Shortly after rescuing the father and son, the CG crew returned to Station Grand Haven. While they were refueling their boat, the command center directed them to respond to a Mayday. A CG high site radio antenna located at Stevensville, Michigan, approximately 85 miles south of Grand Haven, had picked up a Mayday, as did a low site radio antenna at CG Station Michigan City.

The Mayday read; "Mayday, Mayday, breakwater..." that was all the male voice passed. Now what? All the Coast Guard had to act on was that somewhere between Michigan City and Grand Haven a male voice was calling for help. Do you ignore the call? Hardly, especially in light of the airplane crash. That is the most insidious aspect of a false Mayday- you simply never know.

So, betwixt and between, the CG launched rescue boats from Grand Haven, Michigan City, and St Joseph to check out breakwaters in the area. Crews found nothing. After expending a total of 6.5 resource hours, Group Grand Haven called off the search. This was the 13th false Mayday this year alone and the boating season has barely begun. I believe the time has come for boater’s to mount a posse to ferret out these wolf-criers. We have this remarkable rescue response system in place and it’s being toyed with and in this case could have been fatal for a father and son.

I later talked to the father regarding the hoax call. He said, "That hoax call, if made earlier, would’ve cost Charlie and me our lives." According to the father, when the airplane hit the lake approximately two miles off shore near Muskegon, it quickly filled with water. "I couldn’t open the door because of the water pressure. I rolled down the window and swam out, then pulled Charlie out just before the plane sank."

All that remained of the airplane was a tire. "It was around 25 feet away, I swam for it and then swam back to Charlie. All we could do is hang on and hope for the best," said the father. "It made our day when we saw the Coast Guard boat- it allowed Charlie and me other days to live."

Congress has declared that individuals who cause the Coast Guard to respond to calls involving life and property, when no help is needed, are liable for all cost the Coast Guard incurs. In a recent hoax call case, an Alaskan Judge ordered three St. Paul juveniles to repay almost $5,000 to the Coast Guard for a false distress call they made Nov. 27, 1997. The judge also ordered the teens to perform 10 hours of community service and meet monthly with a probation officer for one year.

In recent Great Lakes court ruling regarding a hoax caller, Gary Goodmanson of Mentor, Ohio, was sentenced to 15 months imprisonment and total restitution of $139,245 for false distress calls he made in 1997.

"Make no mistake, transmitting a false distress call is no Joke," said Commander Roger Dubuc, Commander Group Grand Haven. "In fact, it is a federal offense punishable by a maximum jail sentence of 6 years and maximum fine of $250,000. Since these hoax callers are endangering the very people that my crews risk their lives to protect, it is my intent to apprehend and prosecute each and every intentional hoax caller. And with our rapidly improved technology and the cooperation of agencies such as the FCC and the FBI, we will catch them.

According to Commander Dubuc another sure way of stopping hoax calls is the public. "I am asking for your help. Please, educate your children, friends and fellow boaters on the proper use of marine radios. If you know who is making these calls, get them to stop. If they continue to make hoax calls, report them to the Coast Guard at 616-850-2501 or the Coast Guard Tipline at 1-800-264-5980. Remember, it is the Coast Guard’s mission to ensure your safety, and false distress calls are a serious threat to our mission."

Boat Smart, by helping us end hoax calls.

A breakdown of hoax calls made to Group Grand Haven

Date: Fiscal year 2000

Number: 13 to date

Location: Port Sheldon 6, Stevensville 3, Michigan City 3, St Joseph 1

Voice: 6 adult males, 3 teens/child, 4 ages unknown, all were male

Time: 5 were made between midnight and 8 a.m.

Type distress call made: "Mayday, Mayday", "Sinking", "SOS"

Total CG man hours spent on hoax calls: 81.6 hours at a cost of $10,073

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Boat Smart is now on the Internet: www.boatsmart.net (includes Lake Michigan water temperatures and local weather).

Use channel 16 for emergencies, and channel 9 for calling fellow boaters.