Coast Guard Policy on tasking a rescue

[Richard.C]

Does anyone know what the policy is to task a lifeboat to rescue a stricken vessel?

We assisted a Pan Pan on Friday and ended up towing the vessel 27 miles to Portland, they had been stranded without drive for 4 hours when we got to them and Solent Coast Guard seemed to have no intention of tasking a rescue. At one point they informed the distressed vessel they would need to arrange for a commercial tow, the Coast Guard called Sea Start for them but they don't cover that area and the Coast Guard didn't offer any further options.

This was in the middle of Lyme Bay and the vessel was a few miles further out to sea than we were so totally exposed and in approximately 50m of water, anchor was down but they couldn't have had much scope out to hold in bad weather.

How long do you have to wait?

This was an 8m vessel so I felt okay to tow them but what about bigger motorboats, the chance of another pleasure craft coming along big enough to tow a boat over 40 feet for that distance is pretty remote.

I am going to make up a decent towing bridle to keep on board but I actually feel concerned if I were to find myself in their position.

 

[Tranona]

I think you have answered your own question. It was a Pan Pan so mention of imminent danger to life and the RNLI is not a breakdown service, although they will often tow a boat after the lives have been "saved". The CG will monitor the situation and act on any change if necessary. Sending an all weather boat 27 miles out is when no life ie in danger is not a good us of resources.

 

[volvopaul]

I remember last year one of my customers called me for advice as he had lost both engines , I heard the conversation between him and SCG as he was on a live phone to me , to be honest I was disappointed with the outcome for him , it was a case of your not sinking so your on your own . Eventually he wax towed into Cowes by a passing RIB then towed the next day to Port Solent by Sea start . I won't bother giving my opinion of the way things happen these days other than I'll say I've given up on how I think things should be run , you see plenty of footage on certain tv programmes where the RNLI are see towing boats in but in actual fact when this customer needed help it was declined from the start .

 

[Seastoke]

Does anyone know what the policy is to task a lifeboat to rescue a stricken vessel?

We assisted a Pan Pan on Friday and ended up towing the vessel 27 miles to Portland, they had been stranded without drive for 4 hours when we got to them and Solent Coast Guard seemed to have no intention of tasking a rescue. At one point they informed the distressed vessel they would need to arrange for a commercial tow, the Coast Guard called Sea Start for them but they don't cover that area and the Coast Guard didn't offer any further options.

This was in the middle of Lyme Bay and the vessel was a few miles further out to sea than we were so totally exposed and in approximately 50m of water, anchor was down but they couldn't have had much scope out to hold in bad weather.

How long do you have to wait?

This was an 8m vessel so I felt okay to tow them but what about bigger motorboats, the chance of another pleasure craft coming along big enough to tow a boat over 40 feet for that distance is pretty remote.

I am going to make up a decent towing bridle to keep on board but I actually feel concerned if I were to find myself in their position.

Well done firstly, and if I was the rescued boat I would demand you take a payment for your troubles , at least £200 to cover fuel and your leisure time .
Well done again.

 

[volvopaul]

I think you have answered your own question. It was a Pan Pan so mention of imminent danger to life and the RNLI is not a breakdown service, although they will often tow a boat after the lives have been "saved". The CG will monitor the situation and act on any change if necessary. Sending an all weather boat 27 miles out is when no life ie in danger is not a good us of resources.

The OP owns my last boat , he was on the phone to me asking advice yesterday so I answered him while I'm on holiday, Pan Pan yes but how long before it's a mayday when the Wind or tide changes sending the boat towards the rocks or into shallow water ? This situation certainly brings to real life how quickly a situation can get out of hand , strange how there are both lifeboats art Weymouth and Torquay end , I wonder if any were placed on standby ?

 

[Seastoke]

Can you describe what boat ,not in detail but was it outboard inboard or twin if out board did they have back up engine.

 

[zoidberg]

Hmmm. August Bank Holiday Friday afternoon.... I wonder what else was going on.
I also wonder what was wrong with the 'stricken' vessel. Could it, perhaps, have been OutOfFuel...?

Priorities, priorities....

 

[mil1194]

We towed in a sailing vessel - about 28/30ft - in very rough conditions and it had lost its engine. We were contacted via VHF asking us if we would assist from the CG and ended up towing them 25/30miles from Hartland point into Padstow. It transpired that they hadn’t lost an engine just run out of diesel - but they seemed completely non-plussed about it and offered EITHER a bottle of red OR white, and a 8pack boils of carling for my crew. It later transpired that they make a habit of breaking down and it seemed like they’d be towed around the sea far more than under their own steam. This was a sailboat registered in Cardiff and I actually fell out with Mrs Sailor after I asked if they got stickers from the RNLI from the different stations and was there a book she stuck them in. She never spoke to me after that. It was a real effort getting thru the lock - we were in a F50 Fly and they were alongside - there can’t have been more than 2ft clearance. Anyway - back to the point - it seems the CG hadn’t contacted the RNLI.

