I like that feeling I get when I do the final watch through of a video just before uploading it.... and I genuinely enjoy the content. It's like I'm grateful that the video exists, independent of who made it. Checkout this link to sign up for the email list if you’d prefer not to think and want me to just email new videos to you when I make them. www.smartereveryday.com/email-list Thanks to all the Coasties that took the time to teach me, and who worked with me to make this video possible.
I love all of your videos, and have been looking forward to this installment for weeks!! Don’t wait so long with the next one, LOL. Thank you Destin for everything. Blessings!
That drifting VS pattern was really interesting. Overlying drifts with search patterns really leads to a counterintuitive result. This video definitely lived up to the channel name. 👍
I’m an old man, and just did the finger whistle for the first my whole life and have always wanted to learn and no one has been able to explain it to me. Love this channel!!!
A retired Coastie here. It's good to see someone talking about what the Coast Guard does to help their fellow man in distress. It's not talked about much, and I wish things like this was publicized more. I think it would benefit the Coast Guard greatly. I had a lot of fun in the Coast Guard, there's a lot of real good, and dedicated men and women hard at work 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year to do only one small part of the Coast Guard's job. I don't regret the time I served, and I'd gladly do it again without hesitation. I remember one SAR case I got involved in. I was on a cutter returning from a Narcotics Patrol in the Caribbean, on our way home when we got tagged to do a SAR for a sailboat. It was almost an all hands effort, even I had pair of binoculars and was looking for them. I made a comment to one my fellow watchstanders saying "it's too bad we don't have a helo onboard". I noticed the Captain jerked his head up and stared at me, then left the bridge. The next morning we had a helo onboard. After refueling it, giving the flight crew bathroom break (called a head), and a snack, they were back in the air officially joining the SAR effort. About 40 minutes into their patrol. They found the sailboat. All hands were rescued. And we went home to loved ones we hadn't seen in almost 2 months.
Hey why does coastguard do law enforcement at all? It's like if firefighters arrested people, or if paramedics handed out traffic citations. Isn't that an obvious conflict of interest?
@@introprospector Congress has granted them arrest authority. It's the only branch of service that has this authority. It is needed to arrest drug smugglers, and other violators of the law at sea.
@@QuentinNeill Right, but that's not a conflict of interest. The needs and interests of humans and of wild animals can be clearly delineated, even if sometimes those delineations aren't fair or just. The physical, bodily needs of drug smugglers and of illegal immigrants are the same as citizens and tourists. Putting their lives in the hands of law enforcement is an obvious conflict of interest.
@@davidleadford6511 I understand why the government wants that to be done. What seems wrong is to have those same people responsible for rescuing people. Rescues should be rescues, pure and simple. Shouldn't matter who you are or what you've done. They're still human beings.
Former Canadian Volunteer marine SAR guy here. Ive done all of these search patterns except the barrier search (not relative for our region) and this video is absolutely dead accurate for how it really works. In canada we use slightly different terms and tech, but the core is exactly the same, as are the outcomes. Bravo Zulu to everyone involved in this!
As a retired Coastie of almost 22 years, I want to thank you for this look into what truly is an amazing career! The men and women of the CG work tirelessly to maintain their profession, which is hard to convey to anyone who is not a member of the CG. Your CG series is doing a good job as helping the public see a little more of what makes the CG such a great service! I miss being in the CG, as I feel the CG and its outstanding members helped made me the person I am today. Keep up the great content, and stay safe out there, my brothers and sisters in blue!
13:07 Agree 100% Mate! The most amazing career choice ever made! Sometimes very mundane, other times insanely tense! If not training, working on gear, or patrol, almost always called off duties to respond. No doubt in my heart... there is a VERY special place for us Coasties... with our Mates... waiting for us! No greater love hath no man, that he would be willing to lay down his life for his brother. Just making the choice to dedicate yourself to that choice... matter's! I know we will laugh again with Mates that go before us.
I am a member of the US Coast Guard Auxiliary. We also train on these search patterns in our mission to augment the active duty surface operations. This is one of the best explanations of SAR patterns I have ever seen. I am going to suggest to all of my operational colleagues that they watch this episode. Bravo Zulu, Destin!
@Jonathan Did you know that one of the preeminent SAR experts at the SAR School at RTC Yorktown was a CG Auxiliarist? Great gentlemen who did it on a voluntarily basis. Passed over the bar a few years ago but I still recall him fondly.
My relative was once the subject of a Coast Guard search and he mentioned that they told him they found him because they knew he was alone with just a kayak and did modeling math. They told him that a ship juts way more out of the water and usually has WAY more air currents exerted on it than a person with just their head and shoulders out of the water, who is pulled by the first 8 feet of surface currents. Mindblowing. That's a level of predictive science that's like... High risk high reward meteorology.
Washed my hands, spent maybe seven min trying; got a little light headed. But after about twelve years I can finally whistle with my fingers. A skill I've always genuinely desired.
@@oMuStiiA I have heard that different people have different amount of muscle control in their mouth, and learning to whistle can be harder for some than others.
@@amalirfan as far as I'm aware I have more muscle control in my mouth than most, I feel like I just haven't figured out which muscles to use in which exact positions/combination yet lol.
Career Mariner here, I would also like to stress the importance of the capacity of those in need to reacue to also have their own search and scanning patterns. If they have flares, mirrors, flashlights, whistles, smoke signals, flags, anything... it can help the search party locate them quicker. Do not use your equipment until you spot a search asset. I understand not all lost at sea may have this equipment.
Lake Ontario is 40 miles wide and 150miles long. Waves can reach 8 feet tall very quickly (20minutes) when the NW winds come down the lake. Then, that person's head sticking up half a foot is only visible when the person and possibly the search boat are both on top of a wave. Wear you lifejacket with a light when there's any wind or you're out at night. I spent a miserable night looking for someone who fell off another boat near us. Lost cause. Of course, there was the comedy-show bright sunny day, when we came on a small outboard cruiser that had run out of gas, and was waving a Texaco NY State road map at us (no maps) and asking "where's land" after drifting for ten hours in the hot sun. The Olcott US coast guard picked them up eventually but we had to call the Canadian Coast Guard to phone the US coast guard because they weren't monitoring their radio. Oops. [fifty foot hills are invisible more than about 10 miles out because of the curve of the earth. You can see a bit of only Rochester's highest buildings in the background of the video at one point. ]
@@thejerk4478 Granted, my statement is for the consumables. With the possible exception of electronic aids like GPS, and Sea Oil. I'd also like to add the impact that a task could have on moral. Keep someone or yourself busy while waiting for help. Wave the orange flag, flash the horizon with the mirror, scan your surroundings constantly when possible. If with a group, try to ask what the others see if you think you've spotted something but are unsure. Desparate people may easily be influenced by suggestion. Every dot in the sky begins to look like a plane, every white capped wave looks like a ship.
@@haydo8373 the new go pros have this thank God! They also record the last 10 to 30 seconds incase you didn't hit record before something awesome happens.
I honestly love how they were there to talk and teach instead of them just doing it and you watching. You don't even ask anything and they'll still look at you and the camera and explain everything. Amazing way to teach and learn.
I noticed that as well! I believe it's a military thing, having served in Army for 21+, when we have civilians interested in what/how we do things it's imperative to explain it so they can understand it. They did it so well.
