Sailing Safety Guides

When Rescue Is Needed

When You Need Rescue At Sea: Mayday, EPIRB, Liferaft And Being Found

A serious emergency is not only about calling for help. It is about being found, staying alive while waiting, and working safely with the people coming to rescue you.

This guide is for the moment when the problem has become bigger than normal seamanship: fire, flooding, dismasting, injury, loss of control, possible abandon ship, or any situation where help may be needed before the boat and crew are lost.

High-Stress Use

Rescue needed: alert early and stay findable

A rescue situation is easier for everyone if the boat alerts early, gives clear information and then stays visible and prepared.

First 30 seconds

Decide if this is distress. If life or the boat is in grave danger, make a Mayday.
Use DSC if available, then voice VHF with position, boat name and problem.
If abandoning may become necessary, bring EPIRB and grab bag into the decision early.

First 5 minutes

Repeat position, people on board, injuries and what help is needed.
Prepare liferaft, warm clothing, water, medicine, lights and signaling gear.
Keep one person responsible for communications if crew is available.

When stable

Conserve power and keep the boat easy to identify.
Follow instructions from rescue, aircraft, helicopter or assisting ship.
Do not leave the boat until staying on board is clearly more dangerous.

First Principle

Call early enough to still help yourself

A distress call is not the same as giving up. It is a way to bring more time, more listeners and more options into a serious problem while the crew keeps working.

If the boat is burning, flooding, disabled near danger, badly damaged, or someone may die without help, do not wait until the last calm minute is gone. It is easier to update or downgrade a call than to recover the time lost by calling too late.

The first ten minutes

The first minutes are usually messy. People want to run in several directions. A simple order helps.

Action	Why it matters
Protect people first	Lifejackets, harnesses, smoke, fire, water, injury and people overboard come before tidying the boat.
Make the boat slower and safer if possible	Heave-to, reduce sail, stop the engine, anchor, steer away from danger or keep enough control to buy time.
Send the first alert	DSC, VHF voice, EPIRB, PLB, satellite message or phone. Use the best available method early.
Give position and nature of distress	Rescuers need to know where you are and what kind of help to send.
Prepare survival gear	Grab bag, handheld VHF, EPIRB/PLB, water, medicine, warm clothes, lights and knife should be ready before panic.
Keep working the problem	Pump, patch, fight fire, steer, reef, treat injury, prepare liferaft or prepare tow while help is being organized.

Use several ways to call

One device can fail. A good distress plan uses overlapping methods.

VHF DSC: sends a digital distress alert if the radio has MMSI and position configured.
VHF voice on channel 16: tells nearby boats and shore stations what is actually happening.
EPIRB: sends a 406 MHz satellite distress alert from the vessel or survivors.
PLB: personal 406 MHz beacon, useful if a person is separated or the crew leaves the yacht.
AIS MOB or AIS SART: helps nearby AIS-equipped vessels find a person or survival craft locally.
Satellite communicator or phone: useful backup for text, voice, position and updates where coverage exists.
Flares, smoke, light and mirror: best used when somebody is close enough to see them.

What the first Mayday should say

In stress, short and clear is better than perfect. A useful Mayday gives the listener enough to start help moving.

Mayday, Mayday, Mayday.
This is: boat name, repeated if needed, and call sign or MMSI if known.
Position: latitude and longitude, or bearing and distance from a known point.
Nature of distress: sinking, fire, dismasted, injured crew, disabled near danger, abandoning.
Assistance required: pumps, tow, medical help, evacuation, rescue vessel, helicopter.
People on board and condition.
Description: sailing yacht, length, hull color, sail or rig state, liferaft if deployed.
Intentions: staying aboard, preparing to abandon, in liferaft, drifting, anchored, under tow.

EPIRB and PLB use in a real distress

A registered 406 MHz beacon is one of the best ways to start a rescue when the boat is far from normal help. It does not explain the whole story, but it tells the rescue system that a real beacon is active and where to start.

