Incident in the Twizzle Yesterday

dolabriform

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We heard an incident with a capsized dinghy in the Twizzle on the squawk box yesterday and well done to all involved.

My non sailing friend with me could not believe the side of the conversation coming from the coastguard.

Even he as someone who has only spent a little time around boats understood what a dinghy was and what was going on.

Quite shocked TBH.
 

xyachtdave

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I didn’t hear that one but others I’ve heard asking the same questions that in a real Mayday situation probably aren’t that relevant eg...’What was your intended destination?’

I’d suggest once you have confirmed either your lat/long or bearing from a charted object your time might be better spent tackling the problem than discussing where you were heading for dinner.
 

dolabriform

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I didn’t hear that one but others I’ve heard asking the same questions that in a real Mayday situation probably aren’t that relevant eg...’What was your intended destination?’

I’d suggest once you have confirmed either your lat/long or bearing from a charted object your time might be better spent tackling the problem than discussing where you were heading for dinner.

It felt as though they were working from a checklist and because the situation did not work with the form they were confused about what to be asking.
 

Kurrawong_Kid

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Agreed. Sailing towards Newhaven last year we heard a dive boat reporting an unresponsive diver. A long list of scarcely relevant questions diverted the obviously shaken skipper from the resuscitation attempt. No apparent understanding of the nature of the incident or the speedy response required. Unfortunately the diver did not recover.
 

chanelyacht

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It felt as though they were working from a checklist and because the situation did not work with the form they were confused about what to be asking.

Sadly, they are. After years of coordinating SAR with HMCG, their modern response makes me want to cry every time I hear them. There are some good operators left, but now few and far between - and the "read from the list" training is what they rely on.

I know of at least three people, two lifeboat crew, and one a sailor who's been round the world, who applied to join full-time. They were turned down, with the lifeboat crew being told they have "too much knowledge".

The technology the service now has is fantastic, especially out on the operational side of the coast, but the ethos and the knowledge of the ops rooms needs to go back to what it was a decade ago.

On my watch, I could draw on over 80 years maritime experience in a team of four. A friend who is currently the modern equivalent of a watch manager has a team of five - there's ten years of seagoing experience between them (plus hers). Three have never been afloat, on anything.
 
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Aquaboy

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Sadly the modern way it appears. I wonder how many people need to die before these organizations wake up. I suppose if your only experience comes from university it will take very long time
 

chanelyacht

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Sadly the modern way it appears. I wonder how many people need to die before these organizations wake up. I suppose if your only experience comes from university it will take very long time

It becomes the infinite monkey cage - all working there eventually forget things used to be better. I was taking to one newly joined CG the other day who was shocked that we used to be able to task a helicopter on “immediate scramble” without getting permission first - now it’s accepted tasking one takes 20 minutes of justification. Same way that I used be getting a lifeboat tasked after listening to the first line of a mayday call - now all the data has to be collected first....

The MCA never learns like that.
 

Juan Twothree

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It felt as though they were working from a checklist and because the situation did not work with the form they were confused about what to be asking.

They're reading it from a computer screen rather than an actual paper checklist, but you're pretty much spot on.

For those at the CG stations with a modicum of experience, it's as frustrating for them having to go through the whole procedure as it is for us having to listen to it.
 

Dan Tribe

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It always seems to me that the questions the CG ask are designed to irrtate the casualty.
An imagined call;
Mayday, mayday this is yacht Panic!
Mayday Panic what is your situation?
I'm on fire!
What is you position?
100m from Outer Crouch buoy.
Can you give lattidude & longitude?
No, the GPS has melted.
How many people on board.
3. Hurry the flames are reaching the gunpowder.
What colour is your vessel?
White, no, sooty.
Are you wearing lifejackets?
Yes.
Can you give a description of your vessel?
Etc
 

dolabriform

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It always seems to me that the questions the CG ask are designed to irrtate the casualty.
An imagined call;
Mayday, mayday this is yacht Panic!
Mayday Panic what is your situation?
I'm on fire!
What is you position?
100m from Outer Crouch buoy.
Can you give lattidude & longitude?
No, the GPS has melted.
How many people on board.
3. Hurry the flames are reaching the gunpowder.
What colour is your vessel?
White, no, sooty.
Are you wearing lifejackets?
Yes.
Can you give a description of your vessel?
Etc

I hope they have google?
No Lat or Long available but a quick google of "Outer Crouch buoy." give this as the first hit:
https://crouchharbour.uk/wp-content/uploads/River-Crouch-Buoyage.pdf

Plenty of info there to find the buoy and get the right lifeboat launched after hearing the words "on fire"
I suspect the description of the vessel would be " the one with lots of flames and smoke"
 

Tomahawk

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Ask for a copy of their method statement and risk assessment for a situation where a vessel is on fire or rapidly sinking.

Coming from someone high up in the industry it will carry more weight than us WAFIs.
 

Dan Tribe

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I hope they have google?
No Lat or Long available but a quick google of "Outer Crouch buoy." give this as the first hit:
https://crouchharbour.uk/wp-content/uploads/River-Crouch-Buoyage.pdf

Plenty of info there to find the buoy and get the right lifeboat launched after hearing the words "on fire"
I suspect the description of the vessel would be " the one with lots of flames and smoke"
You would think so, wouldn't you?
Let me be clear, this wasn't an actual mayday but an imagined, made up scenario. The location could have been "under Tower Bridge but I expect the CG would still want lat & long [it's on the check list].
Even in what we may think is a trivial incident, the casualty thinks it's an emergency and it would help if he thought help was on the way instead of having to answer loads of questions.
 

LONG_KEELER

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Regrettably, it's the age me now live in.

Things are designed to protect the organisation first rather than the poor old casualty .

Covering themselves from legal action or bad publicity rules.

Do you remember when we sometimes let the local coastguard know during a long voyage in dodgy weather ?
My last time was about twenty years ago and I radioed in that all was well . The coastguard many questions and having to spell many things phonetically I decided that it was going to be the last time.

Don't blame the coastguards though it's not their fault.
 

Kukri

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I may have mentioned this before, but seven years ago I was seated in the waiting around area of my son’s bank as he was (not) sold all sorts of services that he didn’t need.

A well turned out gentleman of perhaps seventy was trying to register the fact that he had moved house. He needed two separate forms of ID, and he only had one, so his address could not be changed. The cashier could not move onto the next page of her instructions without two forms of ID.

I noticed that he was on very good terms with the cashier. They both called each other by their first names. He did not become irritated. As he left, he saw that I had overheard his conversation and said, with a wry smile, “I used to be the Manager here!”
 

chanelyacht

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For those at the CG stations with a modicum of experience, it's as frustrating for them having to go through the whole procedure as it is for us having to listen to it.

Most either left, or moved to the Coastal Ops side - or sold their principles for a nice shiny set of new epaulets. A few - a very few - good ones have stuck it out to try and battle the tide and keep some elements of the original ethos going.
 

chanelyacht

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The location could have been "under Tower Bridge but I expect the CG would still want lat & long [it's on the check list].

They will want lat/long - for the reason that the person handling the call may be at Thames Barrier (in your Tower Bridge scenario) but equally could now be at Dover, Falmouth, Stornoway, Lerwick....

This is the "benefit" of the national network - incidents can go to the quietest station, which in theory is good for workload planning, but there will be zero local knowledge. The CG will be able to see the range of aerials picking up the call, but there is no DF - and the op will not know if there is one, or seven, Tower Bridges in that area - and to be fair to them, it that scenario, I wouldn't want them googling and guessing, I've seen that go horribly wrong before.
 
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