Saturday afternoon in late September. You are motoring Serenity east across the Solent with 4 on board. Half a mile west of the Thorn Channel the engine coughs and stops, and it will not restart. There is not enough wind to sail clear and the tide is carrying you towards the channel. A passenger ferry is coming down from Southampton Water. Nobody is hurt and the boat is not taking on water.
- Position
- 1.2 miles south-east of Calshot Spit
- Wind
- South-west 4 or 5, occasionally 6 later
- Sea
- Slight or moderate
- Weather
- Showers
- Visibility
- Good, occasionally moderate
- Radio
- Fixed DSC radio, starting on channel 16
- Engine: will not restart
- Anchor: ready, 30 metres of chain
- 4 on board, lifejackets on
What you need to do
- Decide the right priority (urgency, not distress) and the right channel
- Make the Pan-Pan call and message in the right order, with your position
- Answer the Coastguard's questions clearly and briefly
- Reply to the ferry when it calls you
- When you are under tow, tell the Coastguard the situation is resolved
The stations don't follow a script. They answer what you actually say, and after the exchange the debrief shows which of these you did and what to work on.
SRC syllabus topics
- Urgency call
- Phonetic alphabet and figures
- Prowords
- Working channel discipline
- Search and rescue cooperation
Practise it
This scenario comes with Monthly and Annual. Start with the free plan to learn the radio and try two routine calls first.