Informing the coast guard when you leave port

[prv]

Perhaps it is worth noting that you wouldn't hear a passage plan on 16. It is a routine call, so the CG would move to a working channel before continuing. The CG usually observe correct VHF protocol!

Well, obviously, but if you are nosy you might follow them

And until Fareham Coastguard came along, that working channel would almost certainly have been 67, so Jac would still hear them even without deliberately following.

Pete

 

[alant]

Well, obviously, but if you are nosy you might follow them

And until Fareham Coastguard came along, that working channel would almost certainly have been 67, so Jac would still hear them even without deliberately following.

Pete

Whats happened to 67 then?

 

[Vegable]

I call up if the weather is a bit wild and when going on a long passage. We are also CG66 registered which I mention on call up. Day passages, I don't call up.
Interestingly we called up Stornoway CG when leaving for the Faroes last summer with the usual details and had a slow passage. About 3 hours after our intended arrival Toshavn radio called us to see where we were and asked for a new eta. Was impressed with both Stornoway and Torshavn. We were faster coming home!
Mike

 

[FulmarJeddo]

If a radio receives it will almost certainly transmit. As long as it gets used occasionally in transmit (eg to call a water taxi or marina) I think you can take it that it works OK: no need to call the CG every day to check this.
.

I totally disagree with that. I had a radio that quite happily received, but would not transmit at all. It turned out to be a broken wire in the microphone cable. More recently, I had power problems and the radio appeared to be receiving ok, but would only transmit any distance if the engine was running. That turned out to be the -ve or earth cable had worked loose on the domestic battery causing a massive volt drop every time I pressed transmit.

When I bought my current boat, I completed the CG66 and set off from Falmouth to the Medway in Kent. We did day sails and reported a TR and safe arrival to the CG each day, at no time did I get the impression that I was wasting their time. However it was back in 2010 before all the recent changes. I don't tend to call in as much now, but I did report in to Dover CG last summer as I was heading out of Gravelines towards Ramsgate in some slightly dodgy weather. Again it seemed well received.

 

[prv]

Whats happened to 67 then?

It used to be that Solent always used 67 for their working channel (and indeed expected initial routine calls on it), while Portland next door used 72 as theirs. Now they're all combined at Fareham, they treat 67, 72, and I think another that I can't remember, as a pool of working channels and just pick one as needed. So in the Solent now you're as likely to be sent to 72 as 67. And because they operate half the coastline, local peculiarities like Solent's initial routine calls on 67 seem to have gone away, which again makes sense when the working channels are pooled but means 16 gets busier.

Pete

 

[NormanS]

It used to be that Solent always used 67 for their working channel (and indeed expected initial routine calls on it), while Portland next door used 72 as theirs. Now they're all combined at Fareham, they treat 67, 72, and I think another that I can't remember, as a pool of working channels and just pick one as needed. So in the Solent now you're as likely to be sent to 72 as 67. And because they operate half the coastline, local peculiarities like Solent's initial routine calls on 67 seem to have gone away, which again makes sense when the working channels are pooled but means 16 gets busier.

Pete

Half the coastline? Half the coastline of what?

 

[Minchsailor]

Radio checks with the CG - never, but if I have made changes to the installation I may give the yard a call.

I only file a TR if I am doing something exceptional - leaving the Minch, for example heading past Cape Wrath to the Shetlands or north to the Faeroes.

 

[prv]

Half the coastline? Half the coastline of what?

The UK.

I don't know if it's literally half, it's a figure of speech. But certainly quite a lot of it, as we found last winter when something fell over in Fareham and they had to put out this warning on Navtex:

That's basically from Beachy Head right round to the Mull of Galloway, excluding only the Bristol Channel. The entire south and west coasts of England, more or less. And I believe they operate other places on the east coast, but presumably the bit of wet string going that way stayed intact on that occasion.

Pete

 

[Piers]

Southampton VTS. Quite common to monitor them when in Southampton Water and the central and eastern Solent, as Jac will be, to keep abreast of impending ship movements.

I don't think he was expecting to hear passage plans on that channel, just listing all the ones he monitors.

Pete

Aha. When cruising I monitor Ch13 (bridge to bridge) as well as 16 and 67. But then I'm not in the Soton area.

 

[ex-Gladys]

I totally disagree with that. I had a radio that quite happily received, but would not transmit at all. It turned out to be a broken wire in the microphone cable. More recently, I had power problems and the radio appeared to be receiving ok, but would only transmit any distance if the engine was running. That turned out to be the -ve or earth cable had worked loose on the domestic battery causing a massive volt drop every time I pressed transmit.

Yeah, but you don't need to call the CG for a radio check, you can call a mate's vessel, marina office, harbour master whoever...

 

[jwilson]

Yeah, but you don't need to call the CG for a radio check, you can call a mate's vessel, marina office, harbour master whoever...

That is basically what I was saying: as long as you do transmit occasionally to club launch, marina, harbourmaster or another boat you know it's working.

