NC Man sentenced in Mayday Hoax

[Captain Smollett]

http://www.wral.com/nc-man-pleads-guilty-to-fake-mayday-calls/13865988/

[rorik]

I think as part of his sentence, rather than prison that you and I have to pay for, he should be an unpaid intern with SAR for 18 months.
Work his pay-garnished day job, and then do the intern bit in the evenings and weekends.

[SailorTom]

"Blackburn was bragging about the calls"
I just hope he hasn't passed on his defective DNA.

[Kettlewell]

There's also the boy crying wolf problem. I have detected a greater reluctance for the CG to actually go out and look in recent years. Once I was within a few miles of a CG station in Mass. and I spotted a flare offshore and then picked up a very weak Mayday call on the radio. When I reported this to the nearby CG station they asked me to check it out and let them know what I found! Needless to say, it was a small outboard-powered boat that had run out of gas well offshore. Still, I found it disconcerting that they showed little interest in this actual Mayday call. Another time I monitored a boat calling for assistance at the scene of a flipped stinkpot with people in the water and injuries reported. The CG just kept asking question after question and wasn't actually doing anything until finally a SeaTow boat broke in and said he was heading to the position at full speed and asked for location details. SeaTow ended up plucking the people from the water and bringing them to a waiting ambulance on shore.

[Captain Smollett]

The CG just kept asking question after question and wasn't actually doing anything

Just curious, are you sure they were not actually doing anything?  The base radio operator could have been asking questions and suchlike while the response crew was doing their thing.  Perhaps they were tied up on another call or something...

Just wondering.  Radio traffic does not necessarily mean nothing is being done.

[Kettlewell]

No, I can't say what they were doing unseen. I suspect someone may have been getting the boat ready or something, but it was all so slow that Seatow got there long before the CG arrived on scene. I understand they do receive a very high percentage of false alarms, but I do sense a greater reluctance to head out quickly. Don't expect instant service if you are sinking!