and each covering such vast areas, that kind of amateur help is not seen as relevant, so I don't report to them at all.
When it was common practice to give a "TR", coastguards who were interested, knew where certain boats were, and gained local knowledge. Now I'm not so sure.
Now of course many boats transmit their position on AIS, so anyone interested can see where they are anyway.

 

[dunedin]

Just for clarity, what I think is the recommended approach is

1) Register your boat and contact details with the Coastguard
This is done once and updated when necessary. Used to be via CG66 form but now vie the RYA SafeTrx system - BUT importantly can be done via the web interface, does not require a mobile app.
This is worthwhile even if not reporting a passage plan. If you hit the DSC panic button, or a concerned relative phones the coastguard, they can look up your details on here
(NB. It is less clear if MCA Coastguard actually use this in practice, does anybody know? They seem to harass boats in distress for all the information again, plus shoe size)

2) If want to record a passage plan
The recommended way to do this now is with the App bit of the RYA SafeTrx application. If you read the information you will see that if you don’t report safe arrival it will contact your registered contacts after a set period of time. AFAIK they would then need to call the Coastguard if concerned, who might then put an All Ships message on VHF Ch16 (which I have occasionally heard)

 

[jbweston]

I've had a look at the information about SafeTrx on the RYA website and as far as I can see it has nothing at all to do with HM Coastguard.

It says you can make a 999 call from the app, and presumably a Coastguard officer could download and use the app or the RYA SafeTrx website if he/she wanted, just like you or I could. But is it being suggested that it somehow links in to the Coastguard technology or working procedures?

 

[ylop]

I've had a look at the information about SafeTrx on the RYA website and as far as I can see it has nothing at all to do with HM Coastguard.

It says you can make a 999 call from the app, and presumably a Coastguard officer could download and use the app or the RYA SafeTrx website if he/she wanted, just like you or I could. But is it being suggested that it somehow links in to the Coastguard technology or working procedures?

Yes.

1. You log your vessel details (essentially replaces the old CG66 if you are that old)
2. You log your passage plan and identify ETA and shore contacts
3. If you fail to report “safely arrived” by the ETA your shore contacts get an alert
4. The message to shore contact include a code/reference for them to give to CG.
5. CG not only know what to do but actively promoted it when launched.
6. The code will give access to the vessel details, the passage plan and the current/last known location if the app was set to share it.

The app is not perfect, and phone reception is an issue but the concept is good and much better than what it replaced.

 

[dunedin]

I've had a look at the information about SafeTrx on the RYA website and as far as I can see it has nothing at all to do with HM Coastguard.

It says you can make a 999 call from the app, and presumably a Coastguard officer could download and use the app or the RYA SafeTrx website if he/she wanted, just like you or I could. But is it being suggested that it somehow links in to the Coastguard technology or working procedures?

The MCA adopted RYA SafeTrx to replace their previous CG66 forms and system
(Why they went this route using a third party is an interesting question, but probably three reasons - cost, cost, cost)

 

[ylop]

I don't get this at all. Surely you might as well notify your mother-in-law or the landlord of your local of your passage plan?

You can, and indeed that might be considered a good idea. They aren’t necessarily mutually exclusive - the logic was (and safetrx shifts that slightly - but there may be times you have vhf signal but no mobile signal to start a Safetrx trip) that you want the CG to have accurately recorded details and your shore contact to trigger them to look at them. If your MiL can be trusted to note the no of people on board, the vessel details, route plan etc then great, assuming of course she can also be relied on, in a moment of stress (worrying about her daughter and the situation her idiot husband has got her into) to correctly communicate all that detail to the CG.

 

[Daverw]

I find safetrx very easy to use, just need to keep remembering to tell it I’ve arrived and it will not hassle shore contact.

 

[Alicatt]

Here we have an App from the Vlamsewaterweg called "Pleasure Boating" with that we can register our trips, it holds the details of your boat and any licences you have as well, it can be used to plan your trips giving you any notices to mariners relevant to your journey, it is linked to the online portal, VisuRIS for the waterways which is more for commercial traffic to book through your passage through the lock system, but also works for pleasure boats.

 

[Dockhead]

Contact on 16 & tell them you have routine information. They will tell you to change to another channel & wait ie 67.
Sometimes you can call them direct on 67.
But don't the RYA have some other system for recording route info?. Never used it, as I do not use a phone at sea so others here may advise.

In my experience they always answer on 67. Try that first for routine traffic in any case.

Or how about this -- test your DSC (and your knowledge of how to use it) by making a routine DSC call to the nearest CG station? That's what I generally do.

 

[Sandy]

I find safetrx very easy to use, just need to keep remembering to tell it I’ve arrived and it will not hassle shore contact.

I just sent a text, and the world can see where I am on Marine Traffic.

 

[ylop]

I just sent a text, and the world can see where I am on Marine Traffic.

Whilst that is of course a perfectly reasonable approach it’s worth considering that is not exactly equivalent to SafeTrx:

1. SafeTrx has the option to store a lot of details about the boat so the CG have a better idea what they are looking for.
2. SafeTrx is reporting your position using cellular network, rather than AIS - one may be better than others depending where you are.
3. SafeTrx will remind YOU to report safe (end trip) or extend the trip as your ETA approaches
4. SafeTrx reminds your shore contact when you have not reported safe - that might be important depending how reliable your contact is. Safetrx also encourages you to have multiple shore contacts, which of course you can do but is perhaps more likely to be confusing who was supposed to take the lead?
5. SafeTrx makes all this information available to the CG when needed. Im sure the cg can start to search marine traffic if they know to but does that lose time?

 

[fearmhuir]

So what precisely was the point of submitting a passage plan to the Coastguard? Effectively none.
Hence why I don't bother.

A good few years ago, I had a conversation with a Coastguard official, and he said they always like a call, even for local trips. Should they receive an emergency call, they would know your approximate location and could use your vessel while the inshore/lifeboat is being launched and tasked.
Because or this I always call and give approximate areas and times.