What is the appropriate call on Marine VHF in these situations?

[Wildcard]

Absolutely correct. Three PAN PANs will get you immediate attention from the coast guard. It should be use in serious situations in which loss of life or boat is not imminent. If the situation gets more dire (bends get worse etc) you can easily upgrade to a Mayday. Pan Pan is still very serious and one can get themselves into trouble for its misuse.

Again, it's not real critical what you say. There are rules but with tens of thousands of unlicensed radio operators out there, you hear all kinds of things. No kidding I heard breaker breaker 16 last week! Call the Coast Guard, they will issue a marine assistance broadcast on there much more powerful radio and more times than not, some near by boat will come and render assistance. If this is a life or limb kind of emergency and no other help is available. They will try to get permission to respond a boat or helo.
BTW they are NOT military. They were under DOT and now under Homeland security but not under DOD.

 

[String]

I think the phasing out of ch16 is SOLAS/international so fairly world wide.

Its already been taken off dedicated listening watch and downgraded to loud speaker watch. Its not legal in most places to buy a new radio that isnt DSC equipped. With DSC, hit the button but also give a voice call on ch16 providing details.
Advantage with DSC is everyone is going to have their radios beeping when the button is hit.

 

[reeldive]

If all you got is a 5 watt handheld VHF then you probably won't be able to get any help in our aerea..

The Deer hunters (mostly those who use dogs to chase deer) have invaded Marine VHF in disregard of FCC rules. All have at least 25W (White Face Huntn' radios) and some are adding 100W amps on the back of them (you can get one by claiming to be a vouluteer frie man no proof of membership required) purchased at almost any CB shope or truck stop.
Worse if reported to the FCC all you get from them is that, if you can provide the with exactly who, when, where and the nature of the interferance etc, they will look into it

 

[doghouse]

The one call that has not been listed, and is in the scope of this conversation.
Security - securi.tay 3 times. This is the call to warn people that emergency communications may follow. Followed by End Security or pan pan or mayday.

Each is recognized by all educated boaters as a need for help. When calling security start listing your location, and suspected problem. That way people can start twords you. Then when they hear your voice again, they can be prepared to help.

Voice calls are heard on older radios, digital are only on the newer ones. Even if you fire a digital signal off, you should still make the voice call for all the people who do not have DSC.

 

[String]

Securite` calls here are normally reserved for the coastguard broadcasts OR in rare circumstances by vessels that for example spot a container floating out to see presenting a navigation hazard etc. Its not a call i can envisage a dive boat using if they've got a problem.

 

[diver 85]

Call your nearest CC station, they should be able to answer each scenario precisely....I'm thinking on most mayday but if it were me, I'd get on channel 16 & make a call to CC/ after hitting them, briefly explain the circumstances....They will immediately direct you to another channel & you are theirs for as long as you need them.....I needed CC only once so far thank goodness, we were 29 miles offshore out of Cameron, La. jetties....actually hit CC in Galveston, Tx(these guys are good...lol)....he directed me to another freq. & we took the emergency from there....good luck.....

 

[DandyDon]

For possible additional reading, found a few interesting links that say about what's already been said and more. A couple off the top...

Coastal Boating .net , VHF Radio Basics, Etiquette, Protocol, Stations http://www.coastalsailing.net/Cruising/Seamanship/Radio/RadioBasics.html

Kayak Wiki: Marine VHF Protocols http://www.kayakforum.com/cgi-sys/cgiwrap/guille/wiki.pl?Marine_VHF_Protocols

It seems that 16 is your Alert channel also used to hail before switching, 9 is your other boat hailing channel before switching to another, 13 is to hail commercial vessels, 70 is for digital signaling and no longer allowed for voice, communication from land are not allowed other than for CG and other specially licensed radios like yacht clubs - haven't I see dive shops do this...?

 

[String]

Its quite common here to see dive shops and even people with boats use their vhf on land. Its illegal and against the licence in theory though. The yacht club out boats are kept at have a licence but im suspecting the dive shops doing this havent got a special land licence.