Conversely we - on someone else’s vessel - lost both engines due to diesel bug out of Mumbles head and when reported to the CG as a Pan Pan as we could have just dropped anchor and gone ashore in the tender and come back with clean diesel and filters - they sent out the RNLI without question and ended up having two boats to assist, the big one to get us to the head of the Tawe and then a little one to get us up to the marina. They had very large helpings of our drinks cabinet to take away as we had interrupted their Easter Sunday dinner.

 

[zoidberg]

I would imagine the Coastguard shift managers know their 'regulars' quite well.

 

[wonkywinch]

I heard one on Lyme Bay a few weeks back. A Moody with a clattering engine. Pan call where CG painfully extracted all the required info from the pompous sounding sailor.

"What are your intentions?" CG asked at the end of it all. Bloke moaning his engine was clattering "like it was going to fall apart", CG "you're a sailing vessel?". "Yes but there's only a few knots of wind and we're heading to Portland".

CG "When able, let me have an ETA for Portland". Ended up with a commercial tow into Portland but the AIS tracker interestingly showed them routing via the fuel berth.

 

[Richard.C]

I only posted this because I genuinely wish to know how I get help in a similar situation, we actually limped into Lymington the following day after having what appears to be fuel problems. So we could easily have found ourselves in a similar situation but in much worse sea and wind conditions on Saturday, I am a Sea Start member but that clearly doesn't cover all of our cruising ground.

Would be great if there was some form of directory of commercial towing operations, probably very expensive but at least you are not left without hope.

Would the Coast Guard have left them out over night? What does the Coast Guard consider danger to life? Would they really wait for it to become a Mayday?

On the plus side as we were doing 6 knots and not 20 knots we had time to see a Tuna feeding frenzy, that was a first for me.

 

[Richard.C]

I think you have answered your own question. It was a Pan Pan so mention of imminent danger to life and the RNLI is not a breakdown service, although they will often tow a boat after the lives have been "saved". The CG will monitor the situation and act on any change if necessary. Sending an all weather boat 27 miles out is when no life ie in danger is not a good us of resources.

Yeah, fully appreciate the RNLI is not intended to be a breakdown service, but how do you get help if you need it? Would be really nice if the Coast Guard had a solution to offer for a fee and not to just be left to your own devices or until it became a mayday.

 

[wonkywinch]

Yeah, fully appreciate the RNLI is not intended to be a breakdown service, but how do you get help if you need it? Would be really nice if the Coast Guard had a solution to offer for a fee and not to just be left to your own devices or until it became a mayday.

Surely these are decisions to be made by any skipper before leaving the safety of their mooring?

And if your situation did become risky then the pro words invented for the purpose (pan and mayday) would be acted upon.

The coastguard do have solutions to offer but I've never viewed them as a first call rescue service.

 

[Richard.C]

The coastguard do have solutions to offer but I've never viewed them as a first call rescue service.

What would you use as the first call rescue service?

 

[wonkywinch]

What would you use as the first call rescue service?

Myself. I'd work out what resources I needed then call upon them.

For a breakdown on the open sea, a commercial tow to safe haven. If, through a call to CG, there was a nearby mariner able to assist, I'd take advantage of that.

If I didn't have a mobile signal, I'd ask CG to coordinate for me but for a breakdown, I would not ever expect the RNLI to come to my aid unless I was in danger.

Judging by the number of radio checks made on Ch 16, I assume many sailors like the comfort blanket of someone on the end of the radio but their expectations of what services are available should be managed carefully.

 

[Richard.C]

Do you have some commercial tow options you could share for different areas of the south coast, certainly the sort of service that would be good to get from a reference not just a blind search.

 

[Tranona]

Yeah, fully appreciate the RNLI is not intended to be a breakdown service, but how do you get help if you need it? Would be really nice if the Coast Guard had a solution to offer for a fee and not to just be left to your own devices or until it became a mayday.

In my limited experience having called the coastguard twice they assess the situation and if there is no danger to life, then they consider who is best able to help. The first thing is to try and get other boaters to help, just as you did. one of my calls was resolved this way with a tow back to the marina from somebody who picked up the call. my other was running over a pot marker and being effectively attached to the seabed with the line wrapped around the keel and rudder. Their decision was that the RNLI inshore boat was best asset to deal with it and 30 minutes later it appeared (I was just outside Poole harbour) and another 30 minutes I was on my way.

I suspect that most breakdowns are resolved in the same way as yours but if the weather had deteriorated or you had not acted eventually the CG would have tasked the RNLI. There are people in Weymouth or Brixham who would take a call to tow for a fee, but the aim is to avoid that.

