Conundrum?

[ShipsWoofy]

Listening to the VHF last weekend I heard an interesting scenario and wondered what should have happened.....

Person on land (public) called the coastguard to say he had seen a flare. His description was good. It appears a jet ski (irrelevant craft for the scenario) had run aground / broken down on a sand bank. The owner had a small child with him. The guy had set off a hand flare. All good so far.

Inshore lifeboat launched and headed to excellent position information as given by caller. Only to find upon arrival that man on jet ski had either managed to relaunch or fixed problem and had disappeared.

Lifeboat then went on search around bay to look for casualty, which I think was found near LB station where he had launched.

So,

The guy had set flare but had no idea if he had been seen, the location was up a creek so to speak and it was probably lucky that he was seen.

It would appear the casualty had no other form of comms, which on a jet ski would seem normal, very wet environment for mobile telephone etc.

He probably set the flare as the child was cold / scared etc.

Once his panic was over, he was able to fix the problem (Don't know what it was)

Question....

Should he have remained on scene 'in case' someone turned up.

I did hear the coastguard suggesting the mobile CG go and 'have a word', but what actually had he done wrong, or could have done better?

 

[Phoenix of Hamble]

If he was capable of safe self rescue/recovery then IMHO that is the right thing to do...

If the child was wet/scared/cold, then remaining there would have made matters worse, not better....

I'm sure the CG would prefer to encounter this scenario far more than arriving to find a child with severe hypothermia, waves breaking on a sandbank, etc etc...

What he should however have done, was to immediately report to the coastguard upon safely arriving back at shore to confirm the flare, and his/their safe return to shore...

 

[rjp]

I don't think he did anything wrong unless you consider he was a bit premature in setting off the flare, which under the circumstances sounds doubtful. I'm not clear whether he had reached the shore when found or was just near it. Had the scenario run its course he should have contacted the coastguard to report safe arrival, but it sounds as if he hadn't yet been able to do so. It dosen't seem to be a case of letting off a flare and then disappearing completely. To have waited on the sanbank just in case somebody had seen the flare would have been foolish when he was eventually able to get off under his own power. I would hope the coastguard/RNLI would prefer a good outcome regardless of the circumstances. At worst a case of a genuine false alarm, though I'm not even sure you could call it false.

John

 

[fireball]

Concure with whats been said so far - and he should have contacted coastguard/lifeboat as soon as practical after self recovery - even if that meant going alongside a larger vessel and requesting message relayed via VHF ....

It is amazing what "shouting for help" actually does to one ... if you get yourself into a situation you had not expected, then the first instinct is to yell for help (set of a flare in this case) ... once certain that you've done all you can to get help you can look around calmly and see if you can rectify the predicament yourself ...

Ive been there, done that - first solo capsize when much younger (no flare, just shouting within earshot of the clubhouse - I have a VERY loud voice!) ... and Dad, onshore at the time .. just stood back and said - "don't worry, he'll work it out" ... meanwhile a couple of the yachties launched tenders and started rowing towards me ... by which time I'd thought about it, and got the boat back upright ... shaken ... not stirred !!

 

[Guest]

No ... having set off the flare ....

He's got into trouble, set off the flare and then fixed problem and gone ...

IMHO - he should assume that the flare is seen and then call CG at earliest opportunity to advise that he was OK ... giving as much detail as possible about time he set flare and location ...

To me its same as when EPIRB's go off etc. you may no save the emerg. service from launching etc. but you can save them the wasted extra time of fruitless wider search ....

 

[Thistle]

Re: No ... having set off the flare ....

[ QUOTE ]
... - he should assume that the flare is seen and then call CG at earliest opportunity to advise that he was OK ... giving as much detail as possible about time he set flare and location ...

[/ QUOTE ]

... and, hopefully, to offer thanks to all who might have been involved in the rescue efforts.

 

[Evadne]

Re: No ... having set off the flare ....

Agreed with all above, but we were all inexperienced at one time in our lives, and some of us have lived through danger, panic, calming inwardly and rectifying the situation (usually in that order) and might not have had the insight to contact the CG etc. once it was all over so lack of thanks shouldn't be taken as an insult by anyone.

 

[Thistle]

Re: No ... having set off the flare ....

I agree - totally. But I was struck by the fact that any acknowledgement of the rescuers' efforts had been missed from other posts - inadvertently, I assume. I do feel - as I'm sure most of us do - that it's an important step in the process.

 

[billcowan]

Re: No ... having set off the flare ....

mmm - jet ski - many would say that on reaching safety he should have put another flare into fuel tank.

 

[ShipsWoofy]

Re: No ... having set off the flare ....

My thoughts were to contact the CG as has been said, but it seemed to me that he was returning to his trailer. He may have intended to telephone once ashore.

It was the have a word that I found a bit strange, like it had been decided that he had already just done a runner.

 

[neilfs]

Re: No ... having set off the flare ....

Its good to see he was carrying flares, many summer users don't carry any safety equipment.

Also you would not know if he did phone the CG, as phone calls direct to the CG wouldn't be heard over VHF.

Most of us carry a tow rope, flares, VHF and mobile phone. The problem with small craft is having space to store them, and when stored they get bashed about when the craft is bumping over waves.

I carry my phone and VHF cliped to my buoyancy aid, and the flares stay on the ski, not ideal but if I carry any more equipment on me I'll start looking like a fully loaded donkey.