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Lexington - Captain: Bob 3/12/17. 10*. 16'. south. 112*. 42' west. safety continued



I got a question or two on my safety post. So here is more information. The whole maritime safety and rescue system is coordinated thru what is called GMDSS( global maritime distress system). There are layers of agencies and international agreements concerning shipping and maritime affairs. In the United States the Coast Guard plays a big role in the whole game.

In the event of a Mayday ( emergency with danger of injury or loss of life, not just out of beer or gas) the boater would have the options of:
1. Activation of the EPIRB. This would send out an emergency distress or Mayday signal to orbiting satellites. There are multiple satellites which can triangulate the signals to pin point a position on the EPIRB? Most EPIRB these days have a built in GPS. THE EPIRB would then be able to send the GPS location with the emergency signal and bypass the triangulation thereby saving time and it would be more accurate.
2. Push the emergency button on the SSB radio. All commercial ships are supposed to monitor SSB. DSC emergency channels. The SSB is connected to the boats GPS. The SSB emergency signal would set off a loud alarm on other boats that are monitoring SSB DSC channels. The Coast Guard also monitors this. Anyone receiving this signal can acknowledge the call. The SSB sets the frequency of the radio so both parties are on the same frequency. This would allow direct communication. By this any ships receiving the call or the Coast Guard could communicate with the boat in distress.
3. Push the emergency button on the VHF radio to do the same as the SSB but with a much smaller range of coverage.
4. Set off flares if another ship was in visual range thereby signaling a visual message of distress.
When you are more than about 350 miles off shore, the coast guard and/or the GMDSS would have a list of ships in the area. Ships sign up for voluntary membership in something called AMPER. I do not know what it stand for. The nearest ship would be ask to change course and effect a rescue. They are trained in rescue by the AMPER system. Also any non commercial ship, boat or yacht could respond.
Within 350 miles, the Coast Guard would launch a helicopter to fly to the site. They only have enough fuel to go out 350 miles and back. At times they may arrange to refuel on a Navy ship that was in the flight path.
The boat in distress would enter their life raft in their boat was sinking or on fire beyond help. The saying is that you should only get in the life raft if you have to step up into the raft I.e. Do not abandon a boat that is still floating. It has a lot of supplies in it you might use and it is a bigger target for any rescuer to see.
You should be real sure you want to declare a Mayday. If GMDSS responds they will take you off your boat and leave it adrift in almost all cases. They are not there to save your yacht. They are there to save lives!
You can do a PAN PAN call which means you are in danger that you might manage. In that case the GMDSS personnel with keep in contact by radio until the issue is resolved or you declare MAYDAY.
The whole system is paid for with tax dollars. There is no cost to the Mayday victims.
Again this is more than you wanted to hear but it answered the questions posed.
May fair winds fill you sails with an effective response to your emergency !
Bob

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