Wow! I'm a commercial fisherman on Mobile Bay and have worked along side USCG Sector Mobile in two searches over the years. One of the searches our vessel located the debri and sunken vessel of the lost fisherman, such an odd feeling of joy mixed with sorrow. Both men were eventually located, unfortunately neither alive. We located their debri and vessel along the southwest side of Gaillard Island in the northern half of Mobile Bay, one man was found near the Heron Bay cutoff and the other was found on Petit Bois Island in Mississippi. Very sad, but that's a risk we take in our line of work. I'm very glad to have the USCG out there with us, I've been caught in some very violent weather on that Bay and they fly in it....absolute Mad Lads!!! God bless them.
"Let's simulate the GPS coordinates of an RBM performing a victor sierra in different types of sea drift." That is one heck of a sentence, and props for explaining and constructing the video so well that the meaning is absolutely clear. Always impressed with the depth of understanding each of your videos guides the watcher to.
My late father was in the USCG from 1950-75 and shared a lot of stories with me from things you would never think the Coast Guard would do. He did weather patrols in the Pacific (long before there were weather satellites), was stationed in Rhodes, Greece on the USCGC Courier that broadcast the Voice of America across the Iron Curtain and into the Soviet Union, worked on a buoy tender for the last of the atomic and first of the hydrogen bomb tests, and worked in Public Health Service hospitals (back when we had Public Health Service Hospitals...), and many other things. He passed away last year at 93 and I am still proud of everything he did!
@@ironboy3245 keep playing with it and you’ll get there. Play with how far your fingers go in your mouth, how much tongue you roll over, and how firm your lips are. I personally clamp my lips somewhat tightly down on my first knuckle (so fingers are an inch inside my mouth). Your lips should be like as if you were pretending to be a toothless old guy. My fingers roll my tongue over pretty much in the middle of my tongue. Blow as if your were forcefully blowing bubbles thru a straw. While blowing, change the angle between your hands. The video shows your “finger guns” touching, but I personally get better results when they are about 80-90 degrees apart.
@@unixtreme I just don't understand how learning equates to being able to perform it, I think I just have a different tongue or fingers or mouth or something since I'm following the steps precisely and nothing, in contrast in can whistle the normal way perfectly
@@Officialmartymars I actually always wanted to be able to do this but never could. I figured that I just didn't have the right tongue for it but I tried doing it exactly as he showed Destin and I actually started to make the sound but it's late and I don't want to wake up my neighbors so I'll try again tomorrow.
Destin’s reaction to whistling is why I love this channel in a nutshell. The genuine enthusiasm to learn something new, and to share it with us is contagious.
Been subbed to sed for longer than I've been subbed to anyone else. Genuinely makes me happy to watch your videos Destin. You're like a cool big brother to a lot of us I'm sure, at least for myself I feel that way.
Nice video. Back in the 70's when I was a Coast Guard Helo pilot there were no computers, GPS, calculators, or autopilots. We did expanding squares, parrallel lines, track lines, and creeping patterns. We calculated it manually on out knee pads with a Jeppsen flight computer. What we did have, if we had an approximate position, was a datum marker buoy. It was a radio transmitter with a flashing light that we dropped. It drifted with the current and it made it easier particularly for expanding square patterns as your turn points were specific radio directional headings to the datum. Of course we also had to compensate for the wind which was different from the current since the aircraft was affected by the wind and the wind over the body of water was different from at base so our heading on each leg had to be offset. Things are a lot more complicated. A body is mainly carried by the current but a boat or raft is also affected by the wind from the amount of surface area above the water. Then, is there a sea drogue deployed or not which would give a compromise between wind and water. The wind is constantly changing so how long has it been since the event and how long is the search taking. A storm system going through changes wind direction as it passes. There is fetch which is surface current from long term wind versus ocean current such as the Gulf Stream. They may actually be going in the opposite direction. Waves, though they mainly are going up and down also effects drift by causing slippage for a boat or raft. Things are a lot easier now for the pilots with onboard computers and autopilots that will fly the search pattern allowing the pilots and crew to spend more time looking outside for that tiny dot of a head or life jacket in rough seas. I actually got to do the prototype testing on the first aircraft flir systems which really helps out. Destin, are you sure you really want to get into this deep stuff? Enjoy all the math. I look forward to seeing the rest of the series.
This is what never ceases to amaze me. That before everyone had a super computer in their pocket - (and before everyone's toothbrush & refridgerator were connected to the internet) - people were already getting such complicated tasks done. (much like the computer on the Apollo mission to the moon (that Destin had a video about)... A couple hundred kilobytes worth of mechanical transistors... And it went to the moon, succesfully) Thank you for sharing this extensive outline of your work.
At first, I thought they would be crisscrossing the triangles, and the center was fixed by GPS. When I discovered they move around the perimeter of the triangles surveying in three directions and staying relative to a drifting center, it all fell into place. This is one of the most interesting and relevant things I have ever watched. Thank you and bravo.
My dad was a rescue swimmer for 20 years, and I’ve never thought about what it took for him and the helicopter crew to find the casualties. Thank you for the extra insight, awesome series by the way
@@demp11 I don't get it either. I'm not clear whether the tongue is "folding over" side-to-side or you're trying to flip it over front-back. And when he says "blow down" I don't know if that means you want the air to go under the tongue or what.
The whistling thing is extremely infuriating as I've never in my whole life been able to do it. Seeing Destin do it first try fills me with jealousy. I swear I've tried it a million times.
I spent 23 years as a coxswain with the Coast Guard Auxiliary before retiring four years ago. We did a lot of search-pattern training and I wish I'd had your video to show new crew members before going out. You did an excellent job, and it was a pleasure going through it again with you.
The animation of the VS search following that janky course was brilliant. I had to rewind and watch it again. The static pattern flowing over a moving plane suddenly made sense. Thanks for making it so easy to understand!
This patterns reminded me of patterns for farming operations. Every pattern is good for certain conditions. For example, the most efficient way for harvest is "narrowing square" or "narrowing parralel" but if there are wild animals spotted in the area, you need "expanding parralel" pattern for those animals/birds to be able to escape.
I love what the Coastguard does. Your videos highlight the precision and professionalism of how they do and why they do their business. As pilot, I’m awed by their SAR process.
The sign of an expert is being able to explain their craft back to you in a simple way. These coast guard members were very well practiced in what they do
Smart group of young people. I'm actually quite shocked, and reassured. Most young people I encounter, barely look up from their phones, and when they do, it's to talk about what's on their phones.
Not exactly. Expertise (in a field) and teaching are separate skills. Teaching is basically translating (from the expert to the layman); if I'm bad at translating from English to Spanish, it doesn't mean I'm not an expert at English. It just means I'm bad at translating to Spanish.
@@jacobshirley3457 100% agree. I can't begin to tell you how many bad professors I've had. I don't care if you literally wrote the book on something, if you can't break it down and explain it to laypeople, you aren't going to be a good teacher. I have a great respect for the many scientific communicators on YT such as Kyle Hill, Because Science, and plenty of channels like this one (Smarter Every Day) or Economics Explained for their ability to explain complex topics in a way large audiences can benefit from.
I hope everybody watching this video series will appreciate the level of training and competence of the Coast Guard personnel. Because they are so well trained, the Coast Guard entrusts their junior personnel with a tremendous degree of authority and autonomy. The Coast Guard is a great organization with some really impressive people.
Amen, Douglas. If you notice in the video, most of the individuals conducting the mission and the training are E-4 and E-5s. Not too many government agencies would qualify a 20 year old, E-4 to be in charge of a boat like that!
