Southend on Sea Mayday

[Dave 71]

Heard a mayday incident underway when I fired up my VHF yesterday. MOB incident off Southend. Hope it ended well, haven't been able to find anything in local news, hopefully that means nothing serious to report.

Rather worryingly I heard the coastguard use the phrase "capsized yacht" when dispatching the lifeboat. The mayday vessel comms seemed calm and collected but it took an age for the coastguard to gather the info they wanted

 

[Robih]

Heard a mayday incident underway when I fired up my VHF yesterday. MOB incident off Southend. Hope it ended well, haven't been able to find anything in local news, hopefully that means nothing serious to report.

Rather worryingly I heard the coastguard use the phrase "capsized yacht" when dispatching the lifeboat. The mayday vessel comms seemed calm and collected but it took an age for the coastguard to gather the info they wanted

Surprised that you could hear the CG comms, it’s all Channel Zero where we are.

 

[ex-Gladys]

Surprised that you could hear the CG comms, it’s all Channel Zero where we are.

Not to thecasualty... 16

 

[Robih]

Not to thecasualty... 16

But the comms referred to above was dispatching the lifeboat and referred to a capsized yacht, that would have been channel Zero.

 

[Concerto]

It seems that Sheerness lifeboat was busy on Saturday as well.

Lifeboat rescues stranded motor cruiser

 

[Dave 71]

But the comms referred to above was dispatching the lifeboat and referred to a capsized yacht, that would have been channel Zero.

Most of the comms traffic was between casualty and coastguard. There was brief comms between coastguard and life boat on 16, which ended with them going to 0. Coastguard did give an approx position for the incident to the lifeboat on 16 and this is where I heard them describe the incident as a MOB following a yacht capsize.

 

[sailorman]

It seems that Sheerness lifeboat was busy on Saturday as well.

Lifeboat rescues stranded motor cruiser

Assisted

 

[xyachtdave]

It seems that Sheerness lifeboat was busy on Saturday as well.

Lifeboat rescues stranded motor cruiser

Having a dog aboard appears to be a common denominator.

 

[johnalison]

I think the word 'yacht' can often refer to any small recreational vessel, particularly if sailing, even if many of us wouldn't use the word in this way ourselves.

 

[Juan Twothree]

Assisted

Before anyone leaps in and accuses the RNLI of exaggeration, note that it wasn't Sheerness RNLI that used the word rescued, it was Kent Online.

 

[Juan Twothree]

But the comms referred to above was dispatching the lifeboat and referred to a capsized yacht, that would have been channel Zero.

If someone has declared a Mayday, then the correct procedure is for the whole SAR operation to be run on channel 16, including lifeboat comms, with every radio message prefixed with the word Mayday,

That's what's meant to happen, but it doesn't always.

 

[Boathook]

If someone has declared a Mayday, then the correct procedure is for the whole SAR operation to be run on channel 16, including lifeboat comms, with every radio message prefixed with the word Mayday,

That's what's meant to happen, but it doesn't always.

In the Solent they seem to go to zero for coms between CG and lifeboat. There's normally to much other traffic on 16.

 

[Juan Twothree]

In the Solent they seem to go to zero for coms between CG and lifeboat. There's normally to much other traffic on 16.

99% of jobs are run on 0.

It's only the Maydays where we might stay on 16, or sometimes it all happens on 67 if that's where the casualty vessel has been moved to.

But as you say, the Solent is a different world.

 

[westhinder]

In the Solent they seem to go to zero for coms between CG and lifeboat. There's normally to much other traffic on 16.

You probably mean too many radiochecks. I am totally mystified why so many U.K. yachtspeople insist on calling the coastguard on 16 for a radiocheck every time they go out. You don’t get that anywhere else in Europe. Is that taught in VHF courses or just copycat behaviour?

 

[Koeketiene]

You probably mean too many radiochecks. I am totally mystified why so many U.K. yachtspeople insist on calling the coastguard on 16 for a radiocheck every time they go out. You don’t get that anywhere else in Europe. Is that taught in VHF courses or just copycat behaviour?

It's beyond me too.
If it worked last time you used it, why wouldn't it work next time round?
Do you call the AA/RAC/... every time you start your car?

As for the rest of Europe... calling the local signal station for an 'essaie radio' seems to be quite popular in Brittany.

 

[Boathook]

You probably mean too many radiochecks. I am totally mystified why so many U.K. yachtspeople insist on calling the coastguard on 16 for a radiocheck every time they go out. You don’t get that anywhere else in Europe. Is that taught in VHF courses or just copycat behaviour?

Not just radio checks. A lot of the calls to individual boats could be done by mobile phone in my view.

 

[ex-Gladys]

As an SRC assesor, it's certainly NOT taught on VHF SRC courses, in fact it's the reverse! Advice is talk to someone else like a Marina, Coast Watch, another boat. It's also why DSC is particularly beneficial, use the MMSI and contact directly... It's MUCH quicker, and by using it regularly it will help in other circumstances

 

[Sandy]

You probably mean too many radiochecks. I am totally mystified why so many U.K. yachtspeople insist on calling the coastguard on 16 for a radiocheck every time they go out. You don’t get that anywhere else in Europe. Is that taught in VHF courses or just copycat behaviour?

I strongly suspect that it started in military radio networks and has migrated to maritime ones.

Personally, I use National Coastwatch at there is a lookout near my home port, not everybody is lucky enough to have a station near them. I was always taught that doing a radio check with anything under 2 nm was a complete waste of time.

 

[harvey38]

When I did a VHF install for a friend in an unfamiliar marina, I used the phone to speak to the CG to seek their advice on who call to check radio comms as the marina were not replying to my call, they said to call them on ch 16

 

[Juan Twothree]

When I did a VHF install for a friend in an unfamiliar marina, I used the phone to speak to the CG to seek their advice on who call to check radio comms as the marina were not replying to my call, they said to call them on ch 16

No problem calling the CG for a radio check if they're quiet and haven't got any jobs running. Apart from the fact that everyone else has to hear it!

There's not really much point in calling the marina for a radio check. At that range you could probably get a reply using a piece of wet string instead of an aerial.