Gosh this stuff is boring! The theoretics on getting to know stuff on your sport. And after getting to learn all of this this does not mean eventually you will a better sailor. This is all for when shit hits the fan and you know how to participate in the world of calling 'maydays'.
Yup I am back in the books again. It feels like every year I need to learn something and get my brain focussed into it, but man....Just sitting and reading and trying to get all of this dry information to stick into the brain is not so easy at all.
The challenging part of learning is doing this at older age (I can't believe I am saying this, but I guess this makes me old then) is that it just takes longer and you need more work in there. Or uh....better methodes of testing yourself en rehearsing the parts that aren't sticking on.
I just booked an exam spot and that means there is no turning back anymore on it and that means all of a sudden I have obliged myself in getting into this again
VHF or mariphone
So the stuff that I am learning this time is about the usage of the mariphone on the water. More often you will see this referred to as VHF with all kinds of different channels.
I get the reasoning on why you need to use a certifcate on this. Think about it as air traffic control in aviation. There is certain rules for using the radio so that when an emergency occurs, the channel is not being occupied by chitchat between boats with drunk people singing along.
See it as safety measures, because this is the way that eventually the coastguard might know that you are in trouble. So it makes sense to communicate in the same way as that everyone is communicating.
Say if you are calling to open a bridge or a lock in the Netherlands, you also need VHF communication to do so at a lot of places, so it makes sense to get this all into place for yourself.
That means using the ITU which you all know from every army movie ever made, but also using the correct terminology on the radio when you are declaring an emergency.
'Who cares, and emergency is an emergency right?'. Well not entirely true. There is a big difference for say your vessel is sinking and you could die, or that you are having engine failure and your steering is not optimal anymore.
It makes a diffence and also if you are not certified to use the mariphone or VHF and you do it incorrect, a seriourly hefty fine could be waiting for you.
Reason enough to get the straight right?
More licenses?
What I also find interesting is that only the captain of the ship needs to have all licenses and knowledge on what to do. Sure I get this when you are charting out the vessel or you have guests on board.
But when you are sailing in the great big ocean and you are the only one with all of the knowledge. What happens when something happens to you?
From what I know from my hospital emergency experience. Drama is never a single incident. It is always some kind of add on on stuff that could have been different and because of this, it can be challenging to point out one single cause of the issues.
So when something happens at sea that makes the experience more challenging, I would say it is always 'all hands on deck'. Which means everyone should know what to do, and not just only the captain.
See, if the captain is steering the boat, and I would be the one to go inside on the radio and declare and emergency...It might be good if I also know what to declare right? The captain can not be at two places at the same time.
For me and my own sake of peace I just also wnt to have these kinds of things. I want to be able to know what to do so I can rely on my own knowdledge when other peoples knowledge is failing (or when they are at that point incapable or doing anything for whatever reason).
But damn this stuff is boring. This is just pumping fact after fact in the brain and hoping it stays there. Let me stop procastinating by writing this post and get back to it.