I remember reading once that in a "man overboard situation" if you happen to see the person fall overboard or already in the water- you should not take your eyes off them. In rough seas you may never get another visual on the person due to the waves etc, and you may never find them again.
I had a hard time acclimating to college and almost quit pursuing engineering to find another major, but through your videos and some other fantastic creators in this genre I found a major I enjoy. So thank you.
I learned to do this whistle with no fingers after seeing someone do it during a winter concert rendition of jingle bells when I was like 10. I still can't do it with fingers, and this method didn't work for me either. I feel like it's more useful to be able to do it without needing your hands anyway, but I still don't understand why I can't do it, lol.
I agree. I’ve been able to whistle with thumb and finger for many years, but was inconsistent with it. Now I have a better understanding of the mechanics of it, I think I’ll be much more consistent in executing it.
Great to see Station Rochester featured (and of course CG in general)! I work in the Sector Command Center for Rochester's AOR and it's still amazing to me the tools we use to get the job done. Definitely checking out the rest of this series, I've really enjoyed your channel!
Everyone talking in this video were able to articulate themselves really well. They don't sound like they only recite stuff they memorized, but like they understand the subject (including the math) and are able to explain it. In short: they all seem to be smart people on top of the can-do attitude. I imagine that the acceptance tests to join are not easy.
Coast guard has the highest retention rate out of all the branches so the coasties tend to like what they do which in turn leads to them understanding better what their jobs are
You are correct. In the Coast Guard, we are expected to learn everything related to our assets including specifications, gear on board, limitations, and how to operate the asset. We pride ourselves in training for all possible vessle casualties, including casualties to our own assets. The maintenance and cleanliness of all assets, as well as the training of all personnel is a daily event for us. It's an honor and a privilege to serve you, the American people! Highest Regards, -FA Wiese USCG STA Monterey
Yeah, I agree, the only thing that bothered me is the oddly formal terminology like “air assets”. Reminds me how firefighters like to say apparatus instead of fire truck.
As a (much less experienced) mechanical engineer as well, I think it makes perfect sense to call the buoy a datum because it is stationary RELATIVE to the drift of the water. You are keeping track of your starting point relative to the drift, not geological coordinates like the GPS uses, and thus measuring the exact drift at the same time!
Yea, it's completely legit to call it stationary because it is in its specific point of reference. Our geo location are stationary in the planet point of reference but if we take Sun as the (0, 0, 0) your house is dancing around the sun and orbiting the center of Earth + Moon center of mass, right? :)
As a random lateral connection. I have seen many pro paragliders recommending this search pattern for thermals. Most guides say to turn into the thermal. But in doing so you often just circle past it and miss it. The solution, apparently is to do a 270* turn away from where you think the thermal is, which should then align you to pass through the centre of it. It also accounts for your wind drift and the thermals.
@@trickytreyperfected1482 Rising columns of warmer air. Like when you boil a pan of water you see the water vapour rising from the pan. The air that's rising above that pan is a thermal. Those thermals can happen at much larger scales as well when a piece of land gets hotter than it's surroundings. Then you get a much larger thermal and it is what raptors and glider pilots use to gain altitude without the need of flapping or an engine.
@@martijn9568 I see. That's actually very interesting. Thank you! I probably won't ever be able to use that information, but I personally love knowing cool things that I'll never realistically use.
Destin, that was sooooo cool and informative. I’m glad to see that there is a clear scientific method to their madness when conducting these operations. I love your enthusiasm and work, keep up the good job.
17:14 thank you for doing this. It's always easy to say something, but more effort to show something. You could've just said so, but you decided to prove it to the viewers by giving a demonstration. Yes it's more effort and it seems like a very small and short addition to the video, but it's far more informative. I know you do this a lot, but I felt this specifically deserved a mention, thanks again!
The square wave search pattern is called Boustrophedon, literally meaning "turning like the ox plows". That's the one piece of information I can't forget from my university signal-processing classes....
@@3nertia Are you referring to the way a cathode-ray vacuum tube electron gun manipulates the electron beams to display images on a phosphorescent screen?
Spent 20 years and a month in the Coast Guard in engineering. Never heard of the search pattern VZ. It is job specific. That being said, I'm 57 and just learned to whistle with my fingers. That was awesome. Thanks for the videos.
The most mind-blowing thing I'm taking away from this video: I just learned how to finger whistle. I can whistle a tune well enough, but I've never been able to do those really loud whistles. I tried learning the way where you make a ring with your index finger and thumb and blow down that, but was never consistent. But I did the step by step he showed in this video and immediately got a loud clear whistle. Very minor thing but I'm honestly really amazed right now. (Not anywhere near consistent though, I'll need practice.)
Same! I found the key, at least for me, is my pinkies staying parallel. Let my main gun fingers bend into my mouth and BLAM instant super loud whistle. Been trying my whole life and this was the first time and it took seconds of trying.
After dozens of unsuccessful attempts, I went back and rewatched the video. I found out that what I was doing wrong was the angle of the hands and fingers in relation to the body. Your hands should be pointing up, not into your mouth. I'm now able to do it consistently.
CG Vet here. Glad you did a series on the USCG. By far the best decision of my life, best people to serve with. And, unfortunately, the lease funded or talked about service. Fair winds and following seas… Semper Paratus!
Wow, as a scuba diver this is so reassuring and although it makes total sense, it would definitely not have been the way I would've steered the boat if I ever lost a buddy. So cool, and everyone in the video is so nice! Thanks for this video :D
@@piyh3962 Curl your tongue back so the tip is pointing upwards and the underside is facing out, but behind your teeth. Your finger tips should be touching the underside, and your hands/finger guns should be straight, but should be tilted downwards. Then blow. More advanced is to make a ring with your thumb and forefinger, and place the tips evenly on the same underside of the tongue as before. Then blow. That's the one handed whistle. Expert is more difficult again, and only uses the tongue to make a shaped opening with the teeth, lips and blowing. It can be quite loud, but for volume the previous two methods win.
21 year retired Coastie here and you explained that perfectly. The funny thing is our small boat station community are some of our youngest people and they are performing these searches all the time. It sounds complex but when you do them all the time it becomes routine. The large ships and aircraft use the same procedures.
@@travelinman70 I was an in the U.S. Air Force and my role was as an Air Force Tactical Air Control Party (TACP) team member. Personally I was active duty and we practiced our roles weekly and I'd be interested to know if the Coastie have a similar regimented training schedule.
I loved the end of this video. It's great to go out on a laugh. I think I replayed the dummy being pulled out of the water and hitting his head on the boat. Ortiz's laugh was so genuine.
Destin, I’ve been following your channel for a long time. Love your content! This one in particular hits home because I’m one of the lead technicians that maintains the software and infrastructure for the SAROPS program that you’re referring to. My coworker and I are on-call 24/7/365 to ensure a 100% uptime of SAROPS program for all the command centers. Thank you for such an excellent video, please keep them coming!!! I will be sharing this with my team!
What kind of infrastructure is needed to maintain this program? Is the software standalone, or does it require internet access to talk to your servers or databases? To calculate search patterns, is the info from the Victor Sierra (set and drift, was it?) all you need to perform the necessary calculations, or is there supplementary information the program provides such as info on tides, wave height, wind, and weather?
A long time ago I saw a video from a fixed camera over a stretch of water with icebergs of various sizes and they were going in all different directions past each other. Basically the wind blew in one direction, the surface current went another direction, and the deeper current went in a third direction. As the icebergs of different sizes and shapes rotated, the 3 forces just pushed them in apparently entirely random directions, it was amazing to watch!!
