Mayday Mayday... need Help...

[Bhacurly]

Well it was the first time we heard that on the radio....

We had motored out past the no wake buoy's when we heard it and the boat that put it out was just behind us...

He had putted out and when he throttled up his 28' Bayliner it went pop... motor was running and he wasn't going anywhere...

He was talking with a guy on shore and we told him we were 1/2 mile away and would come help.... He was just dead in the water, not sinking, no fire, nuthing, so ok it wasn't a mayday in our book,,, but it was mothers day and he had his wife...

I told him if he didn't mind being towed in by our C-22 sailboat we'd help

I went to toss a line an he didn't know for sure where to tie off,, he thought there was a cleat on the bow... so Pam & I went forward and I had to jump on his boat to tie off, he didn't even come forward to assist... we putted in to the marina a mile away at 2.5 knts with his boat tied off to one our of stern cleats,,, and I was thinkin, hmmm I wonder if I have backing plates on those 4 bolts?? He sat in his cozy cabin and ate lunch as we towed him in,,, we had to remind him to put out bumpers...

We dropped him at the dock and waved good bye, and wished his lady a happy mothers day...

One less power boat on our big lake

It was there today on dry dock with his trany all tore up...

We, by the way, had nice sail today, winds were all over the compass and blustery, 0-20 knts,, really had to get our ducks in a row, a good refresher for the season!

[CaptainScott]

That was a very good deed of you to tow him in!


Great job!!!

Scott

[Alanhod]

Nicely done, you saved hime a $500 to $1000 tow charges if he did not have Vessal Assist or the equvelent insurance. How do I know that, it cost me $800 when it happend to me. That's when I learned about Vessal Assist insurance.

Thanks
Alan

[Chrysler20%26]

When is it OK to use a ( May Day - May Day ) call. Is it not in a mader of life an death. I think he should have sead ( having engin troble need help )

[CaptainScott]

A couple of notes here . . . . .

One of towing another boat. Without a license and proper endorcement you can not tow for money above an beyond your own costs. For example, you tow a guy a 1/4 mile and save him 500 - 1K in fees so he tosses you a hundred bucks ( unlikely ). if you spent a hundred bucks to get him to shore it is yours. IF you spent less than 100 bucks then it is illegal to accept the overage! Just a thought. Especially in the Everett area where the Navy, Coast Guard AND Everett marine police patrol regularly.



MAYDAY Spoken three times clearly indicates Distress
examples: you're boat is sinking, Your motor is dead AND you are drifting towardss rocks, someone aboard is severly injured or severly ill

PAN PAN Spoken three times clearly indicates Urgency.
Examples: Weather has changed and noaa is issuing a weather alert, a log is floating in a heavy traffic area and location is being announced. Your motor is dead and you need help but are not in eminant danger. Sometimes you here Notice to Mariners if severe

Securite Spoken three times indicates a saftey concern
Example: you are about to enter a very narrow channel with limited sight visibility and very limited manuverability so you announce your intentions.
Around here we have many very active passes. one of them the BC ferries allways announce before entering the pass. Another pass further North called Malibu Rapids even smaller pleasure boats such as Destiny are announcing their intentions. Sometime you hear Notice to Mariners


Just thought I'd toss this in!
Scott

[Bhacurly]

Thanks Scott,

Not sure what he was thinkin really,, maybe just flustered because his SO was on board also. He acted like he never was on the boat before... maybe with us folks who do all our own work we have a better understanding of all parts on board and where our cleats are

The marina I towed him to monitors ch 16 and he could have called them, and apparently did on his cell phone maybe, they were waiting for us when we pulled in.

Hope ya'll have a great weekend! I'll be working Fri-Sun but have Monday off... kinda bytes cuz it ruins the weekend and no holiday pay!!

Were plannin on towing the tandem kayak to the other end of the lake the following weekend for a 3 day trip sailing and kayaking where the Clark Fork river delta empties into Lake Pend' Orielle. Wanted to do that for some time and it's supposed to be really pretty... I'll post a link to picts when we get that trip done!

Billy

[Banshi]

Without a license and proper endorcement you can not tow for money above an beyond your own costs.

Some towing company (probably many) using the government to pad their pockets......isn't big government wonderful? Meanwhile your boat sloshes against the rocks waiting on a tow and becomes yet another "beautiful" eyesore for us all to look at as we sail along on Sunday afternoon.........ooops there I go again assailing big government creating regulations/laws and rules meant to "help/protect" us that somehow always result in money leaving the little guys pocket and going into some big businessman's pocket...................better shut up Obama might be reading this thread.................

[NYCSAILOR]

Hmmmm....

isn't this a salvage job and now you own his boat?

that would have woken him up from his blase attitude.

I read with great interest a BoatUS multipart feature...it is VERY important with anyone who tows your boat to state right up front "NO SALVAGE"

Even then I think maritine law can be tricky and you could own the guy's boat...

[Capt. Bondo]

Arrr, prepare to be boarded