Mayday Saturday 28th

[xcw]

I was sailing past Cowes on Saturday afternoon when I heard the Mayday where tragically a paddleboarder drowned off Lepe Beach (thankfully his wife and two children were rescued). Two lifeboats, the coastguard helicopter, a coastguard mobile unit and several passing vessels were involved in the rescue, all expertly coordinated by Solent Coastguard. What struck me was the calm and professional manner in which the whole proceedings were conducted in what was a complex and fast moving incident. We are as boaters so lucky that we can call upon such professional help should (god forbid) the need ever arise.

 

[Blue Sunray]

https://www.hampshire.police.uk/new...man-dies-following-an-incident-at-lepe-beach/

 

[LadyInBed]

From Police appeal "We’d also like to speak to the person who communicated a ‘May Day’ call to alert emergency services to the incident."
I would have thought that they would have got that info from CG in the form of boat name, callsign and mmsi.

 

[AntarcticPilot]

From Police appeal "We’d also like to speak to the person who communicated a ‘May Day’ call to alert emergency services to the incident."
I would have thought that they would have got that info from CG in the form of boat name, callsign and mmsi.

If it was a channel 16 MayDay rather than a DSC one, they might only have the name of the vessel. That might not be sufficiently distinct to determine the person concerned. I must admit that I'd struggle to recall the format of a MayDay Relay call, too!

 

[mainsail1]

Just the other day I was sitting at anchor near Plymouth and I could not believe the number of paddle boarders passing as they headed out to sea. Many seemed to be very slow and uncertain. I was concerned for their safety but who am I to tell them that open sea is no place for a paddle board?

 

[wiggy]

I also heard this on the VHF, very sad. The coastguard wasn’t helped at one stage by the number of boats on scene and nearby try to give assistance and additional information all at the same time.

 

[AndrewL]

I was sailing into Cowes and motoring up the Media as it happened and I heard it all on the VHF. It was very confusing, because of the number of vessels involved, giving partial information and then not answering the coast guards follow up questions. It was at least 10 minutes before it became clear that there were multiple people in the water. Some were thankfully rescued by other vessels. But it was then hard to keep track of how many were involved overall, how many rescued and their condition and who remained in the water.

My understanding is that the initial mayday call was from the paddle boarders own vessel. Understandably it was quite panicked and as far as I recall, they never actually stated their location or the actual emergency. It ended with something like "we're in a right mess here". Luckily someone else was nearby, saw what was happening and had heard their mayday. They then gave the location and that there were people in the water.

Well done to all who helped though, but a tragic outcome, it went very quiet on my boat once we realized the severity. I really thought that once the SAR helicopter had recovered him, he might have been saved.