This brought back memories of being a rescue swimmer years ago. One of the most disappointing things was staring out the window of the helicopter, searching for hours and hours, and never finding the victims.
Imagine if our teachers in school were as enthusiastic as Destin. A full grown man who almost passed out from excitement from learning how to whistle. 😂
Having served in the Coast Guard for 6 years more than 30 years ago it is nice to see an educational video of these fine professionals. No on ever seems to think about those that risk their lives to save others. The old saying, “They say we have to go out…they don’t say we have to come back,” is so true. Training is done on nice calm sunny days like this but I can assure you when you are doing SAR cases in real life that is never the case. There were many times I thought we weren’t going to make it back in the seas we were in. I have passed on my patriotism and desire for service to two of my children who now serve in the Army. So proud of them both. God bless this great nation and those that protect her. Semper Paratus!
Why does coastguard do law enforcement at all? It's like if firefighters arrested people, or if paramedics handed out traffic citations. Isn't that an obvious conflict of interest?
@@introprospector They're in charge of maritime registration and inspection. They can do a random spot inspection of your boat at any time on the water, though they're usually pretty cool and just give you a warning for things to fix (like replace an expired fire extinguisher). Since they're going to be randomly boarding and inspecting boats anyway, they need to have the authority to act on any criminal activity they come across. BTW, firefighters do the same thing too. If you own a business where the public comes onto your premises, it needs to be inspected by the fire marshall. They can issue fines, shut you down, and even arrest you if you're not in compliance.
"No one ever seems to think about those that risk their livesbto save others..." Actually some of us civilians do think of first reponders and appreciate what they do.
@@introprospector It is one of the founding missions of th Coast Guard. Originally there was two separate services, the U.S. Life Saving Service and the Revenue Cutter Service. The Revenue Cutter service acted as customs for ships coming from overseas and they would collect tarifs (hence the revenue) and fight smuggling. They ended up combine the two services and responsibilities along with others like the Steam Boat Inspection Service and the Light House Service. That is why the Coast Guard has so many main missions that were listed in the previous episode.
Thank you for highlighting the Small Boat role in SAR. Everyone focuses on the "Airedales" and the glory of the helicopters; what they miss is the crews that go out in the worst weather, spend hours on scene searching and getting beaten on by the ocean, only to have the air assets show up and make the rescue. And we still have hours more punishment going back to the station, doing maintenance to get ready for the next call, and doing our reports. Like the crew from Station Rochester said, sometimes it's fun and sometimes it absolutely sucks. That said, we wouldn't want to be anywhere else. Semper Paratus.
I don't get why both you and Destin say that everyone thinks about the helicopter rescues, the boats are always what primarily comes to my mind when I think about search and rescue
Hats off to the "Black Shoes", they earned their paycheck hard each day, us Airedales had a limited time in the air before we headed back to the house to refuel and grab a bite to eat. Hey, we depended heavily upon our surface assets and just "bird dogged" for you guys.
I was an airdale... The small boat crews are essential and under appreciated. There are many elements to the USCG; I was also a marine casualty investigator... marine safety side of the USCG is even more under appreciated; if they do their job right, nothing happens. Working as a primary care provider in the medical field, (as opposed to emergency medicine) when never get thanked when I get someone to take a flu shot and they don't get the flu. To your point though, there was never a time that when I was out on a case that I did not appreciate what our small boat crews were doing. In particular with boat hoisting work; going out in December to help keep the aircrews current... that is unique sort of sacrafice... so please let me say it now for all times it was over looked... THANK YOU TO ALL OF THE USCG BOAT CREWS from a H65 pilot.
Love this, so much. As a kid I knew there was so many variables that has to be able to calculate into real events, there is no way we can't have formulas for everything needed. That's why i'm so in love with this, and made it so effective.
I took part in a (ultimately successful) search for two missing persons of a downed aircraft over the ocean, but the patterns proved entirely wrong in this case because they did not predict or include the possibility the persons in the water would be swimming towards the nearest shoreline, and had moved many miles from the search area. I did happen to fly over the missing persons, as I was not part of the "official" search and/or pattern system, but I unfortunately did NOT see them in the water, and was only informed I flew over them by them telling me this after the fact. (This is hard to hear and not get discouraged.) As you mentioned, a person is VERY hard to see in the ocean unless you are very close to them. When they were only a mile or so from the shoreline, they were ultimately spotted by an aircraft landing at a nearby airport.
Don't be discouraged, like most misses, the best you can do is learn from it. However, I gotta admit, not taking into account swimming seems pretty surprising. Anyone who has the knowledge and strength is probably going to go for the route the empowers them. Unlike, say, when you get lost in a forest -- to be lost means you don't know which direction to go so, if you have done the right thing and informed people of where you would be and expected return time, best to stay put.
I came down to the comments to ask about accounting for a person swimming, looks like you read my mind. I wonder if there is a standard "they'll head for the coast, are a moderate swimmer and 20 years old so we make this adjustment" kind of thing? It could get really complex but if I had to guess, I'd say they don't consider this as it's too variable
One thing that was drilled into me when I was beginning to explore the wide open world outdoors was to stay with the wreck unless it became unsafe to do so. SAR has a much easier time spotting a 15' long jeep or boat than a person, especially if they're in the water. Strong swimmer or not, it's also very difficult to judge how far you are from land when your eyeballs are only a few inches above the surface and only get intermittent glances.
@@jarphabib My counterpoint is that if you have survived a sinking (not a capsize), can see land, and are a moderate swimmer, you can probably make it on your own, and even if you can't, you're doing something - anything - to keep that will to live. The psychological is usually the bigger battle. I can't imagine thinking "I'm just going to tread water right here for as long as I can."
@@PatrickKQ4HBD Is it really a counterpoint when I directly said "unless it becomes unsafe" and an entirely cleanly sunk boat would probably qualify. Will to live can manifest in many ways. "I can't imagine burning all my calories struggling against unknown currents when I could just float here for free." I haven't been in the boating game in a while, but IIRC most modern composite boats and even aluminum ones tend to be neutrally buoyant when flooded, they don't Titanic straight to the bottom unless heavily damaged. Steel hulled ships and workboats are a different matter of course. But then you're going to have a debris field, and 50 floating lounge cushions are going to be easier to find than one swimmer who struck out alone.
I am so happy that you are raising awareness of the U.S. Coast Guard. I lived that life for four years, saving the lives of scores of people, None of whom I know personally. However, wearing Coast Guard swag, I have people thanking me for my service, which, serving just a few years after the end of the Vietnam War and remembering their cold reception returning home means alot. But what is really cool is that at least once a year, someone would come up to me and say that they are alive today because of the Coast Guard. That's what it's all about. The Auxiliary taught people to be safer boaters and avoid becoming victims. Usually, the ones we rescued missed those classes. We also did law enforcement patrols to protect our shores and natural resources. Coast Guard ATON units, the black boats took care of all the aids to navigation and the red cutters are ice breakers. They love to back and ram. Or at least that's what their tee shirts claim. The helicopter swimmers are like the Coast Guard's special forces. After a hero with Navy Seals swimmers who rescue downed pilots assisted on a mission in the early 80s, rescuing victims too exhausted to get in a basket on their own, the Coast Guard recognized that we needed the same resources, the Coast Guard AST's were born. Less than 50 percent of those who attend AST school actually make it through the training. They truly are a special bree d.
