T he Bitter End
pan-pan, or mayday. Say, for example, you’re in a well-traveled body of water and you see a huge piece of a piling or dock floating down the waterway that could cause damage. That would be known as a security issue. On channel 16, you would say, “Sécurité, sécurité, sécurité (it’s pronounced seh-KYURih-tay, and yes, you must say it three times), all vessels in the immediate area of (your location) be advised there is a (what-ever the issue is). Be advised it may be a menace to navigation.” If possible give the direction the tide is moving for folks approaching the area. If possible, also hail the coast guard and give them the same information. Another example of when to make a sécurité call is just prior to entering major shipping channels. Simply say, “Sécurité, sécurité, sécurité, all vessels in the (area you’re approaching), name of your vessel By Captain J. Gary “Gator” Hill will be entering (that area) in five minutes.” These calls should be made on channel 13, as all the commercial vessels will be monitoring that channel and it would be nice for them to know what boat traffic they may need to be aware of. Once the security information has been transmitted, end the call by saying (vessel name) will be standing by on channel (16 or 13). This will allow anyone concerned to contact you for any follow up information they may require. elcome back to another installment Next is the pan-pan message, the of What Irritates a Gator! This month I’d like to next level up from securite. This is rant about proper radio usage, or a lack thereof, for situations considered urgent but either of which can be annoying at best and with no imminent danger of loss of dangerous at worst. From the title, you may life or vessel. This is also issued on gather where I’m going with this. Some people channel 16 and can be given as a seem to think of their marine VHF radio as a general call such as “all stations,” or glorified CB radio. But I’ll do my best to educate specific station near you. rather than offend y’all. For example, you’re taking on First, I’ll run through the most common water and the bilge pumps seem to channels and their proper usage. be keeping up, but you’re worried Channel 9 – This channel is used for vessel to about a failure. Give the nature of vessel contact, as well as a ship to coast, such as the call and your location, this alerts in to hail drawbridge operators. Although there’s boats in the area just to listen out in only one drawbridge left on the Georgia Coast case your condition deteriorates. there are still some remaining in other areas, such Finally, the mayday call. This is as Florida. Channel 9 is also used and in some the scary one – things have gone areas, such as the northeast as a hailing channel pear-shaped and loss of life or in lieu of channel 16. vessel is imminent. As with securite Channel 13 – This is strictly for navigational and pan-pan calls, Mayday should purposes for commercial vessels, such as near the also be said three times to start the entrances to the Port of Savannah and the Port Captain Gator exercising proper radio etiquette (and look, hail. Always be clear and concise of Brunswick, as well as military vessels. If you he trimmed his beard!). as to nature of call, your location, are near these areas I’d advise monitoring this Photo by Connor McGuinty your vessel name, and if possible a channel versus 16, as it will allow you to listen in cell phone number. Many radios today have a distress button feature – and have a better understanding of where the big ship traffic is. Channel 16 – This is your hailing channel. Hailing means to initiate a PLEASE be sure yours is functional. When a mayday call is issued, all vessels in the area are to stop their conversation. Once initial contact has been made, select another working channel, such as channel 72, and have your discourse there. DO NOT activities and lend aid in whatever capacity can safely done. In other words, do not increase the severity of a marine accident by placing ENGAGE IN CONVERSATION ON CHANNEL 16. Channel 22A – This channel is for Coast Guard use only. It may be a second vessel in peril as this compounds the situation, but you are used to talk between the Coast Guard and a vessel in distress, or to make required to help if it’s safe to do so. Also be aware that in most areas, making a false mayday call is a criminal offense. marine safety/security broadcasts. I hope my monthly rant helps clarify some of this and I’m sure y’all Channels 24-28 – These are public telephone call channels. Note: will make every effort to use the radio properly! Also, please always be there must be a marine operator present to fulfill a ship to shore call. Channel 67-69 – These are recreational channels sometimes used by sure your gear (radio included) is functional. You never know when your life or family might fishing fleets, such as shrimpers, to stay in touch with one another. Now that we know where and what the channels are used for, let’s need to rely on it. dissect proper usage! Channel 16 is the most often misused used channel Until next time, I'll see y'all on the water! out there. Each fall and spring, we have a huge armada of snowbirds traveling the ICW and I’ve heard most everything under the sun being said over the radio. Channel 16 is NOT a place to be giving someone Aunt Martha’s recipe for rhubarb pie, nor is it to be used by marinas or boat captains to yell at someone for two solid minutes about their wake. Trust me when I tell you, the people leaving a huge wake are not listening! Now let’s look at what else channel 16 is used for, namely the sharing of important information, which can fall into three types of calls: sécurité,
VHF: Not the CB of the Water
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Email: jgaryhill@gmail.com
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Southern Tides Magazine
May 2018
