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#1
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After a lifetime of listening to marine radio frequencies I had never
heard a mayday call until yesterday. We were motoring north from the Florida Keys in the late afternoon headed for Little Shark River inlet in the Everglades Park wilderness area. It was a cool windy day with winds out of the north east at 25 knots. Suddenly the VHF sprang to life with the unmistakable words: Mayday, mayday, we are in distress and need help, mayday, mayday. It was absolutely electrifying to hear the words. With no one else responding, we returned their call and offered to relay their situation to the coast guard. It turns out that three people in a 17 ft Boston Whaler had become ensnared in a back country mangrove marsh and could not free up the boat. All three of them were on shore but they were cold, wet, and about 30 miles from the nearest civilization. Unfortunately there was nothing we could do to help them but pass on all of their information to USCG. The Coast Guard called the National Park Service ranger station at Flamingo for their help. We have no idea how it all turned out but hopefully someone was able to get them out of there quickly. Temperatures got down into the 40s last night and spending the night in cold wet clothing could have easily been life threatening. Other then getting in over their heads in the wilderness, their other mistake was not having a GPS. Without that the best we could do was approximate their position based on the description they gave. |
#2
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On Feb 1, 5:45*pm, Wayne.B wrote:
After a lifetime of listening to marine radio frequencies I had never heard a mayday call until yesterday. * We were motoring north from the Florida Keys in the late afternoon headed for Little Shark River inlet in the Everglades Park wilderness area. * It was a cool windy day with winds out of the north east at 25 knots. *Suddenly the VHF sprang to life with the unmistakable words: * Mayday, mayday, we are in distress and need help, mayday, mayday. * It was absolutely electrifying to hear the words. * With no one else responding, we returned their call and offered to relay their situation to the coast guard. *It turns out that three people in a 17 ft Boston Whaler had become ensnared in a back country mangrove marsh and could not free up the boat. * All three of them were on shore but they were cold, wet, and about 30 miles from the nearest civilization. * Unfortunately there was nothing we could do to help them but pass on all of their information to USCG. The Coast Guard called the National Park Service ranger station at Flamingo for their help. *We have no idea how it all turned out but hopefully someone was able to get them out of there quickly. Temperatures got down into the 40s last night and spending the night in cold wet clothing could have easily been life threatening. * Other then getting in over their heads in the wilderness, their other mistake was not having a GPS. * Without that the best we could do was approximate their position based on the description they gave. How far away from you were they? Too far to go yourself? |
#3
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![]() "Wayne.B" wrote in message ... After a lifetime of listening to marine radio frequencies I had never heard a mayday call until yesterday. We were motoring north from the Florida Keys in the late afternoon headed for Little Shark River inlet in the Everglades Park wilderness area. It was a cool windy day with winds out of the north east at 25 knots. Suddenly the VHF sprang to life with the unmistakable words: Mayday, mayday, we are in distress and need help, mayday, mayday. It was absolutely electrifying to hear the words. With no one else responding, we returned their call and offered to relay their situation to the coast guard. It turns out that three people in a 17 ft Boston Whaler had become ensnared in a back country mangrove marsh and could not free up the boat. All three of them were on shore but they were cold, wet, and about 30 miles from the nearest civilization. Unfortunately there was nothing we could do to help them but pass on all of their information to USCG. The Coast Guard called the National Park Service ranger station at Flamingo for their help. We have no idea how it all turned out but hopefully someone was able to get them out of there quickly. Temperatures got down into the 40s last night and spending the night in cold wet clothing could have easily been life threatening. Other then getting in over their heads in the wilderness, their other mistake was not having a GPS. Without that the best we could do was approximate their position based on the description they gave. I know the feeling. I heard one on my first significant cruise. We were heading for Florida in the Navigator and were off the coast of Delaware. A tropical storm had passed by offshore the day before and the seas were getting rough. It was weird because they were fine for most of the day and we were making good time, but within 2 hours in the afternoon, they starting building fast with short, confused chop. We were about 15 miles offshore, heading in towards a backup port for the night to wait for the seas to flatten out. I was concentrating on entering a new course in the chartplotter when I heard the "Mayday" on the radio. Normally, my mind filters out the occasional chatter, but the Mayday registered right away. It was a small, 20 ft CC that was caught in the seas and having some sort of problems. My brother came up with me at the helm and we plotted the distance to him (it was about 5 miles) and were about to answer and head towards his location when we heard a commercial ship respond to both the boat and the Coast Guard who were now on the channel. The ship was closer to him and indicated he would provide assistance. The adrenalin was pumping, and I was relieved the other ship was there. I was still a bit of a novice in heavy seas and had my hands full just keeping us out of trouble. I can't accurately state what the seas were, but my guess is at least 6-8 footers and increasing. It got rough fast. Eisboch |
#4
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#5
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On Feb 1, 6:27*pm, Wayne.B wrote:
On Sun, 1 Feb 2009 15:17:51 -0800 (PST), wrote: How far away from you were they? Too far to go yourself? We were about 5 miles away but there was no way we could get to them back in the boondocks where they were. *We were in our 49 foot trawler drawing over 5 feet of water. O..... Just wondered. Wasnt trying to be smart. |
#6
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![]() wrote in message ... On Feb 1, 6:27 pm, Wayne.B wrote: On Sun, 1 Feb 2009 15:17:51 -0800 (PST), wrote: How far away from you were they? Too far to go yourself? We were about 5 miles away but there was no way we could get to them back in the boondocks where they were. We were in our 49 foot trawler drawing over 5 feet of water. O..... Just wondered. Wasnt trying to be smart. It was noted. Eisboch |
#7
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#8
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On Sun, 01 Feb 2009 17:45:54 -0500, Wayne.B
wrote: three of them were on shore but they were cold, wet, and about 30 miles from the nearest civilization. Unfortunately there was nothing we could do to help them but pass on all of their information to USCG. The Coast Guard called the National Park Service ranger station at Flamingo for their help. We have no idea how it all turned out but hopefully someone was able to get them out of there quickly. Temperatures got down into the 40s last night and spending the night in cold wet clothing could have easily been life threatening. Other then getting in over their heads in the wilderness, their other mistake was not having a GPS. Without that the best we could do was approximate their position based on the description they gave. Good job - soemtimes that's all you can do. I've never been on the receiving end of a MAYDAY, but I have made the call. It was a few years ago. I was fishing out towards The Race when two idiots in Cessna 172s were "dogfighting" right off Elizabeth Field. They collided and one went down right off North Hill - I was right at the Indian Grounds (between the old Ferry Dock and North Hill) when it happened and made the call. By the time I got the trolling lines up and headed in that direction, two other boats got there and were assisting, so I just stayed clear and stood by. -- "I intend to live forever. So far, so good." Steven Wright |
#9
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