Destin, I'm constantly amazed how things I thought were simple no-brainers, turn out to be "brainer" things, like this video on search patterns for example. Also, whatever mic system you are using for picking up stereo audio works amazingly well, especially when you were speaking with the CG guys towards the end of the video, I felt like I was right there in the middle listening to you and them speaking to each other. Thank you for the video, it is so nice to discover there are neat cool things we can learn from all around us.
When I was in the Army, I learned a similar thing to the Victor Sierra for land navigation. We called it a Clover. Basically, if you're looking for something at a specific coordinate, you plot it out and get to wherever you think that coordinate is. Then you use wherever you are as a starting point and make four loops in every direction, like the leaves on a clover, to try to find what you're looking for.
An old high school friend of mine is a Captain in the Coast Guard. I appreciate these videos. I really had no idea how much the Coast guard does for our safety.
The humility to admit when you messed up. Doing it when you could just edit that out and pretend it didn't happen - priceless. You're a man of character, Destin.
In my early days of doing analysis of anti-submarine warfare for the US Navy, we had a term called "flaming datum". If a friendly surface vessel got torpedoed, it was a datum used to initiate a search for a hostile sub in that area.
The software they're using was developed by just one employee many years ago! He was actually asked to stay on for years after his retirement because he was the only person who knew how to work the software! I believe that the search pattern originally included eight search objects (it was hard to get people to agree to just go adrift for research!) but eventually expanded to the number that we have today. The setup became so well used because it was considerably more effective than traditional search patterns (although never perfect). Sadly I heard all of this years ago so I can't remember if this was the story of SAROPS (the current system) or SARPS (the original system). On one hand it was the first of it's kind so surely it was SARPS, but on the other I remember it's use continuing until fairly recently, which might make it SAROPS (which started being used in 2003).
@@vigilantcosmicpenguin8721 Surprisingly, they didn't hire him to do it at all! He was a researcher publishing papers on the subject, and chose to make a system that predicted drifting patterns based on the parameters that he had tested. I think he also worked for the Coast Guard and used his program to inform the suggestions he made to search and rescue officers. People heard about it and it was officially integrated, and he became the go to expert on this amazing tech that nobody had even tried to make for serious use. If I remember correctly, even after his retirement he received calls from other nations on occasion asking for his advice on search and rescue of important objects.
@@kinseylise8595 that isn't surprising at all, most softwares are created by people whom are just there to get the job done and take on some other task they're interested in. Literally why google has a "do what you want as long as it's productive" 10-20% of your time
Very cool, despite being a recreational sailor for 30+ years I learned something today :) At one time in the sailing community, “man overboard poles” were standard equipment, basically a 2-3m long fiberglass pole with a weight at the bottom, float in the middle, and a flag on the top, commonly also attached to a life ring and buoyant line. The idea was to toss it over the side if anyone ever went overboard. The unit would act like the datum in this video, floating close to the person in the water as well as being a visual marker easy to see above the waves. In recent years these poles have largely disappeared from boats in favor of GPS chart plotters where you can fix a waypoint if anyone goes overboard and the gps will bring you back to the waypoint. BUT the waypoint will be fixed in space and unlike the person in the water will not drift with the current and wind. So the old fashioned MOB pole seems like a better tool to recover an overboard crew member than the newfangled GPS method.
This very much still exists in the form of a Danbuoy. These are pretty sweet pieces of safety equipment. it's a big brick that you throw at the person that went over, and it immediately inflates with a strobe on top and straps for the person in the water to hold on to. Some versions also have an EPIRB. They're required to have on board in every offshore race that I've been a part of.
As a previous service member I'd like to say that it is easy to say that if one service member meets another service member a truly sincere and interesting conversation about what did will ensure. At least, for me, it was difficult to find another person who was interested in anything other then themselves. There are so many interesting and fascinating career fields which exist in the service of the USA that every selfless member of our armed services is amazing!
Great video. I spent my career in the Army; wouldn't change a thing. If I had to do it over, I would consider the Coast Guard, though. They push so much responsibility to junior personnel. Their missions are pretty incredible as well: search and rescue, disaster response, law enforcement and war fighting. Mad respect to the Coasties.
Addendum to how hard it is to find things in the water: also consider that the quickest way you'd normally recognize a person at that distance is to find movement against a relatively still background, which *also* doesn't really work on open water.
Absolutely amazing work. My grandfather was a Coastie for 25 years and spent several years as a recruiter/educator, so seeing these people explain their operations greatly remind me of the stories he used to tell. Thank you for putting these out.
This is such a great video. I’m 55, but if I was college aged, I’d go talk to a coast guard recruiter this afternoon. I’m waiting for a rainy day to play this for my students. I love how varied your content is.
When you whisled and learned something so fast, I enjoy that feeling too, how amazing is that, I just get so hyped like you do. I learned some harder maths for an assessment and I was just so happy, after the test I passed out so hard from being excited all day. I just wish there was more people to have fun with math with, so really get people into it... There isn't much play room for maths with others.
I do remember hearing, the coast guard has the smallest budget, and has some of the most outdated equipment. Like their Ice breakers, unless changed, their newest ice-breaker was constructed in the 50’s or 60’s
@It's not looking good its not outdated though, there’s nothing of date to use that is worth the investment. What’s so great about the coast guard is that the most of their budget is in training vs buying new equipment that does the same thing as the old stuff
Do take into consideration, older equipment can cost more to operate in terms of service, repairs, updates, and maintenance. IE the CG cutter Smilax, in service since 1944, I would imagine operations cost significantly more than a modern vessel.
Starboard comes from steering board. In olden times the steering board was at the right rear of the boat so the seaman could use his right hand to steer. Thus, the right side of the boat was the steering board side, or more simply starboard. Because the steering board was hanging over the right side boats would dock with the left side against the dock, so the left side was known as the port side, or simply port.
I always remembered it as, in proper orientation we read left to right, and when remembering directions it's usually listed port to starboard. No history behind it, but it's easy to remember. Same with fore/aft and bow/stern, it's just reading top to bottom, so it SHOULD be easy for normies to remember...
Used to be called Larboard, loading side. With time, especially in military applications, people began thinking that it was too easily confused with starboard so it became port instead.
Thanks for the insight. Unfortunately, I'd need to do some googling to understand about "steering board was at the right rear of rhe boar" and whatnot, lol
When I was stationed in USCG Air Station Clearwater on HC130H's, did a SAR for a sinking/sunk sailboat off of Bermuda. I was a loadmaster, camera operator, dropmaster and other things. I don't make the search pattern, our radar operator does that, so don't really know much about it. This helps make sense of why district gave us a search box pretty far away from where the EPIRB was pinging (satellite beacon that floats in water). Probably took us 8+ hours to get on scene and it was pretty rough waters so I guess district did their drift calculations and came up with the search box. We/my aircraft commander wanted to fly directly to the EPIRB first but was told to begin the search box instead. Once we completed the search box and only had I think 30 minutes of on scene time for fuel left, my aircraft commander flew us straight to the EPIRB and we found them! The sailboat's captain kept the EPIRB on the raft they got on as the sailboat sunk. The EPIRB was not floating around separate to them. We stayed on scene to direct a good Samaritan cargo ship to them and they were saved. All survived, nice to have days like that. Think we were near 15 hours of flight time.
