How to Use a VHF Radio: The Mayday Call and Pan-Pan Call
Give Your Location to the Coast Guard, if Possible
When we make mayday or pan-pan calls on channel 16, we need to do our best to describe our location as early on in the call as possible. To say mayday is enough to get immediate attention. But failing to give our location makes rescue personnel's job all that much more difficult. A sinking fishing vessel near Fire Island, New York issues a mayday call. To an audio backdrop of alarms and shouting crew members, the caller struggles to give the boat's location. Four Coast Guard stations attempt to triangulate the call to pinpoint the vessel's location. Two stations then issue pan-pans to all local boaters to be on the lookout for the sinking vessel and crew. Video backdrop for the recording is of a garden-variety sea kayaking rescue off Rockport, Massachusetts at on offshore rock cluster known as The Salvages.
Credit: paddlingtravelers.blogspot.com
Copyright: 2009 paddlingtravelers.blogspot.com
Published by Dave Williams
Outdoors writer Dave Williams lives in Arlington, Massachusetts. View profile
