Fire, running aground and calling for help

Ahmed is thirty-eight. He's fishing alone from his runabout on the Saint Lawrence when the engine coughs and dies, and it won't restart. Nobody's hurt and the boat is dry, but the current is carrying him slowly toward the shipping channel. His phone shows one bar. His marine radio sits on the console, switched off.

So here's the question. Is this an emergency, and if it is, who does Ahmed call, and how?

Start with Transport Canada's Safe Boating Guide. For any emergency, it gives one order. Stay calm. Everyone puts on a lifejacket. Assess the situation. If you're taking on water, bail or pump. Then make the call. Notice that the lifejacket comes second.

The guide says marine radio channel sixteen is generally the best way to send a distress alert, so keep your radio on and set to sixteen. Many radios also have a distress button that sends a digital alert on channel seventy, with your position if it's connected to satellite positioning. And to use a marine radio at all, you need a Restricted Operator Certificate, Maritime.

Which call? Mayday means immediate danger to life or the boat, like sinking, fire or a life-threatening medical emergency. Pan-Pan means urgent, but not life-threatening. Ahmed is the guide's own example, safe but drifting toward a shipping lane. Say Pan-Pan three times, then this is, your boat's name three times, and your call sign once. Give your location, what's wrong, the help you need, how many aboard, any injuries, and what your boat looks like. Then wait, and repeat.

And the phone? Star sixteen reaches the Coast Guard where the service exists, but the guide says it's no substitute for a marine radio. Phones lose signal, fail when wet, can't be homed in on, and don't alert nearby boats. In Ontario, the Coast Guard's twenty-four-hour marine search and rescue line is one, eight hundred, two six seven, seven two seven zero.

Running aground? The guide gives no step-by-step for that, so I won't invent one. Use the same order, then call if you need help. Better, prevent it. Carry charts, and learn the water levels and hazards on your route.

You also have duties. The guide says you must help someone in distress if you can do it without risking your own people. After a collision, the Canada Shipping Act says you stay by to help and give your boat's name. And under the Criminal Code, after an accident you must stop, give your name and address, and offer help to anyone hurt.

On the water. Out here on the river, I keep the radio on and set to sixteen from the moment I leave the dock. A quiet boat drifting is easy to miss. A call isn't admitting you've failed. It's how the Coast Guard, and every boat listening, learns you're there.

Let's change one fact. Ahmed smells smoke, and there are flames at the engine. Now it's a Mayday. Lifejacket first, then the extinguisher. The guide says aim at the base of the flames, sweep side to side, and keep spraying a few seconds after they're out so the fire doesn't flare back. If you're moving, put the fire downwind, and stop the engine if it's safe.

The mistake boaters make is waiting too long to call, because they feel silly when nobody's sinking. A Pan-Pan while you're still safe gives help time to reach you.

Here's the rule, in one breath. Calm, lifejackets, assess, bail, then call on channel sixteen, Mayday for danger to life, Pan-Pan for urgent, and help others when you safely can.

This week, write your Mayday script with your boat's name in it, laminate it, and keep it by the radio. Then check your fire extinguisher's gauge. The Small Vessel Regulations say it must be kept fully charged. Next time, big ships, narrow channels and the Seaway.