See a small boat with many people, low order on the water and route to the coast. What are you doing in the first two minutes? The answer does not start from the label “ghost landing”, but from security: location, danger, alarm and capacity of your unit. The arrival without a prior rescue operation is described as an autonomous landing. If, on the other hand, people are in danger and an alarm is received, a co-ordinated rescue case is set up in the Italian SAR area by the Coast Guard.
This checklist serves the yachter who meets a real situation. He does not teach to chase, stop or identify anyone. Order what must be observed, what must be communicated and the limits to be respected in order not to transform a useful signal into a second problem. The goal is to protect human life, maintain its own boat and allow coordination to those who have the overall picture.
1. Secure command and crew
Before you look at the binoculars, make sure that someone governs the boat permanently. Reduce unnecessary activities, wear appropriate devices to the crew and free the maneuver area. Check traffic, seabed, wind, wave and obstacles.
Assign three functions if available people allow it: government, communications, observation. Those who observe must not protrude or distract who is at the helm. If you are alone, it always prefers control of unity.
2. Register now and now
Read coordinates and now from the tools, then verify that the location is consistent with the card. Also note the route of your boat. If the other unit moves, a position without time reference quickly loses utility.
Add an estimate of distance and detection without approaching to get it. Do not replace the coordinates with a vague description of the coast; remarkable locations and points can integrate, not replace, the instrumental data.
3. Search for concrete signs of distress
Check if there are people in the water, requests for help, smoke, flames, water boarding, disposition, lack of government or drift towards a danger. Observe free edge, distribution of people and response of the unit to the waves.
Do not wait to recognize every detail if the situation appears critical. Transmit what you know and specify what you cannot confirm. The stated doubt is better than an invented certainty.
4. Do not classify people
Checklist does not contain any questions about nationality, status or intentions. These aspects do not help the first aid, and are not the task of the pilot. Describe only estimated number, position of people, gestures, visible conditions and presence of children or injured when really observable.
Avoid emotional terms or judgments. Neutral communication makes risk clearer and protects the dignity of those on the scene.
5. Send a short and complete message
Contact the Coast Guard through the available maritime emergency channels and declare who you are, where you are, what you observe and what assistance you can realistically lend. Keep the message ordered and answer the questions.
If radio communication is weak, try the available means without abandoning the government. Do not delegate alarm to public messages or social groups: they do not guarantee reception, verification or coordination.
6. Use this matrix not to forget data
| Control | Useful information | To avoid |
|---|---|---|
| Localization | Coordinates, now, estimated route | Only name of the resort |
| Unit | Type, color, size and trim | Labels not verified |
| Persons | Estimated, people in the water, injured visible | Number presented as certain |
| Danger | Government, water, fire, drift, weather | Minimize why the engine turns |
| Observer | Type of boat, crew, limits | Promise non-existent capacity |
| Update | Only relevant changes | Continuous and repetitive communication |
7. Keep listening after the call
Do not consider completed the task just received confirmation. Stay on the indicated channel, hold the audible volume and repeat the important instructions. If you need to manoeuvre or lose visual contact, communicate it.
The coordination centre may require observation, updates or a compatible action. You can also order to maintain distance. Each answer must be clear: executable, non-executable or executable with a stated limit.
8. Calculate a dynamic security distance
The correct distance changes with sea, wind, speed and stability of the other unit. You must be able to observe and intervene if required, but also avoid collisions, wave and sudden shifts of people to your side.
Do not cross the bow and do not close a way of manoeuvre. Consider that the other boat may have inefficient steering or motor. Use minimum speed compatible with the government.
9. Prepare the means without throwing them blind
Door at hand means floating, top, lighting and sanitary box. Check that the tops cannot enter the propeller. Do not throw heavy items to bulky people and do not create a race to reach a single medium.
If you receive instructions to pass a support, choose the underwind side when appropriate and evaluate the drift. Keep the recovery point clear on your boat.
