Changes to the Distress Message for VHF

Changes have recently been made to the layout of the distress message for VHF to make identificatio of the vessal clearer to the rescue services the message should now be as follows:

Mayday, Mayday, Mayday

This is M/Y Hot Stuff,Hot Stuff,Hot Stuff

Call sign MSKA8, MMSI 232004876

Mayday Hot Stuff

Call sign MSKA8, MMSI 232004876

Position 50°49’.71N 001°18’.46W

Have uncontrollable engine fire

Require immediate assistance

Two persons on board

Abandoning to liferaft

Over

A New Buoy

For those not yet aware a new buoy came into operation recently. The Emergency Wreck Marker is blue and yellow vertical stripes with an upright yellow cross as a topmark and flashing alternate blue and yellow light. Details can be found on the Trinity House website at www.trinityhouse.co.uk/aids_to_navigation/the_task/wrecks.html.

GPS Black Holes

Anyone who regularly uses GPS would do well to read this. To quote a small section an which appeared an RYA article:

"A realatively low powered jammer,only thousandths of a watt of power, transmitting static on the GPS frequency band can overpower legitimate GPS signals over a wide area."

It just goes to show how weak the signals from satallites are and how easily they can be interfered with either deliberately or accidentally. That is why we, as instructors, continue to advocate the use of paper charts as a back up to chart plotters and GPS, and that each time a position is taken from a GPS it should be backed up with additional data. In this way problems can be spotted at an early stage. So please carry on using the technology, but be aware of the limitations.