The boat most often in trouble is a small open one: a dinghy, a RIB or a small angling boat with no VHF, no AIS and no beacon, just a phone. VesselSOS makes that phone count: a live link for whoever’s waiting at home, and an SOS screen with your position in words, a MAYDAY text and a one-tap 999 call, so you can ask for the Coastguard.
On your own at five in the morning, anchored over a wreck or drifting a bank, and nobody at home knows more than “back by lunch”. The live link changes that: your position and battery in their browser, with no app to install and no account. If the dot drifts where it shouldn’t, they see it happen.
An outboard that won’t start, with nobody in danger, isn’t a 999 call yet: the app keeps 999 free when you answer “no”. It doesn’t list a UK breakdown service, so know who you’ll call before you go. If it could turn dangerous (an ebb setting you towards a headland, the light going, a crossing shipping lane), call the Coastguard early. The decision is spelled out in Mayday or a tow? When it genuinely is life-threatening, it’s one tap on SOS, one yes/no question, and the app dials 999.
Spring and autumn fishing puts you on cold water in an empty bay. Your coordinates are on screen the moment the app opens (GPS needs no mobile signal), and the ready-made text with a map link (one tap to open, then Send) reaches everyone you chose, through coverage too weak for anything else.
A lifejacket does the surviving; the app does the finding. VesselSOS is an aid, not a rescue service: in immediate danger, call 999 or 112 and ask for the Coastguard, or use VHF channel 16 if you carry a radio.
The SOS screen and texts work anywhere your phone works. On lakes and rivers, call 999 or 112; the Coastguard areas the app shows cover the sea.
One big SOS button, then one yes/no question, and the app dials as soon as you tap Yes. It’s built to work when your hands aren’t at their best.
Pick motor boat for an open boat, RIB or dinghy with an outboard (the other types are sailing boat, SUP/kayak and jet ski). Its name, length and colour go into the call script, and its name into the texts you send.