10. If a person falls into the water, change procedure
It immediately declares the person at sea, indicates position and number observed, keeps the visual contact and marks the point. Manovra protecting the person from the propeller. Those who observe must always indicate the direction.
Recovers according to the capacity of unity and conditions. If the direct approach would put everyone at risk, provide float and wait for the most suitable means by continuing to indicate the position.
11. Evaluate the capacity before landing
Do not allow uncontrolled transfer. Estimated stability, free edge, space and ability to maintain command. Prepare a single access point, distribute weights and prevent the crew from concentrating on the same side.
If your boat cannot accommodate other people without serious risk, declare it. You can watch, signal, by offering float or by carrying out a task indicated by coordination. Overloading the second boat does not end the emergency.
12. Protect communications and privacy
Direct history, publications and position sharing while the event is in progress. Images can expose vulnerable people and interfere with the operation. If you record a useful detail, keep the original file without comments or mounts.
One person must communicate outside on behalf of the boat. All other phones remain available for operational needs. After the event, any material requests must be managed with authority.
13. If the arrival on the ground takes place without rescue
When the unit reaches the coast with its own means, the scene falls into the description of the autonomous landing. The diportista must not organize control on the ground, chase people or interfere with the operators. Communicate the point of arrival and every health need observed.
Do not climb to the drive and do not move objects. Keep the area free for the media charged and keep the information recorded during the sighting.
14. Report events in the on-board newspaper
Record in chronological order sighting, position, call, responses, maneuvers, changes and delivery passage. Use bills. If an estimate is uncertain, write it down.
Save traces of navigation, operational photographs and messages without altering them. The register must rebuild what your boat has done, not make judgments on the people you meet.
15. Check the crew after the scene
Check any injuries, exposure, fatigue and stress. Restores used means, peaks, radio and health box. If you have welcomed people, follow the indications received for medical care, hygiene and landing.
Do not automatically restart if the crew is unable to continue. The next security is part of the closing of the event.
16. Turns experience into training
Review the sequence with the crew: what was quick, what created confusion, what tools were difficult to use. Update the communication card and repeat a cold test.
Enter into the ordinary man briefing at sea, alarm, position and roles. The procedure applies to any distressing person, regardless of how or why he is at sea.
17. The final criterion: early, precise, coordinated
An autonomous landing is not synonymous with SAR operation, but a still moving unit can quickly become a dangerous situation. It is not for the diportista to attribute status or intentions. It is up to observe, report and assist within the limits of security.
The checklist closes with three words: early, precise, coordinated. Timely alert, verifiable data and compliance with instructions help without increasing risk. At sea the most dangerous choice is to improvise spectacular action when it serves an ordered response.
18. Prepare a plastic card near the radio
An unexpected situation reduces the ability to remember long sequences. Then prepare a board with empty fields for coordinates, now, route, unit description, estimated people, signs of danger, weather and capacity of your boat. Add a space to write the channel or means of communication indicated and the task received.
The card should not contain phrases to read mechanically without listening to questions. It serves to avoid omissions and to keep separate facts, estimates and changes. Try it during an exercise: a crew member describes an imaginary target, another compile, the commander continues to rule. If everyone needs to stop what they do to understand the module, the module is too complex.
19. Adapt the procedure at night and bad visibility
At night, with haze or rain, the estimate of people and sizes becomes less reliable. Openly declares the visual limit, uses available tools without giving them information that they do not provide and reduce speed in a manner compatible with the government. Do not direct intense lights on the faces or on the other unit’s helmsman if this can blind or cause panic.
Record light features, signals and contact loss ranges. If radar or tracking shows a target, it communicates that it is an instrumental data distinct from visual observation. Keep a dedicated observer and also control the surrounding traffic: the attention fixed on the target should not hide an approaching ship. Every worsening of visibility, thirst or government is a concrete update to be transmitted.