And y'all thought the only thing I know anything about is the potty system.Thank you Peggy. Spot on again as usual
How do you report a navigational aid failure to the Coast Guard.
- Thread starter pateco
- Start date
I am an ATON verifier with the Coast Guard Auxiliary and just wanted to add a couple of things here. We do patrol frequently to check the ATONs but barges and thunderstorms go through frequently too. If you notice a light out, buoy missing or a sign board down call the local station. They will then notify the appropriate ANT Team (the guys who fix them) who will see that the discrepancy is added to the next weeks NOTAM they also are reported in the broadcasts that come out of each sector periodically through the day. Each Coast Guard Districts web site has a link to report them as well but it really helps the guys at the local station to get the report. Most of the time there is a young kid staring at the radio with nothing to do but wait to talk to you. It can get frantic if you hear a lot of stuff going on wait until it has quitted down or call from home.
I found the easiest way to manage the NOTAM and especially the Light List is to type in the relevant chart number to the browser or readers search function and the ones you are concerned with will pop right out. In the Eighth District they list the off shore ones first from east to west and then the ICW from east to west. There are also notices on things like bridge maintenance, fire works displays and regattas. Worth the read if you are sailing out of your own local area.
I found the easiest way to manage the NOTAM and especially the Light List is to type in the relevant chart number to the browser or readers search function and the ones you are concerned with will pop right out. In the Eighth District they list the off shore ones first from east to west and then the ICW from east to west. There are also notices on things like bridge maintenance, fire works displays and regattas. Worth the read if you are sailing out of your own local area.
I just did this myself recently. I was sailing along, minding my own business when an adrift red channel marker went floating by. I grabbed the handheld and said "Coast guard, coast guard, coast guard. There is a red channel marker adrift just east of Alcatraz". They answered and asked some more questions and that was it. Nothing to it, really.
Here's the way we report such things in the South: Hey Bubba! This here's Billy Bob on channel 16. Can you believe the #%€$in' flashin' light ain't flashin' tonight? Where's the gawldurn coast guard when you &#%$in' need-em? I ain't NEVER gonna find my way back now! My #%$&in' wife's gonna kick my a$$ if I stay out this late bein' this drunk again. Them dang coast guarders ain't worth #%*$&@!
As a result of our recent winter storm in South Jersey, on Monday, I was standing ordering up some lunch, and the local TV news had some footage of a red ocean ATON buoy washed up on a beach. All I could catch was "This weather buoy washed up on the beach" and I was like "That's no 'weather buoy,' that's a full-on nav buoy." (Reminded me of "That's no moon. That's a space station.") Anyway, it was a significant ATON, and I'm hoping the CG was notified
I once tried to report a damaged marker on the ICW to the coast guard. It had been recently hit by a boat and was only sticking a few inches out of the water. I could not reach the Coast Guard by VHF. The signal was breaking up too badly so I called Boats US who was more than happy to relay the info to the Coast Guard.