Mayday mayday!

skennelly

It was a first time for me yesterday.  My sister and bf visited our boat yesterday.  We headed out for a cruise.  Putt putting a few miles out I hear a vessel in distress call...they we taking on water and dead engine.  The only info they could provide was the depth of water they were in 100' foot and color of the boat and rough location.  They DID NOT HAVE GPS ONBOARD.  I was in the area so I headed to that water depth and headed in their general position description.

I found them and was the first boat on the scene.  They wanted a tow but I'm not equipped to tow.

I relayed GPS coordinates and stayed by their side and 15 minutes later CG showed up along with 5 other rec vessels.

What's crazy is we passed 6 boats in our initial search all within a few miles or so of the distressed vessel...nobody monitoring channel 16????

When I found them it was an emotional moment for all of us on our boat anyways.  It's something I think about every time are out there...but never have I been in a position to start searching and potentially help somebody.

When we left they were tied up to a CG vessel being towed in.

My take away.

1.  Monitor channel 16!!!!
2.  Have some kind of GPS device onboard.!!!!!  We and CG would have found them much quicker.

aero3113

Great story @skennelly , glad you were able to help them.

Pat310

@skennelly. Nice save. It’s people like you that makes boating great!  People helping people.

LaRea

Well done.  Hard to understand how someone would get underway without basic safety equipment. 

PickleRick

You earned some boat karma!

On our lake there is no one to answer channel 16 except maybe the sailboat club.  

skennelly

@LaRea - they were definitely not prepared.  Bilge pump not working, no GPS.  Luckily they did have a radio.

Willhound

Wow, good on you @skennelly! Did nobody even have a cell phone? Even most of the cheapest phones have a GPS chip now. Not 100% accurate without a cell tower to triangulate off of, but good enough for a general search area. Of course, in a panic they may not have thought of it. And 90% of people wouldn't know how to find Lat/Long in Google maps or what not.
Happy there was a successful outcome.

skennelly

@Willhound - Honestly the people on the boat looked like flip phone kind of people.  I thought the same thing, but didn't think to ask at the time.

YYZRC

You’re a mensch! Right place, right time.

Black_Diamond

Great job!  I always have my radio on and monitoring 16 when I am underway. 

RiverRat232

Great Job! Everyone should get an MMSI number and set up their DSC. Never know when you will need to get off of the boat fast and only having to press a distress button may be a life saver.

Ian

Well done @skennelly! I always have the plotter on, linked to VHF, on and scanning 9, 13, 16, 68 as you never know under duress what recently used channel someone may broadcast on in panic. VHF should be mandatory safety gear I believe and MMSI setup, most don’t know about it. I do my DSC test call to the USCG each month and await that “ack”.

In a past life in emergency services and personally having found 2 lost people, it’s a great feeling when you do good. Excellent job.

TonyG13

Good job @skennelly! Yesterday was probably the busiest day on the water around here between perfect water conditions and eased Covid restrictions. Heard a few "Pan, Pan, Pan" from the Coast Guard making announcements for vessels in distress. A few into the breakwalls as usual.

I agree with other people's comments that VHF should be required, but alas it's not. Probably one of the cheaper things to buy for a boat. Yeti's are probably more important to some.

And with today's techno wizards, someone should be able to come up with a combo VHF/MMSI radio antenna so you wouldn't need to have a separate GPS input to have MMSI. Just buy a VHF radio, plug in a hybrid antenna and it works.

Again - Good job!

Dream_Inn

Good job @skennelly!  Always wise to monitor 16.  

skennelly

@TonyG13 - This was up by Northpoint.

boatman37

I always have Ch 16 scanning, along with a few other channels. I even have it on when we are sitting at the dock just in case someone needs help.

@TonyG13 New Horizon makes a GX1700 model that integrates the MMSI/DSC into one unit. Hit the panic button and it sends your coordinates out to anyone capable up viewing them. Had one in our last boat. Unfortunately our current boat has a more 'generic' radio but we boat on the Ohio River where there are generally quite a few boats around but a new GX1700 is on the list.

skennelly

I wish they would run a rebate on the gx2200.  They did last year and I kick myself for not buying it

Handymans342

Great work

[Deleted User]

The iPhone has a great compass installed, usually under "utilities" that also shows latitude and longitude. "Mayday" the word you never want to have to say or hear. From the French, "M'aider" meaning "help me."

Andy

skennelly

No iPhone on that boat lol

RiverRat232

skennelly said:

I wish they would run a rebate on the gx2200.  They did last year and I kick myself for not buying it

I got mine for $300. At lot of radio for the money.
https://www.thegpsstore.com/Standard-Horizon-GX2200-Matrix-AIS-with-GPS-Black-P3968.aspx

LaRea

Okay, so no GPS, no clue about their location, no working bilge pump, but surely they had a hand-operated pump as a backup ... right?  

No?  Well, at least they had a radio and a depth sounder.  

TonyG13

boatman37 said:

I always have Ch 16 scanning, along with a few other channels. I even have it on when we are sitting at the dock just in case someone needs help.

@TonyG13 New Horizon makes a GX1700 model that integrates the MMSI/DSC into one unit. Hit the panic button and it sends your coordinates out to anyone capable up viewing them. Had one in our last boat. Unfortunately our current boat has a more 'generic' radio but we boat on the Ohio River where there are generally quite a few boats around but a new GX1700 is on the list.

Good to know! I'll have to look at if if/when replacement is warranted. Already have one fixed mount (with MMSI) and two water resistant handheld VHF aboard. :-)

skennelly

@LaRea - They said they were bailing water from the engine compartment, but I'm not sure by what means.  Could have been a solo cup.

skennelly

@RiverRat232 - last year there was a $30 rebate off that price...that's why I'm kicking myself.  $270 for that radio is a great deal

Liberty44140

I knew a guy who was struck my lightning (sailboat) and was taking on water. He had help getting in to the hoist, but bilge pump would not keep up. Engine was running so he pulled the intake hose and stuck that in to the bilge so the engine was using bilge water to run. Helped keep water below the engine to get her in...

TonyG13

Liberty44140 said:

Engine was running so he pulled the intake hose and stuck that in to the bilge so the engine was using bilge water to run. Helped keep water below the engine to get her in...

Now that's some smart thinking! I just put that in my memory bank.

skennelly

Genius

RiverRat232

skennelly said:

@RiverRat232 - last year there was a $30 rebate off that price...that's why I'm kicking myself.  $270 for that radio is a great deal

That is a smokin deal. When I had decided on the GX2200 $300 was the lowest I could find. Now I see that Standard Horizon has a GX2400 with even more features for another $100.

aero3113

Saw this today. Couldn’t tell if it was on the water or not. On the other side of the trees is the bay. I had the radio on but didn’t hear anything. Definitely looks like some fiberglass burning though.

[Deleted User]

Aircraft carrier USS Bonhomme Richard is burning right now in San Diego. I can smell the smoke. This is the mother of boat fires.

Andy