A Mayday, really?

[Talulah]

When people say "No harm done" I disagree.
I am now so use to frivolous Maydays in the Solent area that a real Mayday may be stereotyped to what it's not.
In other words these people calling Maydays are devaluing the term "Mayday" to such an extent that harm is being done.

 

[fireball]

Which demonstrates the sense of involving the CG early on

I don't think the OP is begruging the 34' sailing yacht from contacting SCG to inform them of an engine failure - rather that depsite there being a "useful breeze" and the passengers on the yacht not being in immeadiate or grave danger the call was that of "Mayday" rather than "PanPan".
We don't know if there was something local to the yacht that merited the enhanced call and we could speculate all day about it.

Why does it matter? Why indeed? Why don't we all just call Mayday when we have something go wrong? If it's always going to result in the same way surely it doesn't matter ... ?

 

[[70521]]

I overheard the Solent CG side of the conversation relating to a mayday today.

If, in the eyes of the skipper it was a Mayday then it was a Mayday.

The professionalism of both the CG and RNLI meant that the incident was dealt with efficiently and the lifeboat crew were back in time for tea and able to do their planned training exercise later that day.

I hope I never ever need to press the red button and utter the word Mayday three times, but it will be my decision and nobody else's. Of course I shall read, with interest, the incident debrief on here without making comment.

 

[jimi]

It may be that SWMBO was threatening the skipper with a cast iron frying pan over the bonce if he did'nt sort it out PDQ, would that count as imminent danger to life or limb?

 

[fireball]

If, in the eyes of the skipper it was a Mayday then it was a Mayday.

Indeed - but you have to wonder why the skipper would consider it a Mayday if they're in a servicable SAILING yacht with a USEFUL BREEZE

perhaps there was no useful breeze around ventnor - I watched RTI where boats have fallen into a lull around there ...
perhaps the sails were not on the boat - we're only just into the sailing season - they could be ashore for maintenance ...
perhaps the halyards were jammed
perhaps the crew couldn't sail

it's still technically not a mayday - perhaps the skipper had forgotten or not done his VHF course.

 

[fireball]

It may be that SWMBO was threatening the skipper with a cast iron frying pan over the bonce if he did'nt sort it out PDQ, would that count as imminent danger to life or limb?

He's got a cast iron frying pan on board - that's a mayday in itself!!

 

[jimi]

He's got a cast iron frying pan on board - that's a mayday in itself!!

Surely only if you were racing? I which case you could buoy it, sling it overboard and retrieve after the race? The absence of such an item on a cruising yacht may well justify a shout of PAN PAN.

 

[fireball]

It's well known that you can grill bacon ... and fry the eggs in an aluminium pan ..

Buoying the pan afterwards is a good way to get it clean before retriving it and putting it away ... providing you've got a waypoint for where it was lobbed overboard - you could use the Mayday button on the GPS for that ...

 

[alant]

We had a similar situation last year where we had engine failure on our rib coming towards Calshot heading from Cowes back up Southampton water. we were initially out of the shipping channel but drifting quickly in its direction.

First call was to sea start who dispatched assistance and second call was to coast guard only to inform them of our position and situation and that we did not need their assistance at that time but to make them aware. i was unable to raise VTS on the VHF and requested that solent coastguard relay our position and information as we had by that time drifted into the main channel at just about the tightest point.

Just before seastart arrived a large gas carrier was coming down the channel heading out of southampton and it was clear that despite the worsening conditions, they had been informed and made early and obvious actions to avoid us for which we were very grateful....

Coastguard were very good all communications, as were national coast watch who had visuals on us for much of the time from their Calshot base.

Don't you carry an anchor?

 

[l'escargot]

Who argued otherwise? It's the Mayday status that's being questioned.

I didn't say anyone argued otherwise and if you look back at my first post I said that I thought it probably didn't warrant a Mayday. It's quite useful to read all the posts in a thread before responding...

 

[jonjo]

The professionalism of both the CG and RNLI meant that the incident was dealt with efficiently and the lifeboat crew were back in time for tea and able to do their planned training exercise later that day.

Have you ever been gainfully employed in a useful job?

Perhaps one of the RNLI crew works in local light industry and as a result an international order will be dispatched a day late and the business will fail to get the next contract.

Perhaps another crew member is an NHS theatre technition and a surgeon decided to cancel an op due to an incomplete team.

The professionalism of the CG or RNLI is not being questioned in this thread, the question is whether that free at the point of delievery proffesionalism is being abused by rich people partaking in an optional leisure activity.

If, in the eyes of the skipper it was a Mayday then it was a Mayday.

This is not true.

There have been multiple accounts in this forum over the years of the French CG dealing with bleeting British yachties in "distress" very differently. In yesterday's situation they would have cancelled the Mayday, told the yacht to try to sort it with sail power and in the last resort hours later they would have arranged a commercial tow.

If the British Coastguard is mandated to never question a Mayday this can only be explained by a local interpretation of maritime law or local attitudes.

Everyday 1000's of 999 medical calls will be assessed and some downgraded to "call your GP" or "get yourself to a medical walk in centre". Why do we not give our Coastguard the same powers of discrimination?

 

[dom]

It's quite useful to read all the posts in a thread before responding...

