VHF Procedures
dave copithorne | 20 04 2008If it ever goes pear-shaped on the water here’s a sample Mayday procedure using channel 16:
- MAYDAY MAYDAY MAYDAY this is NAMEOFBOAT NAMEOFBOAT NAMEOFBOAT
- MAYDAY NAMEOFBOAT (followed by callsign if known an example Irish one would be ECHO INDIA ALPHA ALPHA ONE)
- Position is 1 mile south of Long Island Schull (alternatively give the latitude and longitude from the GPS e.g. 51 decimal 123 North 9 decimal 123 West)
- Diver suffering from decompression sickness. Immediate assistance required.
- 4 persons in total. 2 divers still underwater.
- NAMEOFBOAT is a 6 metre RIB with white hull and grey tubes.
If your VHF has a DSC button (usually red with a cover over it) you can use that first before making the voice call. Assuming it has been setup correct it will transmit a distress signal along with your GPS coordinates.