I really envy this channel and what Destin gets to do all of the time. Being able to speak with people in certain fields who actually have experience is always a treat. I wish I had the luxury to do this kind of thing. I’d love to learn the ins and outs of SO many different things a lot of us just don’t have the knowledge of. That’s why this channel and Destin is one of my favorites. You can tell Destin loves what he does. He’s just a nerd who likes learning.
Same here man! The interesting places and operations he gets access too is amazing. I get joked on my all my friends and co-workers because I find understanding things or feats of engineering so amazing, I just wanna dive in and get into how things are working. I just wanna learn all about a topic even if has no application in my life. I work in computer networking. Most of the projects I complete I end up speaking with someone about the process at say a plant (making soda's,oil and gas site's, rock quarries, etc) we are focused on the computer communications piece but I get sucked into the operation of say some crazy pump, or rock mover, or drill. I start conversations just like Destin and it seems to make peoples day that I care not just about getting a big network rolled out to make some machines automated but about the specific workings of the machines that get the work done. They are surprised I get so hyped on some crazy break press at their plant. I try to actually live by getting smarter every day. In my case, Destin gets to do this in most grand scale. He goes to NASA, Military locations, Rocket launches,etc etc. To add to this, I watch alot of channels just like Destin's, because of my love of video and communication. I have learned so much from RUclips because of how it engages me. I taught undergraduate college classes when getting my masters. Not a single professor or teacher in a school ever sucked me into a topic like these educator youtubers. Just look how many people spent 26 minutes learning about the SAR? Its because he made it compelling and interesting. I lack that ability. I may find the James Web Telescope to be this monumental feat of engineering and geek out over it. But when the topic comes up at a dinner table of friends, I cannot convey this information in such a way like 3brown1blue, Donut Media, veritasium, SAE, Tom Scott, Mark Rober, RealEngineering, Mustard or Steve Mould. I may speak about some amazing precision that it required (which destin made a video about!) and it blows my mind. The people at the table just shrug it off. No inquiry or awe. I wish I could engage people when i uncover some amazing topic that I want to share. Its a similar feeling to when Neil Degrass Tyson speaks or Brian Cox. They radiate something with their voice, word choice, speed of speaking that pulls you in. The end of the 7 holes in the ISS from destin, literally flabbergasted me. So much was taught, so much emotion in the story of getting that feat completed. I got chills. I wish I could spread that feeling these educators give to me so often.
I honestly feel like you know exactly what question we would ask and ask them for us. It really shows the dedication you give to the audience and the subject.
Woah, as a Rochester native, it was crazy to hear it get mentioned out of seemingly nowhere! So cool that these techniques are so standardized. Would love to see how the technology progresses, having the search patterns sent straight to the boats sounds like a no-brainer to me! Hope you enjoyed your time here!
I applaud Dustin's self-confidence and humility in admitting mistakes (and including them in the video) and moving on. It's not juts okay but good to be human and fallible and still be able to produce great content. Shows great emotional maturity and a good attitude as a learner - mistakes are just part of the process. :-)
The similarities between this search and rescue technique and a specific maneuver I learned in order to attain my commercial pilots certificate are almost a match. The maneuver is called “eights on pylon”. This maneuver is a ground reference maneuver where the speed over the ground determines your height above the object “pivotal altitude” where as you turn around the reference point, the object will stay under a specific area of the aircrafts wing. Just as drift comes into play in the search and rescue mission, the velocity of the wind will affect the ground speed of the aircraft. Instead of using the throttle to control the ground speed, the pilot will vary the altitude of the aircraft in order to stay at the pivotal altitude. We also enter the maneuver with the wind at our tail as the cost guard enters the grid with the drift behind them. The reason we start this maneuver with a tailwind is because the faster your ground speed, the higher the pivotal altitude. Being a “fixed power maneuver” it is preferable to descend and gain airspeed than to climb and lose airspeed. Starting pivotal altitude is determined by; (Ground Speed) squared / 11.3. Thanks for the awesome video!
Dude, this was so freaking cool. Well presented, too. That graphic at 19:25 made it totally clear. Kudos to whoever did that. (Also, I still can't whistle)
Thank you for doing this segment. Retired airedale, HC-130 and HU-25, spent many hours turning JP-8 into noise. BOAT OWNERS: Buy an EPIRB, make our jobs easier. Semper Paratus. P.S. Us Coasties don't have cafeterias, we have a Mess Hall, funny. You were in my back yard, I spent my last 7 years flying out of ATC Mobile (Aviation Training Center), and lived in my hometown of Pensacola, FL, I was HOME at night. Loved the Coast Guard, myself I was prior service US Army and found the Coast Guard a much better way of life and skills learned and applied daily. Not just training for "something" I might use one day. We used DMB's in the aviation side of the house, Data Marker Bouy (electronic) dropped it into the water first thing when we got on scene and started out search, ran the search, and if unsuccessful we would re-locate the DMB to get a good track of the potential drift of the PIC / Vessel. Our boat crews used to be able to wear short pants in the good old days, the long pants suck. Small Boat Crews ROCK, they earned their pay each day.
I was boarded once by the USCG Grand Isle Louisiana for a safety inspection. My wife and I were excited and honored because the women and men performed their duties flawlessly and professionally. They even let us take pics! It helps to have all your gear in good order to make this an awesome experience. God bless them all. 🇺🇸
I said it on the last video in this series, but I feel these are as important as they are interesting, fantastic work Destin and a big thank you to you and all guys and gals out there risking their lives every day for our safety
![Felix "Unfair" | [Stray Kids : SKZ-PLAYER]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/Oswujxm2Ag0/mqdefault.jpg)
I like that feeling I get when I do the final watch through of a video just before uploading it.... and I genuinely enjoy the content. It's like I'm grateful that the video exists, independent of who made it. Checkout this link to sign up for the email list if you’d prefer not to think and want me to just email new videos to you when I make them.
www.smartereveryday.com/email-list
Thanks to all the Coasties that took the time to teach me, and who worked with me to make this video possible.
Love you!!!!
My son and I watch your videos and discuss them. Thanks for helping educate in a fun way!
Yey Destin ur the best!)
I love all of your videos, and have been looking forward to this installment for weeks!! Don’t wait so long with the next one, LOL. Thank you Destin for everything. Blessings!
🤠🤧
That drifting VS pattern was really interesting. Overlying drifts with search patterns really leads to a counterintuitive result. This video definitely lived up to the channel name. 👍
Yeah it was really cool. The math of a floating center is so cool.
Click out of search zone one, search zone two is binding.
Feels like we dropped into a false Datum
Aye!!! I’m surprised to meet you here. 😂
@@TheNuclearBolton ya. It's always fun so see that one of your favorite RUclipsrs watches another of your favorite RUclipsrs.
I’m an old man, and just did the finger whistle for the first my whole life and have always wanted to learn and no one has been able to explain it to me. Love this channel!!!
I know right! Me too!
I can't figure it out! I don't know what they're doing with their tongue hahaha
Well I tried it but can't do it right.
I still couldn't make it! :(
@@physictist You're not alone.