I’m glad you suggested that, aside from your silly snipey responses that is. Jonjo makes a good point about the Indian merchant mariner who offered to raise anchor on a big ship and manoeuvre his vessel towards Ventnor. That would be seriously dodgy, but he clearly felt duty bound to give it a go and good on him!

There are many threads bemoaning the dim opinion ship masters have of recreational sailors; what is this man going to think when he reads the report, which I’ll bet he has downloaded?

Talulah gets to the heart of the matter in Post #21; us Solent sailors should get our act together and properly comply with the same international radio protocols and IRPCS we expect and hope the big ships will follow. It would be bad for all of us if these guys pencil in “WAFI Central” over the waters in and around the IoW.

 

[gjgm]

In yesterday's situation they would have cancelled the Mayday

Is that correct-can CG cancel a Mayday? I have heard them ASK a skipper if they can cancel a Mayday...

 

[Lucky Duck]

Its not uncommon to hear the UK Coastguard to suggest to the skipper that they downgrade their call from a Mayday

 

[Resolution]

I’m glad you suggested that, aside from your silly snipey responses that is. Jonjo makes a good point about the Indian merchant mariner who offered to raise anchor on a big ship and manoeuvre his vessel towards Ventnor. That would be seriously dodgy, but he clearly felt duty bound to give it a go and good on him!

There are many threads bemoaning the dim opinion ship masters have of recreational sailors; what is this man going to think when he reads the report, which I’ll bet he has downloaded?

Talulah gets to the heart of the matter in Post #21; us Solent sailors should get our act together and properly comply with the same international radio protocols and IRPCS we expect and hope the big ships will follow. It would be bad for all of us if these guys pencil in “WAFI Central” over the waters in and around the IoW.

Sensible stuff, Dom.

 

[dogleg]

Its not uncommon to hear the UK Coastguard to suggest to the skipper that they downgrade their call from a Mayday

RNLB Alfred Albert Williams launched at 13:20 this afternoon at the request of Solent Coastguard to assist a 34ft sailing yacht "Tulip" with 2 crew onboard reported as being 5 miles south of Ventnor with a failed engine, little or no wind and worried that they were going to drift into the shipping lane.

The yacht, which was closer to Ventnor than initially reported, was located and placed under tow at around 13:50. On arrival off Bembridge Lifeboat Station our mechanic Bryan was transferred to the "Tulip" at 15:45 and the tow continued to Portsmouth while he successfully managed to sort out the engine problem so that she was then able to dock under her own power in Haslar Marina.
The Alfred Albert Williams then returned to Bembridge and was recovered


from Bembridge LB FB page, most of the leisure boat maydays I have responded to were probably not maydays in the eyes of the experienced mariner, but the look of relief on the faces of the distressed often gives a different perspective

the master/skipper is the only one who can decide the situation requires mayday and only he /she can cancel it, although the CG will often suggest that course of action

 

[jonjo]

I’m glad you suggested that, aside from your silly snipey responses that is. Jonjo makes a good point about the Indian merchant mariner who offered to raise anchor on a big ship and manoeuvre his vessel towards Ventnor. That would be seriously dodgy, but he clearly felt duty bound to give it a go and good on him!

There are many threads bemoaning the dim opinion ship masters have of recreational sailors; what is this man going to think when he reads the report, which I’ll bet he has downloaded?

Talulah gets to the heart of the matter in Post #21; us Solent sailors should get our act together and properly comply with the same international radio protocols and IRPCS we expect and hope the big ships will follow. It would be bad for all of us if these guys pencil in “WAFI Central” over the waters in and around the IoW.

Yes indeed. Some posters here appear to be unaware the world is a competetive place.

If British sea areas are mismanaged there could be long term negative consequences. The afore mentioned Indian merchant mariner was highly cordial and proffesional in his VHF dialogue, my hunch is that he is the sort of chap with positive career velocity. In 10 years time he might be an executive in a shipping company deciding whether to close down his Southampton or Le Harve operations, then he will think back to all those junk VHF Maydays while anchored at Nab and say "the Brits don't know how to operate their area anymore, so we'll close down Southampton and renew the lease on the French side".

 

[Lucky Duck]

from Bembridge LB FB page, most of the leisure boat maydays I have responded to were probably not maydays in the eyes of the experienced mariner, but the look of relief on the faces of the distressed often gives a different perspective

the master/skipper is the only one who can decide the situation requires mayday and only he /she can cancel it, although the CG will often suggest that course of action

This thread has reminded me to look at joining Sea Start now I am permanently based on the Solent

 

[l'escargot]

This thread has reminded me to look at joining Sea Start now I am permanently based on the Solent

I had 2 boats with them when based in the Solent. I wonder how many of those on this thread criticising a yacht for being towed in by the RNLI are members...

 

[laika]

I'm struggling to understand what the point of this thread is. Is the OP proposing that we should engage in collective action to petition the coastguard to respond differently to maydays in order to make life easier for RNLI volunteers? If so I strongly suspect that the RNLI and coastguard engage in frequent dialogue to ensure that they work optimally together. Moreover they have rather better stats on both sides of Mayday calls than we probably do. If not...what is being asked/proposed exactly?