WOW......these things are just meant to be.
rit
-----Original Message-----
From: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
[mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Behalf Of Ed Kelly
Sent: Monday, January 14, 2008 3:28 PM
Subject: [Liveaboard] Near death experience - remember to monitor Ch 16
whenonboard
I wanted to share an email from a friend of mine who may have helped save
someone's life at sea, due to his monitoring VHF Channel 16. My friend is
Mike Clark on Fidelio and his action deserves credit for performing like a
hero in my book. You may see them in Cape Canaveral or elsewhere going
south.
I believe there may be a requirement that you monitor Channel 16 while
sailing. When some friends were leaving Charleston for Florida the week
after New Years they discussed staying on Channel 69. I suggested also
monitoring 16 as well, just in case some traffic might be trying to reach
them. He did not know how to set the radio to scan two channels. (Most
radios will do this) I figured out how to set his to monitor that channel
too as he was warming up the engine to leave. I am glad I did. Here's what
he told me in his own words:
---------
The following is strange but true.
We left St Augustine at 6 am in the dark and fog. The forecast was for
winds 10-15 kt out of the NW and seas 2-3 ft. The rumb line course to Cape
Canaveral inlet was a heading of 151degrees. After going about 7 miles off
shore we decided to set the sails and shut down the engine. By now the wind
was from our bow so we bore off on a heading of 125 degrees. The wind piped
up to 15-20 kt and we were really moving along at 7+ kts. I was really
enjoying the sail after so much motoring and we were really making good
progress. All went well for about 3 hours and we ended up much further off
shore than originally planed. However, DeAnn and Danna (on Quequige) both
became seasick and as the wind was continuing to increase Danna suggested we
turn around and go back to St. Augustine. We were communicating with
Quequige on Ch 69 on the VHF and monitoring Ch16 at the same time (Ed had
shown DeAnn how to do this on our radio while we were in Charleston). We
decided to reef in the sails and come about when we received a very faint
distress call on Channel 16. The call was to the Coast Guard but they were
out so far they could not be received. The person on the radio was on a
trawler and young and inexperienced. It turned out he was on the bridge and
heard there dog who was in the cabin with his father and the fathers
girlfriend start yapping. He went down stairs and both the father and
girlfriend were unconscious and then the dog went unconscious. The
girlfriend started convulsions bit her toung and was bleeding from the mouth
and both father and girl friend were having difficulty breathing. The boy
smelled an exhaust leak into the cabin. He shut down the engines and was
trying to get some medical assistance. We were the only boat who could here
them so we turned again and relayed their call into the Coast Guard. The
Guard could hear us and we could hear the boat in distress. I told the boy
to keep the engine turned off and try and drag the people and dog out into
fresh air. He was able to give me his GPS coordinates and we headed for his
position. In the mean time we relayed all the information requested by the
Guard to them and Seatow who immediately headed out. To make a long story
short, Seatow arrived first and got the father and girlfriend onboard and
immediately headed back to St. Augustine for medical assistance. Quequige
had seen us turn around and did not know what was going on as they were on
Channel 69, later they switched to 16 and were there to assist as well.
What was unusual about all of this is that if the winds were as forecast
we would not have gone far enough off shore to hear their distress call. If
Danna had not wanted to turn around and De wanted to bring in the sails we
would not have heard the faint call on our radio. If Ed had not shown De in
Charleston how to monitor 2 radio frequencies at the same time we would not
have received the call and had we not relayed the call into the Coast Guard
there would not have been any medical assistance. Even had the people on
the trawler not had a dog to make the noise which alerted the boy, the
problem would not have been detected in time.
We are back in St. Augustine and will depart again tomorrow morning for
Cape Canaveral.
------ ###### -------
I guess we should all make sure we keep Ch 16 on and the volume up in the
future. It can make a difference.
Ed Kelly (& Sue Kelly)
currently lying Charleston, SC
USSV Angel Louise - a Catalac catamaran
Our Skype Phone (202) 657-6357
Email: EdKelly ("at" symbol) netins.net
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8:23 PM
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