Distress and rescue

In an emergency you rely on a sequence you already know, which is why the procedures are learnt once, calmly, and rehearsed aloud. The three calls run from the most to the least urgent, as in the figure. Mayday (from the French “m'aidez”) is for grave and imminent danger, when help is needed at once. Pan-Pan is for urgency: assistance is needed, but there is no grave and imminent danger, for example a breakdown that leaves you drifting or a request for medical advice. Sécurité, pronounced “say-cure-it-tay”, the French way, is for safety messages, such as a navigational warning or an important weather forecast: it is not an emergency. What counts is how serious the situation is, not the size of the boat.

You use the VHF and not the phone because other ships can hear the VHF, the Coastguard can locate you and talk to lifeboats and helicopters, whereas mobile coverage at sea is poor. To use the VHF on board in the ordinary way you need an operator's certificate: the SRC (RYA/CEPT qualification) or, in Italy, the restricted radiotelephone operator's certificate. For distress calls, however, it can be used in any case. At sea, VHF first: channel 16, and DSC if you have it. By phone, in Italy, the number to remember is 1530, the sea emergency number.

Besides the radio there are other distress signals, listed in Annex IV of the Collision Regulations: red star rockets or shells; the continuous sounding of a fog-signalling apparatus; flames on the vessel; a gun or other explosive signal at intervals of about a minute; orange smoke; a rocket parachute flare or a hand flare showing a red light; the SOS signal by any means; the word MAYDAY by radio; the flags N over C of the international code; a square flag with a ball above or below it; arms outstretched, slowly raised and lowered; the DSC alert (VHF channel 70); the satellite alert (Inmarsat or other service); the signals of the EPIRB; other approved radio signals, such as those of the SART. To be seen from the air there are also the orange canvas with a black square and circle and the dye marker.

Mayday is used when people or the boat are in grave and imminent danger and help is needed at once. The steps alongside are in the order in which you say them: first the signal and who you are, then Mayday again with the boat's details, and from there the actual message begins, with the position, the nature of the distress, the request for assistance, the persons on board and any other useful information. At the end you say Over, release the key and listen on channel 16: if there is silence, repeat. Speak slowly, and keep a ready-written card next to the radio.

With a DSC VHF the Mayday has three parts: the DSC alert, the voice call and the message. First get the radio ready: switched on, on channel 16 and on high power. Then lift the cover of the red DISTRESS button and press it once: if you have time, choose the nature of the distress from the menu. Then hold it down for the whole countdown, about 5 seconds: the button must be held down, not just tapped. The alert automatically sends your MMSI and, if the radio is connected to the GPS, your position.

After the alert you wait no more than 15 seconds for the acknowledgement. Then, whether or not it comes, you make the voice call on channel 16, with the Mayday and the message: the DSC alert does not replace the voice call. As with an ordinary Mayday, at the end you say Over, release the key, listen, and if there is silence repeat the call.

A Mayday relay is used when you hear a Mayday that nobody answers, or when the vessel in distress cannot transmit: then you relay it yourself. It is better to relay it directly to the Coastguard; if you cannot reach them, to all stations. In the message two different boats must stay clear: you, who are transmitting, and the one in distress. So you say Mayday relay three times, “All stations” or the coast station, “This is” with your own name and your MMSI three times; then Mayday with the name of the vessel in distress, its position and the nature of the distress; finally the persons on board, the description and any useful details, and Over.

The Day Skipper manual gives three cases. Normally the parachute rocket is fired vertically. If it is windy, it is fired about 15° downwind, that is with the wind behind you. With low cloud it is fired at about 45°: that way the parachute opens and ignites below the cloud base and stays visible, as the figure shows. It is never fired into the wind, and never if a helicopter is approaching.

The EPIRB is a beacon that, once activated, transmits a 406 MHz alert with a HEX identification code and, on models with built-in GPS, the position. A COSPAS-SARSAT satellite receives it and passes it to the rescue centre (MRCC): that is why the EPIRB must be registered, and in Italy registration is with the Italian Cospas-Sarsat Satellite Station, in Bari. It transmits for at least 48 hours. It is activated by hand or, with the hydrostatic release, automatically on contact with water. It also emits a 121.5 MHz signal, which rescuers use only for the final approach.

