# Moffats - Rescue assist & Lesson learned



## killer (Dec 22, 2010)

Good onya Scott, 
Good to here everything went well. 
Bad luck on the fishing.

Cheers 
Ron.


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## ArWeTherYet (Mar 25, 2007)

Pan Pan Pan
Hope you remembered the correct distress call.
Personally reckon 2 ways a pain and most cases its easier to ring VMR direct, put the No. on your phone.

Good on ya Scotty, those safety lessons paid off, you can become a member of Kraleys rescue rangers now.


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## carnster (May 27, 2008)

Nice save LB. I have seen this at palmy and we tipped the yak upside down and held it up using a nearby boat. Once the water had drained out of the yak the man paddled in quickly under my supervision.


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## Beekeeper (Aug 20, 2011)

Lapse said:


> (here comes trev  )


 :lol: :lol: :lol:

Well done on the save, Lazy!

Jimbo


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## kayakone (Dec 7, 2010)

On cue.

Congratulations Scott on some quick thinking and possible lives saved (shades of: viewtopic.php?f=17&t=48946&p=559836).

Re the safety gear:

A hand pump would have emptied that yak in minutes, provided that
(a) there was an access hatch and, 
(b) the seas shipped were not exceeding the pump discharge volume. Cheap insurance. (some options: http://www.ebay.com.au/bhp/hand-bilge-pump)

Comms:

VHF volume down - also guilty. Check it's on to full, then turn it back a bit. It the first transmission blows your ear off, so be it....you can always creep it down again. A standard procedure is to do a radio readability check once on the water. Talk to VMR/Coastguard, and ask for a 'radio check'. They will report from 1 (inaudible) to 5 (loud and clear). This procedure would have alerted you to the low volume, as you would not have heard their reply. 
Having the correct volume setting would have ensured contact with VMR/Coastguard immediately, who are in contact with Surf Lifesavers.

Scott said "I used 112 (mobile ph emergency no isn't 000..." 
I don't follow that - I have used 000 several times successfully on a mobile phone.

Further comms that should have helped: Fox 40 Sharkz whistle (120 dba - still have some from the Safety Day), and a flare if they turn towards you.

Scott said "Surf Rescue, which are probably a better port of call for Caloundra yakkers, are on channel 1 not 16."
I didn't know that. I assume it would be via normal VHF channels. I _*will*_ check that out, and report back here.

Scott said "...but the smaller boats just come through as static" Possibly creep the squelch up one notch.

Well done mate. They won't forget that any time soon.


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## ArWeTherYet (Mar 25, 2007)

indiedog said:


> And not a bad idea for all of us to know what channels the SLSA guys use too. Is it always channel 1? And Pauly, also a good idea about VMR phone number, I'll do that. Only prob is my phone is not usually easily accessible whereas the VHF is.


The problem with little handheld VHF's is they dont have a huge range, especially transmitting (you can hear them they cant hear you), gets worse if its choppy and/or your in the water. Theyre fine for close line of site transmission. Of coarse phones have there limitations to..... and they dont like getting wet, but most people who dont use a 2 way often will be more comfortable using a phone. 
I keep my phone in a water proof bag attached to the PDF. 2-way died years ago and Im not as adventurous as I use to be.


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## kayakone (Dec 7, 2010)

ArWeTherYet said:


> indiedog said:
> 
> 
> > 2-way died years ago and Im not as adventurous as I used to be.


Yer gittin' old Paul. I nearly made the same mistake.


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## yaker (Aug 29, 2005)

.


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## kayakone (Dec 7, 2010)

yaker said:


> kayakone said:
> 
> 
> > Scott said "I used 112 (mobile ph emergency no isn't 000..."
> ...


Thanks Yaker. Is it the same for 911?


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## Squidley (May 8, 2010)

Good on you LB, that's still a pretty good catch. Those Sharx 40s are the business, I gave one a test blow with noone around and it had my ears ringing. Worth getting. You've inspired me to put my local SLSC's number into my phone.


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## kevinnugent (Aug 14, 2012)

I notice he'd forgotten to put in the bung. Was it there or not on the yak at all?


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## scoman (Oct 4, 2010)

Fancy forgetting your bunga! What sort of fool would do that?

Oh wait a second............


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## Guest (Oct 21, 2013)

scoman said:


> Fancy forgetting your bunga! What sort of fool would do that?
> 
> Oh wait a second............


Do tell me, he had his lighter thou


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## scoman (Oct 4, 2010)

nad97 said:


> scoman said:
> 
> 
> > Fancy forgetting your bunga! What sort of fool would do that?
> ...


Nah, just did the exact same thing myself once and it ended in similar fashion. Easy done


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## paulo (Nov 1, 2007)

Onya LB!


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## actionsurf (Jul 8, 2010)

Nice one Scott.


