Chapter 115 A strange distress signal
When Xiao Peng woke up, the cabin was a mess: wine bottles and hot pot soup were scattered all over the floor. He sat up from the sofa and rubbed his temples. He had to stop drinking, damn it! He'd had too much again!
By the way, how many times has he said he wants to quit drinking?
Well, quitting drinking is really not difficult. Xiao Peng now quits drinking several times a day!
Pascal lay on the sofa on the other side, sleeping like a dead pig. Xiao Peng leaned over the porthole to take a look. It was still raining outside, but the wind and waves had died down considerably. There had been a period of time last night when the wind and waves had become very strong, and that was when the hot pot soup spilled all over the floor.
You have to clean up your own mistakes. Xiao Peng went to the bathroom, got a mop and started cleaning the floor, putting away the wine bottles and tableware.
The cabin reeked of alcohol, but he couldn't open the door to ventilate. After all, the cabin was half-buried below deck, and rainwater would surely pour in if he opened the door. He could only desperately spray air freshener to clear the cabin of the odor.
Pascal woke up slowly after Xiao Peng had cleaned up the cabin. Xiao Peng handed him a cup of hot milk and said, "You really know how to enjoy yourself. You didn't wake up until I had finished cleaning up."
Pascal took the milk and said, "Oh my God, I must stop drinking from now on!"
"Pfft!" Xiao Peng laughed. They always said the same thing after getting drunk.
After drinking the hot milk, Pascal asked, "Where are we now?"
Xiao Peng spread his hands and said, "How should I know? We'll just drift wherever it takes us." Seeing Pascal's expression, Xiao Peng laughed, "Look how scared you are! I dropped the parachute anchor yesterday. Even if the wind and waves are strong, we won't be able to drift far. I'll go check the nautical chart!"
Parachute anchor and boat anchor are two different things. Parachute anchor is like a parachute, but it is used in the sea. In many places where the water is too deep to anchor and fix to the seabed, parachute anchor can be used to keep the ship stable in the sea.
Xiao Peng walked to the indoor control panel, looked down, and took a deep breath: "Damn it!"
Pascal was washing a milk cup there. When he heard Xiao Peng's words, he asked curiously, "What's wrong?"
Xiao Peng asked, "If I told you we were only sixty nautical miles from Cape Bensaika in Tunisia, would you believe me?"
"Damn it!" Pascal said speechlessly, "How did we get so far? The wind and waves last night couldn't have blown us this far, right?"
Xiao Peng put on a raincoat and ran out of the cabin. At this time, the wind and waves were very small, but the ship was moving at high speed.
"Pascal, come out and help!" Xiao Peng hurriedly called Pascal out. The two of them hurriedly recovered the parachute and anchor, and then sat down on the deck together, exhausted.
Pascal looked at Xiao Peng and said, "We are so lucky."
Xiao Peng nodded: "Yes, we are really lucky."
The two looked at each other and burst into laughter.
The Mediterranean looked calm, but due to the complex seabed topography, the underwater conditions were much more complex than those on the surface. Yesterday, their parachute anchor was caught in an undercurrent moving southward from Sardinia and landed at Cape Bensaica, just a stone's throw from the Strait of Tunisia.
They said they were very lucky because they ran so far and were not sailing along the waterway, so they were lucky not to have any collision with other ships!
Their ship was actually equipped with an AIS (Automatic Identification System), which, in automatic mode, could calculate nearby AIS-equipped vessels and modify their route to avoid collisions. However, not all ships have AIS installed, and Xiao Peng hadn't intended to continue sailing yesterday, so he hadn't engaged the automatic navigation system. He was truly lucky to have been carried this far by the undercurrent without incident.
It’s better to use this umbrella anchor less! This is too scary!
However, thanks to the parachute anchor and undercurrent, the two are now only one step away from the Strait of Tunisia.
Xiao Peng raised the sails and adjusted the course, heading towards Sicily.
Although it was still drizzling, Xiao Peng was still doing all this from the outdoor bridge. Although the indoor bridge was comfortable, the visibility was not as good as the outdoor one. This way, Xiao Peng could see the working status of each sail.
At noon, Xiao Peng was just about to get something to eat when he heard Pascal's voice from the cabin: "Xiao, someone's calling on the intercom! It's VHF channel 16! Someone has been occupying channel 16!"
Xiao Peng frowned after hearing this: "I'll be there soon!"
He ran into the cabin in two or three steps. Calls on VHF channel 16 are usually not trivial matters.
If you ask what the most important life-saving item on a ship is, some people who have never sailed a boat will say it is a life jacket, some say it is a lifeboat, and some say it is a fire extinguisher. . . . . In fact, nine out of ten real captains will answer: Very High Frequency Radio, also known as VHF wireless communication.
VHF communication has specific channel usage rules and specific communication scripts; it's not just for casual chatting. Each channel has a specific purpose. For example, channels 68 and 72 are generally used by recreational boats, while channels 16, 9, and 22 are designated channels. VHF communication shouldn't be used casually, as using it means no one else within a 20-nautical-mile radius can communicate. This necessitates concise and clear communication.
Xiao Peng and his crew used to communicate with nearby ships using low-frequency radios instead of VHF channels, fearing that the channels would be occupied and delaying operations. Of course, there are also those who are bored at sea who use VHF to chat on non-commercial channels. After all, not everyone is polite! Because of this, many channels are restricted. For example, channel 70 cannot be used for audio communication.
But no one, no matter how uncultured, would occupy VHF channel 16, which is reserved for distress and safety calls. If a call comes in on VHF channel 16, it means a ship has behaved unexpectedly and is within 20 nautical miles of them.
As soon as Xiao Peng entered the cabin, he heard someone saying on the intercom: 'PAN-PAN, PAN-PAN, PAN-PAN'.
After hearing this, Xiao Peng felt relieved.
This pronunciation is not referring to the Asian Games mascot panda Panpan that year. It means that the caller's ship is in danger, but there is no direct threat to life safety, but the situation may worsen.
This is the language usage rule of the VHF channel: if life is in danger, such as the ship is about to sink, you must repeatedly call "Mayday".
Hearing the 'PAN-PAN' call for help, Xiao Peng felt relieved. After the call faded, Xiao Peng picked up the intercom and said, "This is the Red Head Ship. Please speak if you hear the call."
It was a standard VHF conversation, concise and to the point. However, Xiao Peng was puzzled. They weren't on a standard waterway, nor were they near a fishing area. How could someone be calling from this area? He checked the AIS system, but there was no sign of any nearby vessels. What was so strange about this?
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