Best number to paint on my dinghy: MMSI, SSR, Callsign?

[vyv_cox]

If you are going outside of UK waters the MMSI is the one that is more readily understood and accessible to marine authorities and can be used by anyone with a dsc vhf to call you. Otherwise, mobile number (with country code if going abroad)

Www.solocoastalsailing.co.uk

Having kept my boat outside UK since 1996 I have never found the 'marine authorities' to have the slightest interested in my MMSI number. I have never needed to tell or relay it to anyone and without looking it up I have no idea what it might be. I last used it to enter it into a new VHF and the time before that was for the same purpose.

 

[capnsensible]

>It's also not true: "nobody" is a dauntingly high proportion of the yachting population.

We spent six and a half years in the Caribbean and saw over 1,000 yachts and their dighies and I can assure nobody had a boat name painted on their dinghy. Cruisers talk to each other and not having a name spreads as do many other things such as where not to go because of robberies where the crew is often shot dead during the robbery, the Venezuelan coast is an example.

I did.

 

[GHA]

In the Caribbean it's not cruisers that break into boats it's the locals and they do look for boat names on dinghies ashore,

Just more claptrap urban myths.

Shady types making a note of boat names on dinghies at the dinghy dock - so out at the anchorage they hunt around and get the notepad out - "Here, this one's dinghy is at the dock, must be no one aboard...."

No dinghy tied to the back of the boat is a dead giveaway.

 

[lw395]

AIUI, the French can get awkward if your tender is not properly marked?
It should carry the name of the parent vessel or its own SSR.

A few places like Salcombe have had issues with people using small RIBs etc and taking up all the tender landing space while not paying anything.

There is an upside to having your boat name on it when the the painter fails....

 

[KellysEye]

>In the Caribbean it's not cruisers that break into boats it's the locals and they do look for boat names on dinghies ashore,
>>Just more claptrap urban myths.

Proof?

 

[macd]

Proof?

You have an interesting take on the process of proof and, indeed, on logic in general.
It was you that made the original contention, and therefore it's incumbent on you to provide evidence.

And a tip: sweeping statements containing "nobody", "all"," everyone" and similar words are strongly suggestive that the utterer is a half-wit with little regard for accuracy.

Incidentally, if there is a reason why unmarked tenders are less frequently stolen than marked ones, I suspect it's simply because the marking itself would be suspicious on a stolen boat, and nothing to do with identifying the mother vessel. The notion that thieves planning to rob the mother boat use a parked tender to identify it rather than simply eyeballing the absence of a tender from it is, frankly, risible.

 

[jimbaerselman]

If sailing in Europe, some countries require all motorised vessels to be registered, or all vessels LOA > 2.4m, or >7m. Depends on the country. So I'd recommend tenders to boats cruising Europe be marked T/T [Registration number]. This shows the tender is part of the mother ship's inventory.

And while you're at it, make sure your insurance identifies the tender - and it's motor.

As usual in Europe, policing such regulations is rare. Unless something goes wrong. Like a swimmer reporting use of a motor in a swimming zone.

JimB

 

[savageseadog]

The Samaritan's number is a handy one to have on hand. 116 123

 

[Nostrodamus]

As we have been living aboard around the Med for the last several years our dinghy is our family car and without it we would be lost. This is exactly what happened. We lost it at sea.
From experience I now put a telephone number on the dinghy but if you have a facebook page put that as well. They are pretty universal amongst sailors and will get your dinghy back to you.
This is how we got ours back ...
https://www.cygnus3.com/heard-one-south-africans-spanish-navy-lunatic/
Hope this helps