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## cxfinlayson (May 1, 2013)

000 and 112 are no different to each other in Australia. 112 is simply an international standard number that *should* work in any country. In Australia you are directed to exactly the same pickup centre as 000 with no benefit. Both numbers piggyback any available network to get the call through. 911 will actually work on most mobiles incidentally, as there are a bunch of emergency numbers programmed in by manufacturers. I'm not sure if it will piggyback correctly though.

http://www.triplezero.gov.au/Pages/Usin ... mbers.aspx

By the way I work at a 000 dispatch centre.


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## cxfinlayson (May 1, 2013)

Oh, and nice work with the assist! Brilliant effort.


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## kayakone (Dec 7, 2010)

Thanks for that info Cxfinlayson. That is slightly at variance with earlier advice in this thread.


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## kayakone (Dec 7, 2010)

Lapse said:


> cxfinlayson said:
> 
> 
> > 000 and 112 are no different to each other in Australia. 112 is simply an international standard number that *should* work in any country. In Australia you are directed to exactly the same pickup centre as 000 with no benefit. Both numbers piggyback any available network to get the call through. 911 will actually work on most mobiles incidentally, as there are a bunch of emergency numbers programmed in by manufacturers. I'm not sure if it will piggyback correctly though.
> ...


NO. I just tried both on a Telstra landline, and neither worked.


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## kayakone (Dec 7, 2010)

Lapse said:


> Regarding lifesavers - I believe they operate on a totally different VHF band (not for public use like police firies) [channel 1 on their radios]. If you are a regular in the area could be worth putting their number in your phone, or else surfcom (who coordinates all the lifesavers on the coast).


The Surf Lifesavers are not contactable on VHF.

They are on UHF, and can be contacted only through VMR/Coastguard, who can then talk to them on their UHF.

Or, as Alex suggests, by mobile phone direct to the club. Considering I have made half a dozen calls to big surf clubs to finally get the above info, and have been told that no one is available most of those times, I would not rely on the mobile option suggested. The problem is to be that the clubs appear to be a business, and have no contact with the 'on duty' lifesavers in the tower or on the water.


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## jbonez (Jul 9, 2013)

My mate dan left the bung out of his moken at Point Vernon on a messy day.... he was 30m in front of me when he started paddling like superman into shore. .. so lucky as we were pretty inexperienced.. both of us struggled to turn his kayak side on to get the water out once on land. Some big boulders under the water there.


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## yaker (Aug 29, 2005)

.


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## kayakone (Dec 7, 2010)

scoman said:


> Fancy forgetting your bunga! What sort of fool would do that?
> 
> Oh wait a second............


Leaving a bung out is easily done. It was Mark's original encounter with a sinking kayak that (partly) prompted me to start running the Safety Days, though Mark's story was a little different, but with similar results: viewtopic.php?f=17&t=48946

Some photos of a swamped kayak recovery led by Craig McSween - instructor (from: viewtopic.php?f=9&t=63356&p=671766):




























Scotty probably had little chance of achieving this result, considering they were novices. Thank God he was there.


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## cxfinlayson (May 1, 2013)

> Good stuff cxfinlayson.
> 
> Does 000 still work under these conditions (my highlighting)? I couldn't find where this is addressed in respect to 000.
> 
> ...


Absolutely. We receive a number of call from toddlers who have been given an old mobile to play with, with the SIM card removed, or the parents thinking they can't call through the pin lock.



> Regarding 911 it says
> 
> 
> > This number should not be used in an emergency in Australia. If dialled within Australia, this number will not re-route emergency calls to Triple Zero (000).


It certainly works from my iPhone but it is obviously irrelevant in Australia. You couldn't rely on every handset having been programmed to divert 911 to an Emergency call by the manufacturer, it's a manufacturer addition, not Government. And certainly does not work from a landline, it's simply not an Australian number.


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## kayakone (Dec 7, 2010)

OK Cxfinlayson....thanks.

As Scott originally said, 112 or 000, or VHF direct on channel 16.

And, from my research, forget trying to talk to surf lifesavers. Use a loud whistle, a hooter, a flare, and/or a vertical paddle wave to try to attract their attention. If that all fails, call VMR/Coastguard on marine VHF, and _they_ can talk to the lifesavers.

Till the next rescue.......................................


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## kayakone (Dec 7, 2010)

Mods, LB:

Maybe this should be moved to Safety. Lot of lessons here, and Scott didn't catch anything except a yakker in a lot of trouble.


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## Dodge (Oct 12, 2005)

Well done Scott, that was nice work mate.


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## jbonez (Jul 9, 2013)

Great thread !

Threads like this could save a kayak one day, or a life.

On the Fox 40, I brought mine from roscos canoes and tried it in the car with the windows down... The eardrums are still sore.


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