I am afraid I am a bit stuck in the mindset of having sailed happily for years without electronics, and so regard constant VHF checks and calling in with passage plans as a bit of a nanny-state thing. In any case passage plans often change. I set out "towards" somewhere, but not that infrequently end up (deliberately) somewhere else.

 

[NormanS]

I'm not in the habit of doing it, but would someone like to explain what it is that is so catastrophically awful about calling up the CG for a radio check?

Where I am, there are often hours of silence, punctuated by occasional calls between Stornoway CG and Belfast CG, asking each other for radio checks.

 

[prv]

I'm not in the habit of doing it, but would someone like to explain what it is that is so catastrophically awful about calling up the CG for a radio check?

Where I am, there are often hours of silence, punctuated by occasional calls between Stornoway CG and Belfast CG, asking each other for radio checks.

In which case there's probably nothing wrong with doing it where you are

Down here on a sunny weekend, channel 16 is chocka with little else

Pete

 

[jac]

Southampton VTS. Quite common to monitor them when in Southampton Water and the central and eastern Solent, as Jac will be, to keep abreast of impending ship movements.

I don't think he was expecting to hear passage plans on that channel, just listing all the ones he monitors.

Pete

Indeed - certainly not expecting to hear Passage Plans on 12 although I suppose technically when the ferries radio in with departure / destination and POB then it is a passage plan. The routes are well known as are the vessels so not much more needed.

And yes this is when around the solent. Will chop and change as required depending on local channels in use.

 

[jac]

I'm not in the habit of doing it, but would someone like to explain what it is that is so catastrophically awful about calling up the CG for a radio check?

Where I am, there are often hours of silence, punctuated by occasional calls between Stornoway CG and Belfast CG, asking each other for radio checks.

Plenty of places down here to test that the Radio works - local Marinas when calling for space, NCI who now have there own channel or even friends. Doesn't even need to be a radio check. IF they respond to your traffic they can hear you so if calling the lock at a locked Marina then don't repeat it to see if 25 W channel 16 works

Far too many numpties in the solent doing radio checks. To be fair to them, I suspect many are charterers wanting to reassure themselves that everything is ok rather than regulars using their own local boats. Many used to be on CH16 whereas all locals would know that Solent CG was working channel 67 and would state after every radio check on 16 to use 67 for routine traffic in future.

 

[mlines]

We radio in to the NCI (Lee, Calshot, Needles) for a radio check. I also arranged with NCI to take a "passage plan" (where we are going, when we are back) as part of some training we were giving cadets rather than disturbing the peace of Chan 16 in the Solent. They were happy to do it with the caveat that this was not an official recording of the plan so they would not guarantee to do anything if we failed to report back at the allotted time, but it gave them an insight on what the boats they could see were doing and some radio training for themselves

 

[FulmarJeddo]

Yeah, but you don't need to call the CG for a radio check, you can call a mate's vessel, marina office, harbour master whoever...

I wasn't suggesting that you should regularly call the CG for a radio check. My main point was that a radio can be fully functional in receive, but won't transmit. I have used the CG on odd occasions for a radio check if I have worked on the radio, aerial or power supply to confirm it works over a distance. Not being on a marina or in a harbour they're not an option. As far as a mates boat, one of my fellow club members had a fault on his radio last year that could communicate upto about a mile, but any further and he couldn't be heard, so it is definitely worth making the odd call over a distance to prove the radio is fully working.

 

[Daydream believer]

I never ask CG for radio check but do call marina to tell them when I will be back to base & how long berth is free so that does the trick. I do not file a passage plan with CG but I do transmit on AIS so they can see me.

I have called them for info on ports that I may be approaching & am not sure of conditions & cannot contact Hm for that port. Ie weather changed for the worse & I wanted to know if still safe to enter Ardglass. They contacted HM for me & confirmed rough but approachable.
I once called Aberdeen CG to ask about extreme unexpected conditions at Eyemouth & the result was that they called the RNLI to guide me in . Even the RNLI Coxswain was uncertain I would get in OK.

I also called Dover CG en route to Boulogne when I heard a French transmission about fog. I did not understand it ( french) & made a call to the CG & they phoned French CG & confirmed fog dropping fast so I turned round & went back to Dover

Pre AIS en route to Milford Haven from Newlyn asked CG about shipping near me when fog dropped to 500 yds but they seemed disinterested & could not tell me if there was any shipping nearby. They also said that they had no other reports of fog

When i picked up a net off Cap griz Nez I contacted Dover G to ask if there were any boats available to tow me at Dover in if I went back to Dover. Light winds put me in a difficult situation mid channel but they did call me to ask progress so they knew where I was. Advice was to call port control when 2 miles away - which I did & got a tow

Finally I did contact one of the border force vessels nearby when i saw a rib with several people on board change course to avoid me at dusk one night in the Black Deep. They were genuinely interested in final course & timing & thanked me.

 

[gjgm]

OK, take the solent,where there 10 to 20 thousand boats or whatever it is...you want to rip the radio out of the boat...

 

[Boathook]

I used to, partially to check radio and to let them know that I was crossing channel. I haven't done it for a long time and I check the radio by sending out a dsc test to the CG nowadays.