Keep the beacon antenna clear and vertical according to the beacon instructions.
Keep the beacon with the survivors, not locked inside a boat that may sink.
If abandoning, take the beacon into the raft or attach it where it will transmit properly.
Do not switch it off just because you see an aircraft or ship. Keep it on until rescue authority or rescue crew tells you otherwise.
If the beacon is accidentally activated, report it quickly so rescue resources are not wasted.
Before the voyage, check registration, battery expiry and test instructions.

If the boat may be lost

The boat is normally the best survival platform while it is still floating and not burning out of control. It is larger, easier to see, has more gear and gives more shelter than a liferaft. But a skipper must prepare early for the possibility that this changes.

Bring grab bag, handheld VHF, EPIRB/PLB, water, medicine, warm clothing and lights into a ready place.
Prepare the liferaft before the deck is impossible to work on.
Put shoes or boots on if there is time. Bare feet are bad in wreckage, raft floors and rescue transfer.
Close hatches if flooding, fire or breaking water allows it.
Tell rescuers if you are preparing to abandon, already in the raft, or still fighting to save the boat.
Leave the boat late, but do not wait until crew cannot board the raft safely.

Read Liferaft And Grab Bag

Waiting for help

After the first call, there may be a long quiet period. That does not mean nothing is happening. Rescue coordination, aircraft launch, ship diversion and weather decisions can take time.

Keep watch on VHF 16 and any channel assigned by rescuers.
Keep the EPIRB/PLB transmitting if activated.
Conserve batteries, but do not turn off the only working distress equipment.
Update position, drift, injuries and boat condition when possible.
Make the boat or raft visible: lights, strobes, reflective material, high-visibility gear, radar reflector if available.
Organize warmth, water, seasickness control and simple jobs for crew.
Keep people clipped, seated or inside if the deck or raft is dangerous.

If rescue is delayed

Far offshore, bad weather can make rescue slow. Even when everyone knows where you are, a vessel or aircraft may need hours or more to reach you.

Do not use all visual signals at once. Save flares and smoke for when they can be seen.
Prevent cold and heat exposure early, before people are exhausted.
Start water discipline, but do not allow people to become dangerously dehydrated.
Keep a simple log of time, position, injuries, beacon use and communications.
Inspect pumps, patches, fire boundaries, rig, tow gear and liferaft attachment repeatedly.
Expect emotional swings. Routine helps people think clearly.

When an aircraft arrives overhead

An aircraft may arrive before a boat can reach you. Its first job may be to find you, confirm your position, talk to rescue coordination, drop gear, guide a ship, or decide whether a helicopter transfer is possible.

Make yourself visible, but do not fire rockets or pyrotechnics toward the aircraft.
Use smoke in daylight and light/strobe at night when the aircraft is close enough to benefit.
Listen on VHF and follow instructions.
If you need help, the international body signal is both arms raised in a Y shape. One arm up and one arm down means no or negative.
If the aircraft drops equipment, do not jump for it in a way that separates crew or loses the boat/raft.
Keep the beacon on unless told otherwise. It may still be helping the aircraft or later rescue asset home in.

Helicopter rescue

A helicopter over a yacht is loud, wet and confusing. Rotor wash can throw spray, loose gear and lines around. The rescue crew may take time to assess the safest method.

Secure loose sails, lines, flags, covers and lightweight gear if there is time.
Keep people low, clipped or seated until instructed.
Follow the helicopter crew, not the person on board with the strongest opinion.
Do not attach a winch wire, hook or strop to the boat.
Let the winch gear touch water or deck if instructed before touching it, because static electricity can discharge.
Send injured or weakest crew as instructed by rescue crew.
Expect the helicopter to leave and return if fuel, weather or safety requires it.

When a large ship comes to help

A merchant ship can be life-saving, but it is not a marina pontoon. It may need a long time to turn, stop, make lee, launch a rescue boat or prepare a ladder.