A retired Coastie here. It's good to see someone talking about what the Coast Guard does to help their fellow man in distress. It's not talked about much, and I wish things like this was publicized more. I think it would benefit the Coast Guard greatly. I had a lot of fun in the Coast Guard, there's a lot of real good, and dedicated men and women hard at work 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year to do only one small part of the Coast Guard's job. I don't regret the time I served, and I'd gladly do it again without hesitation. I remember one SAR case I got involved in. I was on a cutter returning from a Narcotics Patrol in the Caribbean, on our way home when we got tagged to do a SAR for a sailboat. It was almost an all hands effort, even I had pair of binoculars and was looking for them. I made a comment to one my fellow watchstanders saying "it's too bad we don't have a helo onboard". I noticed the Captain jerked his head up and stared at me, then left the bridge. The next morning we had a helo onboard. After refueling it, giving the flight crew bathroom break (called a head), and a snack, they were back in the air officially joining the SAR effort. About 40 minutes into their patrol. They found the sailboat. All hands were rescued. And we went home to loved ones we hadn't seen in almost 2 months.
Hey why does coastguard do law enforcement at all? It's like if firefighters arrested people, or if paramedics handed out traffic citations. Isn't that an obvious conflict of interest?
@@introprospector Congress has granted them arrest authority. It's the only branch of service that has this authority. It is needed to arrest drug smugglers, and other violators of the law at sea.
@@introprospector Game wardens have some of that same dual responsibility - protection and enforcement.
@@QuentinNeill Right, but that's not a conflict of interest. The needs and interests of humans and of wild animals can be clearly delineated, even if sometimes those delineations aren't fair or just.
The physical, bodily needs of drug smugglers and of illegal immigrants are the same as citizens and tourists. Putting their lives in the hands of law enforcement is an obvious conflict of interest.
@@davidleadford6511 I understand why the government wants that to be done. What seems wrong is to have those same people responsible for rescuing people. Rescues should be rescues, pure and simple. Shouldn't matter who you are or what you've done. They're still human beings.
Former Canadian Volunteer marine SAR guy here. Ive done all of these search patterns except the barrier search (not relative for our region) and this video is absolutely dead accurate for how it really works.
In canada we use slightly different terms and tech, but the core is exactly the same, as are the outcomes.
Bravo Zulu to everyone involved in this!
"Zoom in, enhance" I think Destin just fulfilled a childhood dream saying that line.
That Blade runner thing made me laugh. :D
Lol. I was worried people wouldn’t get the joke.
I had to stop the video to look for this comment. I just had. This Easter egg made my day, thanks! :D Now back to the vid.
@@smartereveryday oh we got it
@@smartereveryday I didn't get the joke... Sorry for my other comment I really thought that was there to impress like in CSI 😕
As a retired Coastie of almost 22 years, I want to thank you for this look into what truly is an amazing career! The men and women of the CG work tirelessly to maintain their profession, which is hard to convey to anyone who is not a member of the CG. Your CG series is doing a good job as helping the public see a little more of what makes the CG such a great service!
I miss being in the CG, as I feel the CG and its outstanding members helped made me the person I am today.
Keep up the great content, and stay safe out there, my brothers and sisters in blue!
13:07 Agree 100% Mate! The most amazing career choice ever made!
Sometimes very mundane, other times insanely tense!
If not training, working on gear, or patrol, almost always called off duties to respond.
No doubt in my heart... there is a VERY special place for us Coasties... with our Mates... waiting for us!
No greater love hath no man, that he would be willing to lay down his life for his brother.
Just making the choice to dedicate yourself to that choice... matter's!
I know we will laugh again with Mates that go before us.
I am a member of the US Coast Guard Auxiliary. We also train on these search patterns in our mission to augment the active duty surface operations. This is one of the best explanations of SAR patterns I have ever seen. I am going to suggest to all of my operational colleagues that they watch this episode. Bravo Zulu, Destin!
Thanks for being out there!
Thanks.
@Jonathan Did you know that one of the preeminent SAR experts at the SAR School at RTC Yorktown was a CG Auxiliarist? Great gentlemen who did it on a voluntarily basis. Passed over the bar a few years ago but I still recall him fondly.
How does uscg use drones in searches
Just says a bunch. Legit coast guard using this video as an instruction on how to do a search pattern.
My relative was once the subject of a Coast Guard search and he mentioned that they told him they found him because they knew he was alone with just a kayak and did modeling math. They told him that a ship juts way more out of the water and usually has WAY more air currents exerted on it than a person with just their head and shoulders out of the water, who is pulled by the first 8 feet of surface currents.
Mindblowing. That's a level of predictive science that's like... High risk high reward meteorology.
I'm remember that piece of wisdom in case it ever comes in handy!
Washed my hands, spent maybe seven min trying; got a little light headed.
But after about twelve years I can finally whistle with my fingers. A skill I've always genuinely desired.
I can whistle with my teeth and my lips, but not my fingers.
I still can't do it, I honestly have no idea what I'm doing wrong lol.
@@oMuStiiA I have heard that different people have different amount of muscle control in their mouth, and learning to whistle can be harder for some than others.
@@amalirfan as far as I'm aware I have more muscle control in my mouth than most, I feel like I just haven't figured out which muscles to use in which exact positions/combination yet lol.
@@oMuStiiAlmaooo. 😂😂. This was much funnier than it probably should have been to me. 😂😂
Career Mariner here, I would also like to stress the importance of the capacity of those in need to reacue to also have their own search and scanning patterns. If they have flares, mirrors, flashlights, whistles, smoke signals, flags, anything... it can help the search party locate them quicker.
Do not use your equipment until you spot a search asset.
I understand not all lost at sea may have this equipment.
This video was awesome but your point here is huge as well! Thanks to everyone out there helping people!
Lake Ontario is 40 miles wide and 150miles long. Waves can reach 8 feet tall very quickly (20minutes) when the NW winds come down the lake. Then, that person's head sticking up half a foot is only visible when the person and possibly the search boat are both on top of a wave. Wear you lifejacket with a light when there's any wind or you're out at night. I spent a miserable night looking for someone who fell off another boat near us. Lost cause.
Of course, there was the comedy-show bright sunny day, when we came on a small outboard cruiser that had run out of gas, and was waving a Texaco NY State road map at us (no maps) and asking "where's land" after drifting for ten hours in the hot sun. The Olcott US coast guard picked them up eventually but we had to call the Canadian Coast Guard to phone the US coast guard because they weren't monitoring their radio. Oops. [fifty foot hills are invisible more than about 10 miles out because of the curve of the earth. You can see a bit of only Rochester's highest buildings in the background of the video at one point. ]
@seeni gzty Something that has helped is self-inflating lifejackets with lights built in that actuate when wet. A few have radio beacons.
I always heard that you should use the mirror periodically
@@thejerk4478 Granted, my statement is for the consumables. With the possible exception of electronic aids like GPS, and Sea Oil. I'd also like to add the impact that a task could have on moral. Keep someone or yourself busy while waiting for help.
Wave the orange flag, flash the horizon with the mirror, scan your surroundings constantly when possible.
If with a group, try to ask what the others see if you think you've spotted something but are unsure. Desparate people may easily be influenced by suggestion. Every dot in the sky begins to look like a plane, every white capped wave looks like a ship.
I feel you, bro. So many times, I have filmed things "out of phase." It's a perfect way to describe that phenomenon.
I was in Hawaii snorkeling. I had the perfect 5 minutes following a beautiful fish. Found out after that The camera was out of phase.
They really should have an audio tone for starting and another for ending, it would work underwater as well
@@haydo8373 the new go pros have this thank God! They also record the last 10 to 30 seconds incase you didn't hit record before something awesome happens.
I did this at a friend's wedding. Not a good place to do it!
As an audio engineer I completely agree.
I honestly love how they were there to talk and teach instead of them just doing it and you watching. You don't even ask anything and they'll still look at you and the camera and explain everything. Amazing way to teach and learn.
