[togmaster]

My big question here is why didn't anybody else who herd the mayday try and assit or announce it on the VHF?
If I herd a mayday which I did not I would have pursued the issue or listend to CH16. to find out the story. The problem is the weather hampered everyone and left those maybe able to help to fight there own battle against the weather? So may question is Was there any other boats that herd the call and if yes did anyone bother to assit or relay the message?

 

[seaslug44]

Sorry Togmaster, I just noticed this topic. The answer is yes, many of us heard the mayday call. However, the NJ coast guard immediately responded with a transmission. As you know, it is protocol, if not the law, to refrain from broadcasting on 16 when the CG is in the middle of responding to a mayday call. Anyone who heard that it was being handled by a NJ CG station would come to the conclusion that the craft was HOURS away, somewhere near NJ. Keep in mind, the entire transmission lasted about 52 seconds.

 

[618925]

if many other boats heard the mayday as just stated,and heard the name of the boat ELENI,mentioned by the person calling the mayday.....WHY didn't any of those boats flip over to the tournament channel and say "i just heard a mayday from a boat called the eleni not sure where or what is happening keep your eyes open"....don't you think someone in the tournament would recognize the name?????? and i think someone said 290 boats were out there ,didn't anyone think to notify them??

just s rhetorical question....think about it.

 

[MeanBean]

To Doctorfish Re "MAYDAY"

In your other post on differant threads concerning this tragedy you said that the USCG after hearing it should have notified the commitee boat, well now that you say you heard the mayday call at the time of transmission why did you not notify the FHA yourself. Also you say you heard the actual MAYDAY call live so how come you did not remember that the boats name was the same one you state that was 10 minutes behind you in the Jones Inlet? I have been reading all these posts and you are contradicting yourself i believe!

 

[618925]

meanbean very good points you bring up.i also wondered the same things.

 

[seaslug44]

Here is the answer...

Hearing a "faint" mayday call while running 18 knots with seven to ten foot seas and the your own engine noise in the background is a lot different than sitting at a radio desk in a silent room somewhere in a Coast Guard station. On the water, no one heard the boat's name. It was too faint and too quick.

 

[MeanBean]

Now it was faint! But you know for a fact that someone at a desk would hear it. STOP BLASTING THE CG WITH WHAT YOU THINK. In your other posts you said you were in 5 footers now they are 10 footers. Still even hearing a "faint Mayday" why didn't you notify your committee boat like you said the CG should have? I would have slowed down to loose some of the noise if i heard a MAYDAY call,i think helping someone is more important than getting to the fishing grounds, or winning some small amount of cash.

 

[620083]

montoring channel 16

Today we fished the Great Gun anglers tournament. A litle sloppy but over all no were near what it was last week. I monitor channel six teen at all times while i'm running and at stopped. So while running out i picked up a distress call from a fellow boater who was on fire and over the horizion you can start to see smoke. We were about 12 miles out. The coast guard then sent out information to other boaters in the area to assist. Well four boats responded along with two draggers and this ended on a postive knote with all crew rescued with only monor smoke inhalation. The rules are when underway you should be monitoring channel 16. If i wasn't i would of never looked to the west as I was running east and saw the smoke. All in all if there were guys monitoring channel sixteen instead of listening to everyone else on channel 68 this could of turned out differently because yes someone could of been near them and heard the call. I'm not saying it would of helped but it could of. We will never know. Today I heard the call and went to assist but another boater was already there. I heard the call.

 

[capt jack]

so the name was too faint and too quick,so instead of trying to help in some small way ,such as calling the tournament commitee boat and telling them what you heard ,you just went on your merry way.AND THE CG ARE THE BAD GUYS,like you said when you heard the message played by george,I AM PISSED. now I AM PISSED at your inept attempt at trying to incite people on this board against the CG,whereas you could have done exactly what you are saying they should have.this gets me sick!

 

[togmaster]

not defending

Guys I?m not defending doctor fish but I do not remember him saying he actually herd the mayday on the water but he herd the replay from George from the nor east? I may be wrong I will go back and read the 8 pages of the post I started? But as jv said if anyone herds the call which some have claimed. They could have done something. Now also remember the weather hampered radio transmission that day because of the weather. Also I would consider all boats running in 7 to 10 and better in a sense of unstableness also. But between all boats all it would have taken is 1 guy to announce he herd a mayday call to the FHA other boats and ck it out? Maybe some one did do it? Maybe the FHA hard it and didn't respond. Again all I want is some answers to people who actually herd it and why nothing was done? This actually may help al for the future or solve some questions all have been wondering?
I just herd on the radio they found a body by the RM bridge? Anyone here this and also yesterday a collision with 2 boats and 1 guy died? Man is this getting crazy or what? I myself was out on the water today big mistake those god dam jet skis should be banned!!!!!
And if someone could actually read a no wake signs on the weekends. I think I have better chance of hitting lotto and not playing?

