Shocked
Published January 14, 2006 | 
I’m not afraid of anything in this world
There’s nothing you can throw at me
that I haven’t already heard
I’m just trying to find a decent melody
A song that I can sing in my own company – bono
Ok, so I’m not really shocked. But I’ve been feeling better. One of the great things about sea kayaking is that it actually helped me to have a little more faith in mankind. No, I’m not full of optimism. Far from it. But at least I know now that there are a lot of good people around. It’s just hard to find them in daily life.So then I come across this story. “Boater Rescued From Sharks Off Florida Coast” from November 12, of 2005. This is a story of Rogers Washington whose boat capsized in rough seas off the Florida coast. Apparently he watched his friend, Robert Lewis Moore die while two boats signaled to them yet refused to assist. Washington said, “They waved at me. I know the saw me”.
The article suggests that the boaters refused to rescue them believing that they were illegal immigrants from Haiti. Now, I’m not sure how easy it is to leap to that conclusion, but if this is so, my faith in mankind has just slipped another notch.
-d
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One Response to Shocked
Shocking indeed!
This story brought back memories of research that I had previously done on “duty to render assistance”. This duty which is one of the most cherished and protected maritime traditions is a mariners’ obligation to go to the aid of all persons in distress at sea. . . . Customary maritime law, international conventions and domestic laws of nations have also established a legal duty to assist persons in distress at sea. The United Nations Law of the Sea Convention (UNCLOS) in Article 98, requires that masters must render assistance to any person found in danger of being lost at sea and must proceed with all possible speed to the rescue of persons in distress, provided they can do so without serious danger to their own ships, crews or passengers. The Safety of Life at Sea Convention (SOLAS) in Chapter V, Regulation 10, requires the master of every merchant and private vessel to speed to the assistance of persons in distress.
However, many recreational boaters are most likely unaware of this “law of the sea”.
Just as I would suspect, and from personal observation know, that while many sea kayakers are aware that there is no requirement that sea kayaks be equipped with a VHF radio–I don’t leave shore without it though–they are not aware that if a sea kayak is equipped with a VHF radio then by federal regulation there is a requirement to “maintain a watch on 156.800 MHz (channel 16) whenever the radio is operating and is not being used to communicate. . .” Noncommercial vessels, including recreational boats (sea kayaks included) “may alternatively maintain a watch on 156.450 MHz (channel 9) for call and reply purposes. ” (47CFR80.310)
In most areas that I’ve paddled, the Coast Guard requests that all “hailing” be done on channel 9, reserving channel 16 for distress and “all station” advisories.
If you have a VHF radio, then you should be able to operate (program) it to scan channels 9 and 16, and whatever other channels you desire to scan. And, use channel 9 when hailing another recreational boater–if they don’t respond on 9 after 3 attempts, then go to 16, but make contact and switch to one of the recreational channels (68, 69, 71, 72, or 78A) immediately after contact.