First Pan Pan experience

Having heard the call as we were entering Solent at time approaching 5 if there was a concern about trying to reach the Needles at time due to engine failure I can see the logic due to concerns raised and was pleased to see the OP safely reached Lym for the night at town quay
I doubt there are decompression leavers on the engine but if there are they are fairly obvious even to a non technical person but I thought they disappeared from use many years ago so don't worry if you haven't got any. You don't say when the the engine was last serviced but hopefully not just once in a blue moon.
 
ashtead said:
Having heard the call as we were entering Solent at time approaching 5 if there was a concern about trying to reach the Needles at time due to engine failure I can see the logic due to concerns raised and was pleased to see the OP safely reached Lym for the night at town quay
I doubt there are decompression leavers on the engine but if there are they are fairly obvious even to a non technical person but I thought they disappeared from use many years ago so don't worry if you haven't got any. You don't say when the the engine was last serviced but hopefully not just once in a blue moon.
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You were certainly listening then :) We ended up in Berthon, everywhere was full by the time we got there.

The engine is services regularly - I think around 14-15 hours running time before this happened.

After this experience I am more motivated to do a much more detailed engine course! I have changed the oil before, worked through fuel issues, and electrical issues. Just never experienced anything more mechanical like this. Also time to practice anchoring under sail again, it's been a while since I've done it.
 
Well, I was taught in my VHF course many years ago that "Pan Pan" came from the French "panne" as in "Je suis en panne" meaning "I am broken down". Just sayin'.
 
steve yates said:
Why do a pan pan? Why not just call the coastguard and appraise them of your situation?

I don't know enough about sailing, so it's a genuine question. I thought those calls were for emergencies?
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Pan-pan was absolutely the right call - it derives from "moteur enpanne", i.e. motor broken, so is an exact and accurate call to make.

If you're a large ship and planning a drift whilst servicing engines, then a "securite" would be the right call.
 
chanelyacht said:
Pan-pan was absolutely the right call - it derives from "moteur enpanne", i.e. motor broken, so is an exact and accurate call to make.
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If I suffer a steering failure but my engine still works what distress message should I broadcast now that you have clarified that Pan-Pan is a universal mnemonic for "engine broken".
 
jonjo5 said:
If I suffer a steering failure but my engine still works what distress message should I broadcast now that you have clarified that Pan-Pan is a universal mnemonic for "engine broken".
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No, allow me to simplify things for you, it means 'broken down'. Could be engine, steering, maybe even brain.
 
Bob Stay said:
No, allow me to simplify things for you, it means 'broken down'. Could be engine, steering, maybe even brain.
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What about my fridge onboard? Is it covered by my implied RNLI universal breakdown cover which commenced when my fish & chips at the Master Builders, Bucklers Hard was priced to include a mandatory 50p RNLI donation.
 
jonjo5 said:
What about my fridge onboard? Is it covered by my implied RNLI universal breakdown cover which commenced when my fish & chips at the Master Builders, Bucklers Hard was priced to include a mandatory 50p RNLI donation.
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Now it's getting silly, unless you were out of ice for the G&Ts.
 
Topcat47 said:
I have been criticise for making a "PanPan" recently. Apparently Maydays have been extended to cover many of the old fashioned PANPAN situations such as Pan Pan Medico. I was mid channel a few years ago and had a situation with a cremate. I called PanPan Medico and was eventually answered by Joburg. Upon returning to the UK, I had a visit from a coastguard landcover with a couple of volunteers who said I should've called in a Mayday, as PanPans were no longer recognised.
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A bit late for a medico, perhaps? :)
 
Uricanejack said:
If you call pan pan what do you expect the rest of us to do?

If you hear pan pan what would you do?

If I hear pan pan I take the view some poor unlucky sod on a boat is dealing with an emergency which while currently under controls could get worse
I divert and stand by
I will turn round and head back out and stand by until the situation is resolved and I am stood down
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This was my impression of how to react on hearing a pan pan, hence why I asked the original question.

I must admit the responses on this thread are confusing me about these radio calls, but I will continue to assume that the response above by hurricane jack is the correct one.
 
chanelyacht said:
Be gone, troll.
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My humour was obviously too sophisticated for you.

Seriously now, you are confusing people by suggesting that the etymology of the term Pan-Pan indicates it is a legit VHF prefix for any conversation about a malfunctioning engine.

In debates like this I prefer to use international convention and not the local corruptions of Solent VHF patois. Pan-Pan is a distress call and a request for assistance with an indication that life is not in imminent danger. The OP most likely called up Solent CG and a FYI type conversation ensued. The OP's own posts here indicate he did not perceive he was in distress at the time of the call, he merely comprehended that a continuation of his passage plan would lead to some tricky coastal pilotage 4 to 6 hours in the future unless he took the option to divert.