Talk clearly on VHF and follow the ship's instructions.
Stay out of the danger zone near the bow, stern, propeller wash and hull side.
Do not assume the ship can stop exactly beside you.
Prepare heaving line, fenders, knife, lifejackets and a clear deck.
A pilot ladder or scramble net can be very hard from a yacht or raft in waves.
If the ship creates shelter, use it carefully. The same hull can also crush or roll you if you are too close.
Tell them if someone is injured, cannot climb, or must be lifted.

When help is close, do not create a second accident

The final transfer can be one of the most dangerous parts. Everyone is tired, hope is high, and people may rush. Slow down unless the rescue crew tells you otherwise.

Count people before and after transfer.
Keep one person responsible for radio if possible.
Move bags only after people are controlled, unless the bag contains medical or survival-critical gear.
Keep fingers, hands and feet away from pinch points, ladders, tow lines and hull contact.
If towing or alongside rescue is used, treat every loaded rope as dangerous.
If abandoning the yacht, tell rescuers whether it is drifting, sinking, burning, transmitting AIS, or a navigation hazard.

After rescue

Being aboard the rescue vessel or aircraft is not the end of the job. Important information still matters.

Confirm all persons are accounted for.
Tell rescuers about injuries, medicine, hypothermia, burns, smoke inhalation or missing people.
Tell them which beacons are active and where they are.
If a beacon or AIS MOB remains on the abandoned yacht or raft, say so clearly.
Give the last known status of the boat: afloat, sinking, on fire, aground, adrift, rig down, fuel leak or other hazard.
Contact shore contacts only when rescue crew says it is appropriate. Rescue coordination may already be calling them.

Printable rescue notes

The existing SailingKSF emergency cards already cover Mayday, Pan-Pan, boat details, emergency contacts and gear locations. This rescue article also points toward a future dedicated rescue card: EPIRB, liferaft, aircraft overhead, helicopter winch and merchant-ship assistance.

Open Printable Cards Open Emergency Cards

How this connects to SailingKSF

This article is the rescue-side bridge between several guides. Water in the boat, fire, man overboard, liferaft thinking and calling for help are all parts of the same chain when a situation becomes serious.

Calling For Help Liferaft And Grab Bag Man Overboard Water In The Boat

Related DSC and AIS check

If this article makes you rely on DSC, MMSI, AIS, CPA/TCPA or AIS MOB, open the separate DSC and AIS check in a new page and verify the setup before passage.

Open DSC And AIS Check

USCG Digital Selective Calling - Official explanation of DSC distress alerting, MMSI and why connecting GPS position to the radio matters in an emergency.
USCG NAVCEN SARSAT overview - Official U.S. Coast Guard background on the satellite-aided search and rescue system behind 406 MHz distress beacon alerts.
USCG NAVCEN SARSAT beacons - Official beacon information for EPIRBs, PLBs and ELTs, useful for understanding registration, testing and correct distress use.
AMSA distress beacons - Official Australian beacon guidance with practical explanations for distress beacons, registration, activation and rescue response.
RNLI yacht sailing and motorboating safety - Practical safety advice from a rescue organization, useful for thinking about lifejackets, calling early, preparation and what rescuers need from you.

App Connection

Use this together with KSF Passage Companion

The articles are easier to use on a real boat when your own boat details are already written down.

Store where safety gear, tools, spares and manuals are located.
Keep boat-specific checklists for night, heavy weather, departure and emergencies.
Use logbook notes for failures, chafe, repairs and weak points that should be checked again.

Open Passage Companion Open Printable Cards

Feedback For When Rescue Is Needed

If you have rescue, offshore, Coast Guard, lifeboat, helicopter, merchant-ship or survival experience, I would be glad to read what should be corrected or added.

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Call early, stay organized, stay findable

Rescue is not one magic button. It is a chain of clear alerts, useful position, visible survivors, disciplined waiting and careful cooperation when help arrives.