 

[LittleSister]

This was in the middle of Lyme Bay and the vessel was a few miles further out to sea than we were so totally exposed and in approximately 50m of water, anchor was down but they couldn't have had much scope out to hold in bad weather.

How long do you have to wait?

I think saying 'How long do you have to wait?' suggests a curious attitude. You don't sit and wait, as skipper you take action.

I think the coastguard, in response to a Pan-Pan call, would normally assess not just whether there is a current risk to life, but whether it could soon become one (either to that vessel or others), and would also consider it in the context of what else the CG and RNLI are dealing with at the time, or may well be about to deal with, and might or might not have regard to the availability of other options.

I think in the situation the OP described, there seemed no imminent danger, weather was fair, I think, a long way from any dangers, so likely to be plenty of time to search for commercial towing outfits, and/or just put out a call on VHF asking for a tow, which might well receive responses from both public-spirited boaters, and those (including fishing boats) who are looking for a financial reward. Nice day in the middle of summer I imagine there were many boats within VHF range (and lots of other stuff going on or soon about to kick off to keep the CG & RNLI busy).

I was years ago on a sailing boat that was towed in by the RNLI, at the request of the CG, despite no mayday or pan-pan or request for a tow from us. The skipper had called the coastguard to explain our situation - motor had failed, it was getting dark, and wind had died so we were pirouetting in the tide away from the dangerous area of shoals (the Goodwins) we had recently passed through. We were quite happy waiting for the wind to reappear, but the skipper's concern was that as we moved into deeper water with shipping and fishing boats our navigation lights would appear ever changing as we spun and could confuse other vessels. (With the benefit of hindsight the skipper should have been much clearer about that being the sole reason for the call, and/or have instead made a Securite call to all shipping in the area.) The CG asked us to stand-by, which we thought nothing of, sure they had more urgent things to attend to. A few minutes later the CG called again to tell us the RNLI lifeboat was on its way. We were very surprised and rather embarrassed. (I imagine the CG thought that action now we prevent a possible crisis later, if we were, for example, swept back to the dangerous shallows in complete darkness, etc.) We started rigging up a cat's cradle of ropes to spread the towing load from the bow bollard to the mast and other strong points. A while later we could see the boat bearing down on us at high speed, lights blazing, it came close alongside and we readied to accept a line, somewhat blinded by their floodlights. Then in the nick of time we realised it was not the Lifeboat, but a fishing boat that had presumably heard the radio exchange and fancied they could insert themselves into the procedure and claim salvage. We declined their offer, and a few minutes later the RNLI arrived and we were towed to Dover harbour (a pretty hairy experience - we had to ask them to slow down). On arrival the skipper did give what seemed to me a generous donation of bottles of drink and a sizeable wad of cash.

I thought afterwards about what else we could have done, apart from be much clearer about the purpose of the VHF call. The skipper carried an outrageously long length of anchor chain, and we could almost certainly have anchored anywhere around there. Failing that we could have towed the boat - slowly to save fuel - with the dinghy and outboard. We probably didn't have enough petrol to get to the next port, be we could certainly have got back to the shadows were had recently passed through, or alternatively to the shallower water close to the shore. I think i came up with another wheeze, but have forgotten it now (improvised lights for vessel not under command?).

 

[wonkywinch]

Do you have some commercial tow options you could share for different areas of the south coast, certainly the sort of service that would be good to get from a reference not just a blind search.

My username is wonkywinch, not "yellow pages"

 

[Daydream believer]

When sailing back from Ostend yesterday (Sunday) there was a pan pan from a yacht with an engine issue . It seems it was 10 miles east of Ramsgate & wanted a tow. Dover CG seemed to tell them to forget it & use their sails (10-15kts east so Ok but 1.5-2m swell)
Pan pan went on for ages & finally they got to Ramsgate. But as it was getting dark. Ramsgate port said that no one was available for a tow. So more pan pans as they sat outside. We could not get the full story so there may have been other issues.
What surprised me was that after about 1.5 hours the CG finally told them a lifeboat was coming from Margate, NOT Ramsgate, to tow them in.
Seems really odd that no one would come out of the harbour to get them. I am also surprised that there was no lifeboat at Ramsgate. Or at least one available for manning. I did read that manning was becoming an issue due to crews being fed up with "wasting"(depends on one's view of life) time picking up rubber dinghies & suffering abuse from occupants of said dinghies, as well as abuse from those ashore, who do not want the occupants to arrive anyway.
This must put the RNLI in one hell of a dilema.
SO. Is there an RNLI at Ramsgate ( cannot discuss dinghies on the forum so please do not) If there is , is it currently manned?