A mayday call after catching Spanish, Spade, sheepie, Tog & Flounder (Aug 4, 2019)

[ComeOnFish]

A mayday call after catching Spanish, Spade, sheepie, Tog & Flounder (Aug 4, 2019)

I went to CBBT on a calm day. Caught Spanish mackerel, a bunch of spadefish (some at 4-6 LB), Sheepie, Tautog and flounder.
When I saw black cloud miles away, I immediately headed for the shore 3+ miles away.

There were several situations I almost made mayday calls in the past. But this time, I didn’t have to think. When the wind changed from 30 knots to 40-50 knots, I made a mayday call.

A dispatcher responded immediately. There was another distressed call from a sail boat at the same time. Because of the wind noise and two different conversations, I couldn’t hear very well and I couldn’t tell if the responses were toward me or the sail boat.

For about an hour, I stay at the first small boat channel of CBBT (Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel, VA) which is well known location for fishermen.
Though a dispatcher didn’t know the locations of boat channels. Later when the wind started to subside, someone on the rescue boats recognized my location when I mentioned Buoy 44 restaurant.

I guess everyone knows Buoy 44 restaurant. I said “a mile off the Buoy 44 restaurant where a bunch of green and red lights on the bridge spans for the boat pass”.

The wind and rain were subsided when they confirmed my location. Instead of leaving my location, I stayed so that they can complete the missions. And I was exhausted and freezing. I wanted to be towed to the shore. When rescue boats were coming, I heard that they located the green and red lights I indicated.

Thank God it was westerly wind (not N, Not E, Not SE). The waves weren't too high.

A fishing log with fish, storm and rescue boats:

Thank you
Joe

[ronaultmtd]

Harrowing experiences...had a bunch of them and none were fun...never used the mayday call although the situations were potentially dire...last one was five years ago 26 miles offshore Orange Beach, Alabama, snapper fishing in a 24 foot center console with twin 115 outboards...80 mph severe thunderstorms in a line hit with ping pong ball size hail...waves quickly built to ginormous size...four hours later we finally cleared the breakwater, soaked like rats, shaken to our core by the experience...one of the engines conked out and we limped back in on one...several sailboats capsized and there were multiple drowning deaths during this unexpected series of storms...one of the deadliest in Alabama history...cannot imagine the pucker factor in a kayak...

[Oldbayrunner]

Glad you safe Joe.

I know your a seasoned veteran but a little food for thought from listening/watching your vhf distress call. From experience often times trying to give a visual locale only distress call can can lead to a delay in rescue, as with your call due to the individual not knowing the area your trying to describe. If your a long distance off shore often then having a gps vhf radio with a DSC button and having one with a registered mssi broadcast can lead to a much faster rescue by the vhf radio broadcasting a distress signal with your exact coordinate positioning at a touch of the DSC button and the mssi broadcasting your location to any other vessel within range that is using an mssi number. Then also the display also shows your exact coordinates enabling you to be able voice broadcast your exact position at any given time.

The downside to these is the battery run time is usually less then a non gps radios, so it is advisable to keep a spare battery in ones pfd.

[tufnik]

Reminds me of when you and I fished CBBT over three years ago. Saw the dark clouds, but didn't head in until the chops got big, the rain came down hard, and the wind picked up. Complete white-out, and I couldn't see beyond about 10 feet. I couldn't see you, but I knew you were also heading in too. It was scary. After the storm subsided and cleared while I was at the small boat channel, I saw you in the distance near shore. You later told me the people at the restaurant cheered when they saw us safe on water after the storm passed. This storm was not as bad as you experienced in the video. Your mayday storm looked very scary. Wow. Glad you made it OK.