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?

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.

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.

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

On Sun, 1 Feb 2009 15:58:22 -0800 (PST), wrote:

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's a legitimate question. My wife and I discussed the limited
options we had but came up empty. By the time we turned back, found
a place to anchor and got the hook down, it would have been nearly
dark. Then we would have faced the challenge of launching our dinghy
in high wind and seas and finding our way ashore. It was way too
risky and the last thing the coast guard needed was two more people in
distress.

Amen.
The captain's first responsibility is for the safety of his crew and the
boat.

"Wayne.B" wrote in message
...
On Sun, 1 Feb 2009 15:58:22 -0800 (PST), wrote:

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's a legitimate question. My wife and I discussed the limited
options we had but came up empty. By the time we turned back, found
a place to anchor and got the hook down, it would have been nearly
dark. Then we would have faced the challenge of launching our dinghy
in high wind and seas and finding our way ashore. It was way too
risky and the last thing the coast guard needed was two more people in
distress.

On Sun, 1 Feb 2009 15:58:22 -0800 (PST), wrote:

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.

Then there's Scotty, who tries to be smart, but can't.

On Feb 1, 8:33*pm, wrote:
On Sun, 1 Feb 2009 15:58:22 -0800 (PST), wrote:
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.

Then there's Scotty, who tries to be smart, but can't.

And then there's salty, who'll ruin a decent thread in a heartbeat.....

On Feb 2, 8:29*am, wrote:
On Feb 1, 8:33*pm, wrote:

On Sun, 1 Feb 2009 15:58:22 -0800 (PST), wrote:
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.

Then there's Scotty, who tries to be smart, but can't.

And then there's salty, who'll ruin a decent thread in a heartbeat.....

just wondering (new to boating)............should this distress call
have been a Pan-Pan call instead of a May-Day?

On Tue, 3 Feb 2009 11:41:35 -0800 (PST), Shecki
wrote:

On Feb 2, 8:29*am, wrote:
On Feb 1, 8:33*pm, wrote:

On Sun, 1 Feb 2009 15:58:22 -0800 (PST), wrote:
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.

Then there's Scotty, who tries to be smart, but can't.

And then there's salty, who'll ruin a decent thread in a heartbeat.....

just wondering (new to boating)............should this distress call
have been a Pan-Pan call instead of a May-Day?

Not really. A Pan-Pan call is really more for information that
outright distress which requires a Mayday. In this instance, the
situation held imminent danger and thus, the Mayday.

For instance, if you have an overboard situation, but can effect
rescue, Pan-Pan would be appropriate to warn other vessels of the
situation, etc. Or onboard fire now extinguished. However if the
overboard gets out of control (as in drifting away from rescue, lost
sight, etc.), then that's a Mayday. Or the fire flares up again.

That doesn't mean that a Pan-Pan can't be turned into a Mayday at any
time - it's more of a notification to the surrounding vessels,
vicinity, authorities that a situation has occurred, efforts are
underway to ameliorate the emergency and everything to this point is
under some sort of control.

--

Time flies when you are sick and psychotic.