# At what point should I call for rescue?



## itipou (Mar 24, 2021)

Hi,

The boat I was sailing with for the last few months left 33 hours ago to go reach another island, only 65nm away (although directly upwind). The conditions were supposedly good, around 16knots wind and 1.5m swell consistently, said the forecast. I'm starting to think they must have had an issue, since we rarely had less than 5knots average speed on this kind of conditions. Its a 41ft catamaran.
Maybe I'm just anxious for nothing, but its seems a bit odd to me that they still havent arrived.


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## tempest (Feb 12, 2007)

How do you know that they haven't arrived? What form of communication's do you or they have? And were you in any contact with them during the trip? Do they have AIS, Sat Phone? SSB, VHF ? You could do a BOLO. Maybe they arrived tired and wet and went to bed.


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## itipou (Mar 24, 2021)

We are in contact via phones. They're suppose to arrive to an achorage in front of a small city so there should be coverage, they dont have AIS but VHF for sure, what is Bolo?


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## contrarian (Sep 14, 2011)

Be on the Lookout BOLO Law enforcement nomenclature


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## tempest (Feb 12, 2007)

A BOLO, is a " Be on the Lookout " If you have a VHF you can try to raise other ships in the area to see if they;ve been spotted. You could possibly call the coast guard or whatever the maritime authority is to let them know that your friends are overdue and they might broadcast a BOLO for you. I'd be prepared with the Name and type of Vessel, the number of passengers on board, the destination, the time of departure, any cell phone numbers that you have. You might also call the harbormaster of the town, if there is one, to see if they've been spotted. 33 hours seems like more than ample time to cover 65 miles, unless they've had engine problems or the like.

In marine terminogy, I suppose it could be considered a Pan Pan call "Hello all stations be on the lookout for ... vessel ( name, type etc) ...overdue...possibly in trouble."


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## itipou (Mar 24, 2021)

I see! Thanks a lot for the answer


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## itipou (Mar 24, 2021)

Update:
They finally arrived after 36 hours and 170nm, everything went fine, the ship is just not a good upwinder.

Thanks a lot for your answers !


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