If a life is at risk, or could be soon, make a Mayday on VHF channel 16 or call the Coast Guard’s regional 24-hour emergency line for your waters; on inland lakes and rivers the Coast Guard doesn’t serve, call 911. If nobody’s in danger (dead battery, out of gas, fouled prop), that’s a job for a commercial tow, a marina or a boat nearby: the Coast Guard says it “will not directly assist disabled vessels merely on request”.
Someone in the water, an injury, fire, taking on water, drifting onto rocks or into a shipping channel, darkness or a front coming through, cold water. Yes → a Mayday on VHF channel 16, or the Coast Guard rescue centre for your waters (911 on inland lakes and rivers). Don’t downgrade a maybe: rescuers would rather stand down than start late.
That’s a tow, not a rescue. Call your towing service if you have one, a marina, or hail boats nearby on the radio. If you call the Coast Guard, the rescue centre will try to tell you about vessels nearby and will normally broadcast a request for help, but it won’t compete with commercial towing.
Drop the anchor if it’s safe and check everyone’s PFD is on. On the radio, that’s what a PAN-PAN is for: urgent, but nobody in immediate danger. Then start your tracking link so the people ashore see you drift. If it gets worse, it’s a Mayday.
The Canadian Coast Guard coordinates search and rescue; it doesn’t run a towing service. Its policy for disabled vessels, from the Notices to Mariners (D28): “the Federal Government or its agents will not directly assist disabled vessels merely on request and will not compete with commercial interest to provide direct assistance.” Who else there is, checked 10 Oct 2026:
From c-tow.ca, BoatUS’s 22 June 2026 release and the Coast Guard’s policy in Notices to Mariners D28, checked 10 Oct 2026. We found no Canadian Sea Tow location. Coverage, membership terms and prices change: check with the provider before you rely on them.
The app asks you this exact question: is anyone’s life in danger? Yes: from app version 1.8 it calls the Coast Guard rescue centre for your waters (911 on inland lakes and rivers) and shows you what to say, with a Mayday form for your VHF. No: where they say they operate, it shows C-Tow and TowBoatUS with a Call button for each 24-hour dispatch line, or dials your own member number; elsewhere it says there’s no assistance partner in the area. VesselSOS doesn’t sell memberships, isn’t affiliated with any towing company or the Coast Guard, and isn’t a rescue service. It just puts the right call one tap away.