You abandon ship only when you can no longer stay aboard, for example with a fire you cannot put out or a leak you cannot control. The order, as in the figure, is: everyone wearing a lifejacket; Mayday on the VHF (with DSC if possible); EPIRB on; flares; the emergency bag (grab bag); and only then the liferaft. First you call and make yourself findable, then you board the liferaft.

When rescue arrives, with a lifeboat the coxswain will talk to you to understand the situation. Take any lines out of the water near the propeller; casualties are taken first. The lifeboat may tow you, but the priority is saving lives, not the boat; the tow is secured to strong points, such as the winch or a cleat.

With a helicopter, the crew give instructions by VHF before arriving, because afterwards the noise drowns everything out. The helmsman holds a very steady course, usually with the wind about 30° on the port bow, as the pilot tells you. A weighted line (hi-line) may be lowered first: let it touch the water or the boat before you touch it, so that static electricity is discharged; take in the slack but do not make it fast. Then a man is lowered on the line and must be pulled towards the boat as you are directed. Beware of the downdraught.

Before launching the liferaft check that the painter is secured to the boat. Then you throw it to leeward and pull the painter, which inflates it. With a fire on board, according to the Seaman's Notes, the liferaft is thrown upwind instead. You board staying dry, from the boat if you can: the heaviest and strongest go first, steadying the liferaft and helping the others.

Once aboard the liferaft, and only then, cut the painter with the knife, paddle away, stream the drogue and close the entrance. Then bail out the water, post a lookout, take seasickness tablets, stay as warm and dry as you can and ventilate the inside every hour. Inflate the floor and keep morale up: the belief that you will survive matters.

Fire needs heat, oxygen and fuel, as the triangle in the figure shows: take one away and it goes out. Common causes on board are smoking below deck, solvents or paints stowed below deck, gas accumulated in the bilge, faulty electrics and cooking fat. Extinguishers must be within reach near the exit of every living space. The engine bay has its own extinguisher, automatic or operated from outside without opening the compartment, because opening it would let in oxygen. Whatever you use, aim the jet at the base of the flames.

Gas (butane, propane) is heavier than air and sinks into the bilge: to clear the boat open the hatches and bear away downwind. Bilge pumps are made for water and do not clear gas well. The cylinder goes in a sealed locker that drains overboard, with the shut-off valve near the stove; no do-it-yourself repairs. With petrol, ventilate the engine bay before starting an inboard engine; outboards are kept on deck.

If you cannot put the fire out, the boat fills with smoke very quickly. Get everyone on deck in a lifejacket, prepare a Mayday and the signals, and get ready to abandon ship.

You need one lifejacket for each person on board. It is worn underway and in the tender; at night, in fog (there is a risk of collision) and when you are about to abandon ship it is compulsory even for those who do not usually wear it. The harness is worn at night, in fog, with reduced sail or sailing close-hauled, and when a recovery would be difficult. The tether is clipped to a strong point in the cockpit, or to the jackstay to go forward: one hand for you and one for the boat.

The lifejacket must be checked before you go out, and the figure shows the eight checks: cylinder, reflective tape, whistle, light, zip, crotch strap, spray hood and expiry dates.

In water at 15 °C or colder there is a risk of cold water shock, which can cause cardiac arrest or other medical problems. The first 60-90 seconds are the most dangerous: breathing becomes gasping and uncontrollable, and if your head goes under you may inhale water. The RNLI advises not to fight it: float until the effect passes, and only then think about moving or calling for help. On board, a crew has on average less than 11 minutes to recover a crew member who has fallen into cold water before they become unconscious (MAIB data, reported by the RYA), and sometimes only 4-5: that is why the plan is prepared beforehand, and the manoeuvre learnt (see the man overboard lesson).

After the recovery the person must be watched closely. Even if conscious they are at risk of shock, hypothermia, secondary drowning (inhaled water, with problems in the hours afterwards) and injuries from the fall or the recovery. Wet clothes are removed, the person is warmed, kept under observation and taken to hospital for a check. The symptoms of hypothermia are shivering, pallor, irrational behaviour and disorientation. To prevent it: layers of synthetic fibres, staying dry and warm, and eating and drinking regularly.