Where was the Coast Guard?

Anchor Management

Anchor Management

Active member
Member
Joined
Nov 27, 2010
RO Number
32420
Messages
1,849
Yesterday I was anchored in Croton at 7:30 pm when what appeared to be a highly intoxicated boater with 3 small kids on board was having endgine problems and nearly floated into my boat. One of the adults fell in the water and had to be rescued. The smallest child had no lifejacket on. I hailed the Coast Guard, Sherrifs Patrol and Tarrytown Police on both my radio and handheld. I got no response from any of them. I would have called the local police but by that time they were underway and I figured it would have been a wasted call. Do they all quit at 7? I'm glad nobody was seriously injured.
 
We heard that Rockland had their river unit cut, but Sat night I saw a Sheriff's boat in Bowline. Couldn't see if it was Rockland or Westchester. Croton is Westchester's area. I'd have called them on my cell.
 
If no luck on ch 16, you can also attempt to hail local law enforcement on ch 17. Last I checked, USCG Sector NY general phone is 800-424-8802 - not sure what they'd do for a possible BWI, but maybe you could talk them into calling local law enforcement.
 
Thanks. I will add them to my contact list. I thought about using cell but figured if there is no patrols in shouting distance of my radio that a land call would pretty much be useless. It's pretty scary that you cant hail any local authorities on a Saturday evening at 7:30. What's scarier is seeing those three kids on the boat with drunk adults and a three year old with no life jacket on.
 
The CG is rarely on the river. If you need law enforcement, you have to call either the Westchester police of the Rockland sheriff.

I saw Rockland's boat out at the Bowline fireworks, so I presume they are back on the water.
 
I think the police knew it was you and were afraid of taking gun fire if they came anywhere near you:)

I find this very alarming what if no of us needed help? The fact you could reach anyone on you radio is a major problem! We all count of it as if it where some magic wand if we use it help will come. I came to the aid of a friends boat near West Point on Saturday and I tried and tried to call Sea tow but they couldn't hear me a local marine heard my call and called them for a land land then told me they would be there in 30 minutes. This was very nice of them but what if they weren't so nice I would have had to use my cell phone and find a number to call. A VHS is required equipment but no not be the end all for safety. I guess it's time to add a few numbers to my contact list.
 
Dave, if you have Sea Tow, they give you stickers and cards with their phone number on them.
 
quote:
Originally posted by HOGAN

The CG is rarely on the river. If you need law enforcement, you have to call either the Westchester police of the Rockland sheriff.

I saw Rockland's boat out at the Bowline fireworks, so I presume they are back on the water.

Click to expand...

I tried them all and even hailed "any law enforcement agency that can hear this call" but to no avail. This is a very busy boating area and this call should have been responded to.
 
Was your radio transmitting? For that type of call, I would think a cell phone would have been the preferred method of communication.
 
Do a radio check on channel 24. It goes to the SeaTow automated reply tower in Ossining. You will hear your own transmission played back to you. No more relying on someone else deciding how your radio sounds.
 
I have done the "24" check and it works fine and I also tried them on my hand held which I have also confirmed works fine as well. This was not a transmission failure. Again, in my opinion cell phone would not have provided any help what so ever. These folks had quickly left the area once their boat started and dragged their fried friend out of the water. I cant even imagine how long a response would take via a landline call if they would send someone out at all. I doubt it.
 
I guess if we have the correct numbers in our cell phones it would speed things up! If we called the correct dispatcher they could reach their water patrol far more easily then us. I just have always been taught that phones are not a life safety tool but I guess times are changing with better coverage and phones available.
 
Both sea tow and boats US have an app for the smart phone that you can use to dispatch a tow.
 
BoatUS doesn't cover our area but I will down load the Seatow app right now if I can find it.
 
The Sea Tow app is relatively new and pretty cool. Does a lot more than just provide for a tow. It has tides, weather/radar, GPS Speed and Compass plus the call feature.
 
What is sea tow/boat us gonna do, say "Stop in the Name of the Law". Call your local sheriff's office, state marine patrol or USCG station on your cell phone. The local cop is not going to come running to your location just because you call on the Vhf radio, they only work from a dispatch call from a central office. How many fake calls come in via a Vhf radio? No way to trace that type call. If you use your cell phone the local law at least has a number that you called from to trace if the call proves to be a prank.
 
In our area there are usually too many different Leos patrolling the area I'm surprised they don't bump into one another. This time when he really needed one they were no where to be found. If he were able to reach them they wound most definitely come out to investigate they need to prove the have a function and this would have helped. Don't get me wrong I like that they are out there patrolling the waters but the bean counters need prove that they serve a function.

As for Sea Tow and their app this has nothing to do with the original post but the fact that it was hard to reach anyone for help on 16 when it was needed! I had just experience a problem reaching Sea Tow this weekend so it was mentioned I should have called and that they even have an app which I just downloaded and will play with this app over the weekend. I couldn't get the speedometer to work in my car but the compass and weather worked well.
 
Dave - from Croton Pt or Bowline, you should easily contact Coast Guard Sector New York on a fixed VHF - - on a handheld, maybe not - but definitely on a fixed radio. Unfortunately, near West Point/Bear Mt, the mountains can be prohibitive. Two things come to mind: ensure your radio is tranmitting at full power, not 1w mode (should be an LED or display for this); and, make sure your squelch is as low as possible - just above backgroung 'white' noise.

Ch 16 is for general hailing, and all vessels w/ a radio are required to monitor it - including Sector NY, local LEO, etc. Ch 17 is designated for LEO use, so you may get Westchester or Rockland boats on there.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top