When should I use VHF radio to call for help from my boat?

Use VHF as soon as you need assistance or advice to keep the boat or crew safe; do not wait for a manageable problem to become a rescue. Call MAYDAY for grave and imminent danger requiring immediate assistance, and PAN PAN for an urgent safety problem that has not reached that stage.

Choose the right call

Check whether anyone is in immediate danger, whether you can control the boat and how quickly conditions could worsen. Engine failure in open water with working sails is very different from engine failure while drifting towards a harbour wall.

• MAYDAY: uncontrolled flooding, a serious fire, someone overboard needing outside assistance, a life-threatening medical emergency, or imminent grounding in breaking seas.
• PAN PAN: loss of propulsion or steering with time and sea room remaining, uncertainty about your position creating an urgent safety concern, or illness requiring urgent medical advice without an immediate threat to life.
• Routine assistance: an engine breakdown while securely berthed, or a non-urgent tow request from a safe position. Contact the marina, harbour authority or assistance provider on its published working channel or by telephone.

These examples are not fixed categories. A breakdown in a safe position can become a MAYDAY as the boat approaches rocks. Tell the coastguard or coastal radio station early if your situation is deteriorating.

Have everyone put on lifejackets and keep crew clear of immediate hazards while someone makes the call.

How to send a MAYDAY

If your radio has Digital Selective Calling (DSC), lift the red distress-button cover and press and hold the button for the time specified on the radio, commonly about five seconds. Select the distress category if practical, but do not delay the alert while working through menus.

A correctly configured DSC radio sends your MMSI identity and, with a valid position input, your location on Channel 70. Follow it immediately with a voice call on Channel 16. Channel 70 carries digital signals, not speech. Without DSC, make the voice call straight away.

Select high power on a fixed set, normally 25 watts, and speak clearly with the microphone a few centimetres from your mouth:

1. "MAYDAY, MAYDAY, MAYDAY."
2. "This is sailing yacht Seabird, Seabird, Seabird," followed by your call sign and MMSI if available.
3. "MAYDAY Seabird."
4. Give your latitude and longitude, or a clear bearing and distance from a named landmark.
5. State the emergency and assistance required: "Taking water and sinking. Require immediate assistance."
6. Give the number of people aboard and useful details, such as injuries, hull colour or an intention to abandon.
7. Finish with "OVER", release the transmit button and listen.