Mayday, Mayday...
 

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.

Mayday, Mayday...
 

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?

Mayday, Mayday...
 

"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

Mayday, Mayday...
 

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.

Mayday, Mayday...
 

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.

Mayday, Mayday...
 

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

Mayday, Mayday...
 

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.

Mayday, Mayday...
 

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

Mayday, Mayday...
 

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.

Mayday, Mayday...
 

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.