Date: 7 January 2014. Pan-Pan
Ponderings.
© janice142
Yesterday was an exciting day on the radio and not in a
good way. As friends who visit know, my VHF radio is always turned on. And
yes, I do believe that startled Lynn and Dave [Overnight
Guests] the other night. Oops. In
any event, just after 0900 a 43' motor vessel called the Coast Guard with
a pan-pan.
Pan-pan (pronounced pawn pawn) is an alert given on the
radio. The vessel would be in a bit of difficulty but not in imminent
danger. Most are familiar with the far more serious Mayday call that means
I need immediate help.
This was a twin engine boat and had lost one engine. This
in and of itself is not normally cause for a pan-pan broadcast. However
because the vessel would be running much slower than usual the captain
rightly contacted the Coast Guard. Seas were rough as well (Small Craft
warnings were out) and the gent wanted the Coast Guard to call his wife to
alert her that he would be later than anticipated.
Of course there is a bureaucracy involved so everyone
listening within range of his broadcast learned all but his blood type!
Think party line but not quite so bad. Still, one of the nice services the
Coast Guard performs is the simple dialing of a phone to let a spouse know
you are okay. This also avoids a needless search and rescue. After all,
he is not missing. The gent will simply arrive late.
Often times I have heard both TowBoatUS and Sea-Tow
performing this service. Once I even heard a fellow called because he was
going to be a daddy and needed to get his boat to shore now. Never
did hear how that turned out but when mamma's having a baby she can be
quite resourceful...
Now there is something you need to know as a kibitzer on the
VHF radio. You hear only so far away (line of sight, or to the horizon)
however folks with higher antenna will broadcast further and the Coast
Guard has repeater towers so they can hear a long way away. In fact, the
Coast Guard officer was responding from Mobile, Alabama. That's a distance
of about 300 miles from the boat in trouble.
MOBILE, ALABAMA and
ALLIGATOR HARBOR near Panacea.
The boat estimated he'd arrive at port in five hours. This
was at 9:38 a.m. (think 2:30 in the afternoon) and a schedule was
set up for comms (communication) with the Coasties every half hour. All
proceeded well for many hours.
Of course with the seas so rough the boat was not making
the headway anticipated and soon there were repeated calls without answer.
The alerts were being sent on the VHF every few minutes and eventually at
least two planes were up looking for the boat. (Okay, possibly just one
plane but definitely two different voices on the VHF.)
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From the Coast Guard half of the messages
that heard:
I could no hear the gent's radio responses... |
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The boat was taking on water and possibly being abandoned.
DO NOT EVER LEAVE YOUR BOAT
unless it is on fire!
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The boat was running low on fuel.
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The power system (lights, radios, etc.) failed.
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Finally a plane was able to locate the boat -- a miracle in
itself. The ocean (Gulf of Mexico in this case) is large and a boat is
small. In rough seas your white boat blends nicely with the whitecaps and
waves. Even with GPS coordinates it's not quite so easy as one might think
to find a boat offshore.
Aside: In the far
north you will notice some boats with Red, Orange or Yellow paint on the
pilot house top. Now you probably can surmise why: so they are easier to
locate from the air when things go awry.
The fly bridge hard-top of Lily Maria has a distinctive red
cross painted on it.
Cap'n Colin was in the British version of the Coast Guard.
The red cross was one of the first safety items he did on his vessel.
A boat repo man advocates making the boat
distinctive
so it can easily be located in case of theft or an emergency.
Seaweed is only distinctive by her size and 3 solar panels.
She is small and off shore would be essentially invisible.
With the Coast Guardsmen in the air giving
guidance toward the safe haven the boat eventually made it close -- at
nearly 10:30 p.m. Ouch! Winds from the north are more powerful
than dirt dwellers understand, and even some boaters do not realize the
power of continually blowing winds. The water is actually blown out to sea
and it is much shallower than you could imagine. Water levels can often be
less than the charts show.
The entrance to Alligator Harbor (at the red arrow) is tricky in the best of
circumstances and the intended arrival time of mid-day was perfection
indeed. However rough seas and delays caused a dangerous situation.
Fortunately the Coast Guard was there in the air, along with an FWC
(Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation) boat on scene. The motor yacht
was guided into safe haven.
The red arrow is where boats must make the turn (almost a
U-turn) to get into Alligator Harbor. With water shallow, no lights and
rough seas the outcome could have been far different. FWC (often called
Florida Water Cops though their responsibilities are larger) is the
enforcement arm of the state government for the state of Florida.
There were some lessons I learned while listening:
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Have a second anchor ready to deploy. One anchor is not
enough.
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Have plenty of fuel. This journey was supposed to end by
mid-afternoon at the latest. The boat got to the marina at 1:15 a.m. the
following day. The captain was nearly out of fuel by the time he arrived
at the dock but it could have been far worse if he had less diesel
onboard.
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The Coast Guard offered advice on staying warm and bundled
up. As a warm-weather cruiser I had not considered how cold effects
decision making skills.
Exhaustion and Cold make for poor
decisions. Be safe!
Thank goodness for the Coast Guardsmen and FWC officers who
are willing to get out here and help when the chips are down! Our men in
uniform are terrific and it is good to know we are not alone.
P.S. - Having
TowBoatUS or
Sea-Tow helps too!
Have you ever had to call for help while on the water?
And do you have your cabin top painted a bright color?
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