Heard on 16 last night...

PascalG

PascalG

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Crazy exchange between sector MIami and a disabled 25' cuddy, black hull, no name but the guy referred to his boat as a 1979 cuddy. He initally called a mayday but after sector verified he was not twking on water and there were no injury they downgraded th whole thing to an assitance request

He was about 20nm out in the gulfstream... yep... TWENTY mikes! too far for me to hear his side of the exchange but he coastie side was enough pitch dark at 10pm. it took him about 10 minutes to find his position on the GPS... sector had to push him to find the numbers. He couldnt switch his vhf to 22A

He had no tow insurance and at first didnt want the coast guard to call a tow. When he finally agreed, it took another 5 minutrs for sector to get him to say which tow company they should call.

Then after a few minutes, sector called him back saying TBUS had quoted $2200 for the job... and another few minutes were wasted because tow boat wanted assurance the guy had a credit card with him...

Conditions were ok, 2 to 3, 10/12kts but far from safe for auch a small boat drifting at night. Judging by the questions te uscg had to ask, i dont think the guy had any clue of the danger he was in

The whole thing lasted an hour... last i heard towboatUS was on their way.

I wonder if he made it...
 
I do not get why anyone would have a boat and go into the ocean without towing insurance. Seems a small price to pay for that peace of mind... Even when I had my bowrider that we only used in the Intracoastal we kept a SeaTow policy.
 
I'd expect the Rescue 21 system would have been able to confirm his approximate position so the Coasties could rule out a hoax. I wonder if a language barrier (or alcohol barrier?) may have been impeding efficient comms, but just from your description it doesn't sound like that particular boater was exactly ,ah, "in his element" boating in those waters. Hopefully it was at least that person's vessel.

I'm a little surprised the towing offer was not a higher figure. Hope everyone & the boat is OK and TB/US actually gets paid for the mission.
 
quote:
Originally posted by Sandy

I'd expect the Rescue 21 system would have been able to confirm his approximate position so the Coasties could rule out a hoax. I wonder if a language barrier (or alcohol barrier?) may have been impeding efficient comms, but just from your description it doesn't sound like that particular boater was exactly ,ah, "in his element" boating in those waters. Hopefully it was at least that person's vessel.

I'm a little surprised the towing offer was not a higher figure. Hope everyone & the boat is OK and TB/US actually gets paid for the mission.

Click to expand...


20nm offshore might have only hit a single R21 tower - all you get for positioning data in the Caller Details then is a single LOB from the tower. Caller needs to hit two RFF's for a DF Fix, and that far offshore would give you a narrower angle between the two, hence a larger Area of Uncertainty. Still plenty 'close enough', but not as good as a reliable GPS position. And even with a R21 DF Fix, most people will want a reported GPS position and compare the two. If there's a 1/4nm difference, probably a good position. If there's a 12nm difference, something's funky and needs to be sorted out.
 
quote:
Originally posted by Brian N

I do not get why anyone would have a boat and go into the ocean without towing insurance. Seems a small price to pay for that peace of mind... Even when I had my bowrider that we only used in the Intracoastal we kept a SeaTow policy.

Click to expand...


Most people have no idea of the cost o getting towe. Many still think that the Coast Guard does free towing. And for others it is the old "I am invulnerable" attitude.

George
 
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