 

[MeanBean]

Capt. Jack Thanks! I thought i was the only one that thinks this way.

 

[Scalawag]

I dont think Doctorfish is trying to "incite"

Emotions take over somewhat when something like this happens to 4 fellow local fishermen & thier familys.
The truth is there is an excellent argument to be made that considering the circumstances it should of behooved the Coast Guard to dispatch & investigate.

 

[noreast]

There are many questions yet to be answered but to somehow point the blame on private boaters for not relaying a mayday call that was received by the USCG is a bit ridiculous. I should also add that I?ve been in touch with a number of boaters that heard the mayday that day but I?ve yet to hear of any pan announcement made by the USCG regarding the mayday call. I also heard from a boater that claims he was returning to port, and he was approximately 5 miles from Fire Island Inlet and he heard it, yet FI CG never did.

I?ve received a few emails from people wondering if there was more that they could do and many of them are feeling guilty knowing they were within reach of the Eleni, but the fact is without knowing the name of the boat or the coordinates there really wasn?t much they could do.

I am convinced that had the USCG been able to clean up that transmission and then play it over and over they could have deciphered the name of the boat. It was the only piece of evidence they had that could have saved their lives.

Check out the link below as I think you can draw many parallels to this incident. Pay special attention to the recommendations link and I?d be curious to see what people think. I?m not sure those recommendations were followed.

Sinking of the Morning Dew

 

[capt jack]

george
i am not saying any private boater was in any way responsible for this terrible event.i am just getting tired of certain people pointing the finger as if they know all the facts,the most unfortunate thing about what happened is that we probably will never really know what caused it.and the fact that the CG is getting slammed without ,again,anyone really knowing why they did what they did.and saying the CG could have cleaned up the transmission,maybe they could have,would it have been in time to save lives,that my friend we will never know unfortunatly.
my problem with all this is everyone is pointing their fingers and NO one knows all the facts or the circumstances leading up to this terrible tragedy,and i think many think they are experts,which they are NOT,which just compounds and confuses the issues at hand.
the only positive thing i seen so far is MAKO MIKE telling the correct procedure for calling the CG in an emergency.
but this is my opinion

 

[noreast]

This isn?t a matter of pointing the blame on anyone, but just as procedure changes were made after the sinking of the Morning Dew ? see my prior post ? the same may hold true for the Eleni.

With the budget cuts that the USCG has faced over the years they may be stressed and in need of more personnel, or better equipment.

Should a New York boater have to rely on a helicopter responding from NJ?

Could they have computer enhanced the audio to get the name of the boat just as we did?

Or why not retransmit the mayday as a pan announcement leaving a very good possibility that someone might recognize the voice? In this particular case that would have been very likely.

The mayday was obviously real and not a hoax and the audio was all they had to go on.

 

[seaslug44]

Meanbean,

For starters, not only do I know that someone at a desk heard it, but they also recorded it. Listening to that recording, what the Coast Guard heard was anything but faint! A simple $20 computer program is all that would have been needed to slow down the audio and clean it up. But even without that simple software, they could have at least hit the rewind and play button over and over again until they figured out the boat's name. And if they still didn't get it, then do as George said and send it out as a Pan!!

As far as "blasting with what I THINK", what do you think these boards are for??? 99% of what each of us post here is "what we think".

As far as slowing down to hear the mayday call, it was over before you could time your approach to the next wave.

Captain Jack, I am NOT blaming them for the deaths. I am, however, questioning the procedures they currently follow, the strange fact that our local Coast Guard didn't respond to the call, the lack of modern and inexpensive technology (such as using a computer to clean the audio), the fact that the search was called off despite the fact that the tape clearly sounds real (there is even a sound in the background towards the end of the transmission that sounds like water slopping around), and many other "questionable" things associated with the lack of CG activity initially. Like George, I would like to see some good come out of this in the form of increased budgets, changes in protocol, etc... so that it never happens again. I'm sorry that I'm not an expert. But if you are, then maybe you can answer these questions.

George, the link you posted isn't working tonight. Is it the correct url?

Togmaster & Alan, thanks, you were very accurate with your responses.

 

[noreast]

I moved the document to our server at

Sinking of the Morning Dew

 

[seaslug44]

George,

That document is powerful information. I think the entire public deserves to know whether or not the CG implemented each and every one of those changes. Especially the direction finding and replay equipment.

Thanks for the link.

 

[MeanBean]

Doc, you are going around in circles again? They should of had a machine to clear the tape is like saying the boat should have had a Epirb device, They didn't so lets get past this.

 

[seaslug44]

MeanBean,

The only direction I am looking towards is FORWARD. If the lack of modern equipment was a factor with the Morning Dew tragedy in the past and now with the Eleni in the present, shouldn't we do something about it to prevent it from being a factor in the FUTURE?????