Ian Waugh - A Mariner\'s Guide to Marine Communications

Leaving Las Palmas bound Reykjavik - Sample Log

Your DSC Distress Watch commences on departure from any port.
It would be prudent to commence your Maritime Safety Information
watch some time before departure, rather than leave port without prior
warning of weather conditions and possible navigation hazards. There
is no requirement to 'log' the contacts with ports/pilots, unless Distress,
Urgency or Safety traffic is passed. Messages to/from the AMVER system
count as 'safety' messages and should be entered in the log.

Date I Time

UTC

22 .12.00

Remarks

Frequency

Channel or

Satellite

1200 Departing Las Palmas de Gran Canaria bound Reykjavik Ch70

Watch set VHF DSC & Voice Ch16/ 13

Watch set NAVTEX Station I (Las Palmas) and

Inmarsat SafetyNET for Nav/ Metareas II and I AORE

1230 Departure Report (copy attached) to AMVER via Southbury Sat-C

Author's explanation: You would have been in contact with the port authority!

pilots at Las Palmas on their VHF working channel (see Chapter 4) but, being

'routine' communication, there is no statutory requirement to enter it in the

GMDSS radio log (though you can if you want). By the time you depart (at

the latest, by 'start of voyage; you should have set watch on all appropriate

channelslfrequencies, relevant to your location and voyage.

As Las Palmas is in Sea Area A " your Distress Watch would be on VHF

Ch 70 for DSC Alerts, and Ch 16 for voice distress calls from non-G MDSS

vessels. You should also keep watch on VHF Ch 13 for possible intership

messages regarding the safety of navigation. Your MS! watch would initially be

on NA VTEX from Las Palmas (the only station covering the area) and, as you

will be passing out of NA VTEX coverage very soon, you should also start your

Inmarsat SafetyNET coverage for the two ocean areas you expect to traverse

between Gran Canaria and Iceland (Areas II initially, then Area I - both

areas available on Atlantic Ocean Region East (AORE) satellite).

Later in the day, as you approach the limit of Sea Area A 7 (heading north)

you will need to add MF DSC watch on 218Z5kHz, whilst still maintaining

the VHF watch (entering the additional (2787.5kH<J watch in the log).

When you subsequently move from Sea Area A2 to A3, you need to add the

additional distress watch using either:

32 THE NAUTICAL INSTITUTE