Sea Kayak Rescues: The VHF Mayday One to Ten, One to Five Slow Count

Any kayaker who makes a mayday call on channel 16 to the Coast Guard needs to be prepared for a surprise or two.

One is to be asked to give a slow ascending and descending one-to-ten or one-to-five count.

The reason is simple. If your radio contact with the Coast Guard is strong but you can't describe your position via a chart or latitude and longitude, the Coast Guard wants you to keep talking so that they can triangulate and home in on your position.

(Listen to a mayday ten-count request, recorded in California, at Sea Kayaking Dot Net.)

One reason is that they surely want to help you.

The other is that they want to make sure that you're not just another potential felon broadcasting a hoax mayday call from your living room.

Consider your typical tv crime drama. Kidnapper calls the family. Good guys want the bad guy to keep talking so they can trace his call.

Same case here.

The slow one to ten count is destined for superannuation within the next half decade: once the Coast Guard fully implements all of its Rescue 21 antennas, even the briefest mayday call, the short phrase "Mayday, mayday..." can be traced to a line of bearing. The Coast Guard will know where to look for you without having to ask.