As a regular English Channel sailor I know that the duopoly of Solent Coastguard and the RNLI creates a huge reality distortion field on the British side of the central Channel region. I accept that on a summer weekend the semi tidal Lake Solent between Hurst and Priory Bay provides the nursery training slopes of British yachting and any incompetence is tolerated. Beyond this area I think the authorities should gently encourage a higher level amateur boat skippering. You in contrast represent the interests of the inshore RIB rescue services and your attitude seems to be, they're all fools, just tell em to provide as much info as possible as soon as possible using any distress prefix and we'll sort the idiots out. That is a rational perspective for an inshore Solent RIB rescue crew, however outside Lake Solent I think international maritime convention should trump the peculiarities of the Solent boating scene.
 
jonjo5 said:
As a regular English Channel sailor I know that the duopoly of Solent Coastguard and the RNLI creates a huge reality distortion field on the British side of the central Channel region.
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In the interests of fairness and balance it should be pointed out that there are other independant rescue organisations as well as the RNLI in the Solent area so the word "duopoly" is probably the wrong word to use!
 
jonjo5 said:
You in contrast represent the interests of the inshore RIB rescue services and your attitude seems to be, they're all fools, just tell em to provide as much info as possible as soon as possible using any distress prefix and we'll sort the idiots out. That is a rational perspective for an inshore Solent RIB rescue crew, however outside Lake Solent I think international maritime convention should trump the peculiarities of the Solent boating scene.
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Only an idiot would read that into what I've said, which of course you've duly done.

You confuse current role (on a Solent LB) with all previosu experience - which, having been based at MRCC Falmouth, included coordinating international SAR, including by voice, satellite and other means, and holding a far higher level of both qualification and certification than you do. That's combined with 8 years professionally at sea, and over 30 years sailing including two RTWs.

I've always been quite clear - use the correct phrasing of a distress/urgency call, but do not delay that call for want of checking sequence of information, or being slightly unsure. Time at sea during an incident is often something that is not a luxury.

You're the one happily lambasting people for their actions without knowing what happened, just as you regularly second guess the inputs into a SAR job without any reference to what was really going on. Obviously your well-versed distain for both HMCG and RNLI is clouding your judgement yet again.

It's not "confusing" to say how an international assistance request term originated, and how it dovetails into the three internationally used phases of an incident (see IAMSAR Vol2) - i.e. mayday- distress, panpan - urgency, securite - safety. That translates into (again internationally) the "immediate" phase (distress), the "alert" phase (urgency) and the information phase (securite). Go to Cross Corsen, RCC Aukland or MRCC Halifax (I've worked in all three) and you'll see exactly the same sequencing and actions in operation (or on any ship's bridge).
 
chanelyacht said:
Only an idiot would read that into what I've said, which of course you've duly done.

You confuse current role (on a Solent LB) with all previosu experience - which, having been based at MRCC Falmouth, included coordinating international SAR, including by voice, satellite and other means, and holding a far higher level of both qualification and certification than you do. That's combined with 8 years professionally at sea, and over 30 years sailing including two RTWs.

I've always been quite clear - use the correct phrasing of a distress/urgency call, but do not delay that call for want of checking sequence of information, or being slightly unsure. Time at sea during an incident is often something that is not a luxury.

...

It's not "confusing" to say how an international assistance request term originated, and how it dovetails into the three internationally used phases of an incident (see IAMSAR Vol2) - i.e. mayday- distress, panpan - urgency, securite - safety. That translates into (again internationally) the "immediate" phase (distress), the "alert" phase (urgency) and the information phase (securite). Go to Cross Corsen, RCC Aukland or MRCC Halifax (I've worked in all three) and you'll see exactly the same sequencing and actions in operation (or on any ship's bridge).
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This is a load of public sector hot air which deftly evades responding to the central issue. What exactly about the situation described by the OP constitutes justification for issuing a Pan-Pan?

He was not in distress at the time of the Pan-Pan call. I don't think he was asking for assistance. He had established that his original passage plan might need to be amended and he was aware of the options available to him. As far as I can ascertain he just thought a generic FYI chinwag with Solent Coastguard was a prudent move and it was.

chanelyacht said:
You're the one happily lambasting people for their actions without knowing what happened, just as you regularly second guess the inputs into a SAR job without any reference to what was really going on. Obviously your well-versed distain for both HMCG and RNLI is clouding your judgement yet again.
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I have already stated in this thread that the OP deserves to be complimented for his self sufficiency. You are the one throwing the "troll" accusation about when faced with logical reasoning you cannot contest.
 
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