PAN PAN....OR PON PON

[Wotname]

Originally Posted by Kettlewell

I can say this for certain, if you say "Pon-Pon" on the East Coast of the USA you will sound just like the Coast Guard and they will instantly recognize that you are broadcasting an urgency signal. It is what they say every day on the radio and expect from mariners. In the rest of the world apparently the authorities will sneer, laugh, and ignore you if you don't say "Pan-Pan."

Nope, we recognise that you are from the East Coast of USA, probably in the poo, possibly out of you depth and we will do the right thing regardless of your origins and save your sorry ar*e

At least we will downunder; shouldn't speak for the rest

Heck we even rescue the poms and the frogs, what's wrong with picking a PON PON Yankee.

[Jimbo485]

Originally Posted by Kettlewell

I can say this for certain, if you say "Pon-Pon" on the East Coast of the USA you will sound just like the Coast Guard and they will instantly recognize that you are broadcasting an urgency signal. It is what they say every day on the radio and expect from mariners. In the rest of the world apparently the authorities will sneer, laugh, and ignore you if you don't say "Pan-Pan."

I will adjust my pronunciation for east coast USA, use red right returning and those feet and inch quaint measurement thingies when there as well. In the rest of the world, I will follow the international standards. Gotta respect the local cultures, right?

[sabray]

Originally Posted by jackdale

Ummm - no. The Coast Guard usually assumes control of Mayday situations and all messages start with "Mayday".

http://www.obsr.ca/radio-ric23.pdf

I'm pretty damn sure that I hear coast guard doing pan pan pan ..... Hello all stations .... We have recieved a report of a mayday call at such lat long blahhhhh. Never have I heard the coast guard call out mayday mayday.
I'm out of my area of expertise so I'm going on experience. Maybe I'm wrong. Given how even the best trained cant seem to agree I revert to what I hear.

[Richard_W]

Oh ... this seems to be a really tough nut to crack.

Can we start shaking our pom-poms instead ...
... no pronunciation involved ...

Shake and smile = PAN PAN
Shake and cry = MAYDAY
SECURITE ... just trow the things into the water.

[Nicholson58]

Time to put the kids to bed. Peter Pon tonight.

[jackdale]

Originally Posted by sabray

I'm pretty damn sure that I hear coast guard doing pan pan pan ..... Hello all stations .... We have recieved a report of a mayday call at such lat long blahhhhh. Never have I heard the coast guard call out mayday mayday.
I'm out of my area of expertise so I'm going on experience. Maybe I'm wrong. Given how even the best trained cant seem to agree I revert to what I hear.

Sailing in the PNW, I have overheard many from both US and Canadian CG. Distress and urgency are very different calls. You might also hear a Mayday Relay.

I am also a ROC(M) examiner. (Marine VHF)

[s/v Jedi]

Let me try to stop this the way I started it... if I would have known I might not have made that first post;

Repeating wrong info does not make it valid here as this isn't politics. It's a bit silly to keep repeating wrong info when so many have proven, with pointers, Wikipedia links, sproken and phonetic examples that pon-pon is wrong. I hope the USCG reads this thread and corrects their error because it's a rather embarrasing one.

So, I repeat:

Please, it's pan-pan.

[David_Old_Jersey]

Originally Posted by s/v Jedi

Let me try to stop this the way I started it... if I would have known I might not have made that first post;

Repeating wrong info does not make it valid here as this isn't politics. It's a bit silly to keep repeating wrong info when so many have proven, with pointers, Wikipedia links, sproken and phonetic examples that pon-pon is wrong. I hope the USCG reads this thread and corrects their error because it's a rather embarrasing one.

So, I repeat:

Please, it's pan-pan.

This thread reminds me of when I helped a mate start his boating adventures (he has since retired ).....he wanted to buy a boat (s/h), so I wrote him out a list of stuff he would need onboard, and ideally most bought with the boat.

Long story short(ish!), a fair bit later he ended up with a boat and of course I was with him onboard shortly afterwards. He started referring to "Wraps" ........apparently I had made a typo on the list . he never shook off that term (much to his annoyance!) and still occassionally uses it many years later!

Maybe the CG thing started that simply?!

Personally I have no great problem with different pronounciations of the word PAN - but I think wrong for the USCG to spell it differently to everyone else (given it is an international code word).

[boatsail]

An anchor or gun thread would have been locked by now...this one will go forever

Even with improper pronunciation......the rescuer would be aware...correct?

[s/v Jedi]

Originally Posted by boatsail

An anchor or gun thread would have been locked by now...this one will go forever

Even with improper pronunciation......the rescuer would be aware...correct?

With a lot of eye-rolling may be yes, although I doubt it in French speaking countries.

[Teknav]

To add the confusion...the official language of the UN is NOT English; it is French. Now, you know why the french derivation of these words. Mauritz

[boatsail]

Originally Posted by Teknav

To add the confusion...the official language of the UN is NOT English; it is French. Now, you know why the french derivation of these words. Mauritz

I did not want to get into this thread...it is pan pan!


Facts below regarding official languages....looks to be no more English than French and vice versa

Click the button that says historyhttp://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Official_languages_of_the_United_Nations

[Kettlewell]

Kettlewell - could you clarify your post? Nobody stated or implied that using incorrect pronounciation for PAN PAN would be ignored. Are you suggesting that the ITU and the rest of the world change their pronounciation in order to comply with the U.S. East Coast Coast Guard pronounciation?

Clarifying--actually, some did say in the thread that they thought a message of "Pon-Pon" might be ignored, though I have a hard time believing that so my post was meant to be tongue-in-cheek. Also, to clarify, the Coast Guard spells it Pan-Pan, but they do pronounce it here on the East Coast "Pon-Pon." I've probably heard it that way thousands of times--I doubt you will be able to change the way they pronounce it here. Why or how it started, I don't know.

[Nicholson58]

CG as heard off Muskegon (Lake Michigan) & up the coast to Mackinaw say PAN. Only private boaters use Pon. Does it really matter. Will you respond differently? It irks the heck out me that the NPR on-air personalities don't have a clue how to pronounce Feb-roo-airy but I can interpolate the meaning.

[Richard_W]

Originally Posted by boatsail

Even with improper pronunciation......the rescuer would be aware...correct?

ABSOLUTELY, despite what some replies here suggest.

Just listen to the real life CG recordings of emergency calls on YouTube, or ask your CG AUX friend. The more serious situation the less formal the call often is. When people are scared or fighting for their life they say what they think is most important in a given moment not what is proper or procedurally correct ... and CG/SAR responds without delay. I don't know about eye-rolling, but I doubt it when the call sounds like a serious life and death situation.

"This is XXX ... we are going down ..." is not that unusual MADAY call.