38’ Fountain w/ 7 people on board are missing! A distress call was transmitted briefly saying they were going down but no further info given. The boat left Charleston from Shem creek but is originally out of Myrtle Beach. The wife states that her husband was going to fish a “wreck” but thats all she knows. The CG needs your help. If you know these folks and knew where they were going contact the CG or me ASAP. If you saw a 38’ fountain offshore today please let us know where you saw them. It is a vast ocean out there and any info will help. Your prayers are needed for these 7 souls.
USCG 843-740-7050
Found!!! 20 miles off all 7 alive!!! 2 CG Helos plucked them from the water this AM. All in the same family, God is good!!! Another great rescue by our coasties.
Vessel has been recovered from the bottom of the ocean. Yes, these folks are blessed to be alive and they do realize that. The initial reports are inaccurate. They did have a working VHF. They were “stepped on” twice before the electronics were fried (batteries low in the engine room bad idea.) Flares were in a float box but one wave sent them off the dash and into the ocean not to be recovered. Water was reportedly coming in like a “fire hose”. The high water alarm went off, by the time engine hatch could be raised the port eng shut down and the port quickly thereafter due to being under water. Still under investigation. EPIRB and/or SPOT could have changed things. All are safe and lessons can be learned when things go bad AND when things go well. Equipment doesn’t always mean prepared and capable.
During a VHF transmission if a more powerful vhf signal is transmitted(ie: stronger radio transmission closer to the USCG antenna)then the weaker signal would be “walked on” or “talked over”. In other words you would only hear the weaker transmission until the stronger signal was transmitted. Once the stronger transmission starts you would no longer hear the weaker. It is as if you are talking and then a person with a PA Microphone system started talking at the same time. The PA is all that you would hear.
so even if your transmission gets “stepped on” that does not necessarily mean you intentionally talked over someone else’s conversation though right? I know in this case it was a mayday transmission, but if someone else could not hear their transmission then keyed the mic they could accidentally drown the mayday signal out…don’t know that I have ever noticed, but when there is a mayday transmission does the CG or anybody come on and say for all other traffic to be quiet? seems like that might be a prudent thing to do (although somewhat difficult)…
animal cruelty sucks…unless his lip hurts cause there is a 1/0 Owner Aki hook with a chinaback stuck in it
In theory Bonzo, yes. In practical terms, no. I hear people walk over vessels calling the CG all the time. Proper radio etiquete is not very well known or practiced. For instance, " how 'bout cha…" is not the correct way to hail another vessel. Yet, you hear it all day long. Just one example, not pickin a fight. Also, “breaker, breaker 19…” is for truckers. Channel 19 is the hailing frequency for truckers on CB’s. Break 16 would be appropriate to try to hault traffic so that you could hail out although this is rarely used in the marine arena.
In theory Bonzo, yes. In practical terms, no. I hear people walk over vessels calling the CG all the time. Proper radio etiquete is not very well known or practiced. For instance, " how 'bout cha…" is not the correct way to hail another vessel. Yet, you hear it all day long. Just one example, not pickin a fight. Also, “breaker, breaker 19…” is for truckers. Channel 19 is the hailing frequency for truckers on CB’s. Break 16 would be appropriate to try to hault traffic so that you could hail out although this is rarely used in the marine arena.
In LE, when an officer has an urgent call and needs assistance, the dispatcher will call a 10-3 code which basically means all other officers stop transmitting on that channel. This will keep the channel clear until the problem has been resolved, the officer is out of danger or help has arrived. It would be nice if the CG ordered all craft to cease transmitting until further notice. Yeah, I know, not gonna happen.
Bonzo, look at it this way…suppose the Coast Guard radio is at position X, the radio needing help (Radio A) is 270 degrees from the CG at 20 miles…another radio (Radio B)is at 90 degrees at 20, or even lesser miles from the CG. Radio B probably cannot hear Radio A begin his emergency transmission. Therefore, Radio B begins a transmission, and if his radio signal is stronger, he gets heard. And the CG cannot contact Radio B to tell him to wait until he quits transmitting.
VHF radios are not reliable for distances greater than 10-15 miles. Yes, many of you have used them successfully at greater distances and when conditions are favorable they work. But, to rely on them for emergencies at long range is a bad idea. Many of us have boats worth thousands of dollars and have no problem spending a few hundred dollars on GPS’, fishfinders, or the latest rod and reel. Spending a few hundred on an EPIRB kinda makes sense. After 24 years in the Coast Guard, I’ve seen happy endings like this one and others that were not. Keep your boat serviced, buy and register an EPIRB, keep all of your emergency equipment readily accesible and in good working order. All that said, strange things happen on the water so be smart, be safe and be prepared.
bad idea.) Flares were in a float box but one wave sent them off the dash and into the ocean not to be recovered. Water was reportedly coming in like a “fire hose”. The high water alarm went off, by the time engine hatch could be raised the port eng shut down and the port quickly thereafter due to being under water. Still under investigation. EPIRB and/or SPOT could have changed things. All are safe and lessons can be learned when things go bad AND when things go well. Equipment doesn’t always mean prepared and capable.