The day was gorgeous, but very bright... I had to work in the salon on Seas The Day in order to see the screen. After a conference call, I went ashore and had lunch with an old colleague, then worked a bit in the waterfront room at the club (I can't charge my big laptop on-board yet, so if I have to plug in, I need to either be ashore or at a dock).
As evening came, I finished work for the day, then had a nice dinner with John at Friday's (it's great when you kid starts paying for dinner) and got back to the dock just in time to see the remnants of a nice sunset.
As Saturday dawned, it was a little cloudy, but otherwise nice. I had brought some provisions so made breakfast (SPAM, egg and cheese sandwich and some fresh blackberries from McCormick Farms). I just sat for an hour or so taking in the scenery before getting started on this morning's activity.
Which was getting my USCG Vessel Safety Check completed. I do this mid-summer every year when I get my updated documents from the Coast Guard. To prepare, I rounded up all the safety equipment...
Signaling items (flares, light, flags, etc.)
Made sure I knew where the pile o' lifejackets were (not shown is the bag of class 2 and throwable devices in the lazarette)
I did a pressure check of the LPG system (charge it and note the pressures when first shut off and 15 min later). It held OK.
And also checked the pressures on the two fire extinguishers...
Around 10:00, Laura from the USGC Auxiliary came aboard, and we spent a half-hour going over the checklist and discussing safety and environmental concerns. (Note: There are a few other things they check like solution and garbage placards, navigational lights, and the marine sanitation device, etc. These are features that are built in to Seas The Day, so I don't have to check them first.)
I passed the inspection, and received the "Safety Check Sticker" which I'm told wards off the evil spirits from passing patrol boats.
After that, I went to the dock to get water. Hopefully there are no photos from my singlehanded attempt at docking. Let's just say that after getting the bow line secured, I discovered that I can't use reverse to swing me against the dock like the launch drivers. Fortunately I had an extra long dock line that we could use to swing me against the dock and tie up.
Then it was time to go sailing. I headed out across the bay towards Mt. Loretto Chapel.
I got maybe 2/3 of the way across the bay when I heard "US Coast Guard Station C, US Coast Guard Station C, Mayday Mayday Mayday" loud and clear on the radio. This was the first Mayday call I have heard, though I frequently hear the USCG responses. They answered back and received no reply. I remember thinking that it was odd that the mayday call contained no other information.
Over the next few minutes the USCG tried to find out more. They must have triangulated the radio signals to the mouth of the Raritan river (a few miles west of my location). When they asked all mariners to report if they heard the broadcast, I gave my information. I must have been closer because they then asked details about my antenna height and position (I was thankful for my GPS).
Over the next hour or so, I saw a lot of official looking boats with flashing lights and even a couple of NYPD helicopters.
I grabbed binoculars and looked about. There were a bunch of boats west of me in the vicinity of the Raritan Yacht Club which is right at the mouth of the river, so since there was little I could do, I continued to practice my downwind sailing and practice my singlehanded gybes.
The coast guard kept asking for the original transmission to respond. Was it a hoax? Maybe someone showing someone how to do a mayday call but the radio was turned on? I'm not sure. I'm glad the patrol boats are out there, but I can see where this can be frustrating to them.
I sailed from the vicinity of Mt. Loretto chapel down almost to Old Orchard Shoals, before the wind gave up for the day, so I motored back to Keyport, grabbed the mooring and upon seeing storms approaching, got everything battened down and caught the launch back to the club just before the storms erupted in Keyport.
I had a quick (nonalcoholic) drink at the KYC bar and headed back to DE. The storm followed me for a while, but as I pulled into my development, I thought it would catch up. We never had any rain... it passed about 3-5 miles to the northeast.
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