Making a Distress Call
Speak slowly - clearly - calmly.
For future reference, write your boat’s name & call sign here:
1. Make sure your radio is on.
2. On the radio, press the
16/9-Tri
button to switch to Channel 16 (156.8
MHz). (If the corner of the display does not show 16, press the
16/9-
Tri
button again until it does.)
3. Press the
push to talk
button on the microphone and say:
“MAYDAY
-- MAYDAY -- MAYDAY.”
4. Say “
THIS IS
{name of your boat (three times) and call sign/boat
registration number (once)}.”
5. Say “
MAYDAY
{name or call sign of your boat}
.”
6. Tell where you are: (what navigational aids or landmarks are near, or
read the latitude and longitude from your GPS).
7. State the nature of your distress, (e.g. are you sinking, medical
emergency, man overboard, on fire, adrift, etc.)
8. State the type of assistance you need (medical, towing, pumps, etc.).
9. Give number of persons aboard and conditions of any injured
persons.
10. Estimate present seaworthiness of your ship (e.g. how immediate is
the danger due to flooding or fire or proximity to shore).
11.
Briefly describe your ship, giving the ship name (e.g. “Blue Duck is a
32 foot cabin cruiser, white hull, blue deck house”).
12. Say:
“I WILL BE LISTENING ON CHANNEL 16.”
13. End message by saying “
THIS IS
{name or call sign of your boat}
,
OVER
.”
14. Release the
push to talk
button and listen.
If you do not get an answer after 30 seconds, repeat your call,
beginning at step 3, above.
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