Having said that i have used the boat radio myself from in the car park of yacht club as we occasionally forget to radio safe return to the coastguard to cancel our passage watch. Its either that or phone them.

Another page with more detail:

http://www.coastalsailing.net/Cruising/Seamanship/Radio/RadioBasics.html

 

[Flightlead]

All of the situations you outline are emergencies.

the appropriate way to use the VHF is to dial up channel 16 (unless there's a USCG emergency channel or other special rules published for your location).

Break in with "mayday" (m'aidez for all you frenchies) repeated three times, state who you are, where you are, and what you need. repeat. with a named vessel you would use the vessel name, I guess on a kayak you could say "kayed [your name]" or something. actually the emergency call is officially "pan pan pan" but that's like asking an american about centimeters (centimetres for all you frenchies).

e.g.

"mayday, mayday, mayday. this is the sailing vessel Gi-Gi, Gi-Gi calling on channel 16. We are 22 miles south southeast of key biscayne. we have a diver who is unconcious and unresponsive. we require immediate assisstance. repeat, we are 22 miles south southeast of key biscayne. we have a diver who is unconcious and unresponsive and require medical assisstance. over"

USCG should come up and have you switch to another channel

"sailing vessel gi-gi this is the us coast guard. please switch to channel 42, channel 42 over"

you reply with the channel, wait a second to make sure they don't correct you, then switch. when you come up on the new channel hail the coast guard. don't switch without reading back the frequecy/channel they give you and give them a second in case you heard wrong.

"roger, s/v GiGi switching to channel 42 over".

[pause switch to 42]

"coast guard, s/v gigi on 42 over"

then follow their instructions

note: many boaters do not overserve proper radio ettiquete. frequently you will find people chatting on channel 16. (<soapbox> usually power boaters, not sailors. usually the cheaper/smaller boats where only skill required to operate the boat is being able to write a check </soapbox) Don't be afraid to break in and tell them to shut up or move it. 16 is NOT ship to ship/shore party line

if you are using a hand held, particilarly if its a low wattage and/or you are using a rubber ducky antenna and the antenna is low to the water (kayak) you might not be able to hail the USCG or whomever. If you get no answer with a couple of calls you will need to ask for a relay.

"mayday, maday, mayday. this is the s/v GiGi. we are 22 miles south southeast of key biscayne with a medical emergency. does anyone copy? over"

<another vessel responds> "gigi this is the container vessel ichin maru (yeah right) near your position how can we help? over"

you can either direct them to another channel and then ask them to call up USGC for you (personally I wouldn't have them leave the channel in a real emerg.) or just ask them for a relay on 16.

"ichin maru this is gigi. we have a medical emergency and can't raise coast guard. can you raise them and give us a relay? over"

the other vessel will make the call for you and relay your conversation. you will probably be able to hear CG but not the other way around.

how many parachute flares and orange smoke flares do you carry? ha ha

 

[Flightlead]

If you have no other choice, then call the coasties. Dont expect them to jump right up and help thou. The response is not at all what you might think. Call them if your in trouble. No need to worry about mayday, pan pan, or securitay, just call them and tell them what your problem is. They will issue a marine assistance brodcast and a nearby boater will most likely respond to your location. You do need to know where your at thou...GPS can save a lot of time looking. BTW the "waterproof" VHF and GPSs are not. Keep them sealed in a dry bag or pelican case.
Not to sound like Im slamming the coasties but what they can do and what they are allowed to do are two different things. Do not expect them to respond like a typical 911 call on land. It seldom happens.

My experience with USCG has been very good. even when they boarded me returning from bimini they were very polite (while they covered me with the swivel gun). the problem is they are being diverted from their real job to play bloody cops and robber on the drug interdiction mission. the terrible choices this gov't makes in its social and fasical policy is weakening the USCG capability to respond. the coasties I know aren't happy about being cops either