Hello Dxnny, how’re you doing?
@@kevinmilies8139 hes doing fine
I noticed that as well! I believe it's a military thing, having served in Army for 21+, when we have civilians interested in what/how we do things it's imperative to explain it so they can understand it. They did it so well.
That's how we do it.
Wow! I'm a commercial fisherman on Mobile Bay and have worked along side USCG Sector Mobile in two searches over the years. One of the searches our vessel located the debri and sunken vessel of the lost fisherman, such an odd feeling of joy mixed with sorrow. Both men were eventually located, unfortunately neither alive. We located their debri and vessel along the southwest side of Gaillard Island in the northern half of Mobile Bay, one man was found near the Heron Bay cutoff and the other was found on Petit Bois Island in Mississippi. Very sad, but that's a risk we take in our line of work. I'm very glad to have the USCG out there with us, I've been caught in some very violent weather on that Bay and they fly in it....absolute Mad Lads!!! God bless them.
ill take 1000 for stuff that never happened
@@gearbanginentertainment7476 if you say so Capt
"Let's simulate the GPS coordinates of an RBM performing a victor sierra in different types of sea drift."
That is one heck of a sentence, and props for explaining and constructing the video so well that the meaning is absolutely clear. Always impressed with the depth of understanding each of your videos guides the watcher to.
My late father was in the USCG from 1950-75 and shared a lot of stories with me from things you would never think the Coast Guard would do. He did weather patrols in the Pacific (long before there were weather satellites), was stationed in Rhodes, Greece on the USCGC Courier that broadcast the Voice of America across the Iron Curtain and into the Soviet Union, worked on a buoy tender for the last of the atomic and first of the hydrogen bomb tests, and worked in Public Health Service hospitals (back when we had Public Health Service Hospitals...), and many other things. He passed away last year at 93 and I am still proud of everything he did!
He had an interesting life for sure!
Maybe your father was nearby when my high school NJROTC instructor's DD drug anchor off of Rhodes, Greece, and went hard aground! You never know...
That sounds like a good life.
People rarely believe me when I talk about the places I went.
Funny enough, both of my ships were in active service when he was in (Sedge and Munro).
Destin learning how to whistle with his fingers was the most wholesome thing I'll see today
i still don't get it...i tried doing the same thing a few times and it just did nothing
@@ironboy3245 keep playing with it and you’ll get there. Play with how far your fingers go in your mouth, how much tongue you roll over, and how firm your lips are. I personally clamp my lips somewhat tightly down on my first knuckle (so fingers are an inch inside my mouth). Your lips should be like as if you were pretending to be a toothless old guy. My fingers roll my tongue over pretty much in the middle of my tongue. Blow as if your were forcefully blowing bubbles thru a straw. While blowing, change the angle between your hands. The video shows your “finger guns” touching, but I personally get better results when they are about 80-90 degrees apart.
@@ironboy3245 hahah it's hilarious to me we all learn this as kids where I grew up.
@@unixtreme I just don't understand how learning equates to being able to perform it, I think I just have a different tongue or fingers or mouth or something since I'm following the steps precisely and nothing, in contrast in can whistle the normal way perfectly
@@Officialmartymars I actually always wanted to be able to do this but never could. I figured that I just didn't have the right tongue for it but I tried doing it exactly as he showed Destin and I actually started to make the sound but it's late and I don't want to wake up my neighbors so I'll try again tomorrow.
Destin’s reaction to whistling is why I love this channel in a nutshell. The genuine enthusiasm to learn something new, and to share it with us is contagious.
Been subbed to sed for longer than I've been subbed to anyone else. Genuinely makes me happy to watch your videos Destin. You're like a cool big brother to a lot of us I'm sure, at least for myself I feel that way.
Big bro, hero, who I want to be, model of a true effort towards character... They all flow together sometimes.
@@LU4E-d3r definitely
100%
as I just learned, i’m six years older than Destin, so more like the smarter brother.
Thanks for the kind words!
Note: My 3 siblings are cooler than me.
Nice video. Back in the 70's when I was a Coast Guard Helo pilot there were no computers, GPS, calculators, or autopilots. We did expanding squares, parrallel lines, track lines, and creeping patterns. We calculated it manually on out knee pads with a Jeppsen flight computer. What we did have, if we had an approximate position, was a datum marker buoy. It was a radio transmitter with a flashing light that we dropped. It drifted with the current and it made it easier particularly for expanding square patterns as your turn points were specific radio directional headings to the datum. Of course we also had to compensate for the wind which was different from the current since the aircraft was affected by the wind and the wind over the body of water was different from at base so our heading on each leg had to be offset. Things are a lot more complicated. A body is mainly carried by the current but a boat or raft is also affected by the wind from the amount of surface area above the water. Then, is there a sea drogue deployed or not which would give a compromise between wind and water. The wind is constantly changing so how long has it been since the event and how long is the search taking. A storm system going through changes wind direction as it passes. There is fetch which is surface current from long term wind versus ocean current such as the Gulf Stream. They may actually be going in the opposite direction. Waves, though they mainly are going up and down also effects drift by causing slippage for a boat or raft. Things are a lot easier now for the pilots with onboard computers and autopilots that will fly the search pattern allowing the pilots and crew to spend more time looking outside for that tiny dot of a head or life jacket in rough seas. I actually got to do the prototype testing on the first aircraft flir systems which really helps out. Destin, are you sure you really want to get into this deep stuff? Enjoy all the math. I look forward to seeing the rest of the series.
This is what never ceases to amaze me.
That before everyone had a super computer in their pocket - (and before everyone's toothbrush & refridgerator were connected to the internet) - people were already getting such complicated tasks done.
(much like the computer on the Apollo mission to the moon (that Destin had a video about)...
A couple hundred kilobytes worth of mechanical transistors... And it went to the moon, succesfully)
Thank you for sharing this extensive outline of your work.
At first, I thought they would be crisscrossing the triangles, and the center was fixed by GPS. When I discovered they move around the perimeter of the triangles surveying in three directions and staying relative to a drifting center, it all fell into place. This is one of the most interesting and relevant things I have ever watched. Thank you and bravo.
Same here, it clicked for me when they were out on the water. Pretty genius and really an interesting random thing to learn
My dad was a rescue swimmer for 20 years, and I’ve never thought about what it took for him and the helicopter crew to find the casualties. Thank you for the extra insight, awesome series by the way
ASTs ("rescue swimmers") are awesome individuals whose training and work are invaluable! Semper Paratus!😎✌🏼
Semper Paratus!
Peter your dad was a CG legend. I flew with him in Kodiak. Tell your dad I said hello and that he doesn't know how to run a chainsaw.
I was just reading about the development of optimal search patterns last week. Good to finally learn how to finger whistle!
I still don't get it maybe I'm just to stupid 😅
@@demp11 YESSIR
i nearly blacked out i dont get it how to do?! :D
Curling your tongue back makes all the difference
@@demp11 I don't get it either. I'm not clear whether the tongue is "folding over" side-to-side or you're trying to flip it over front-back. And when he says "blow down" I don't know if that means you want the air to go under the tongue or what.
The whistling thing is extremely infuriating as I've never in my whole life been able to do it. Seeing Destin do it first try fills me with jealousy. I swear I've tried it a million times.
same lol
I managed to do it first time. But in the same excitement as Destin I can't recreate it again.
I've never been able to do it either haha, despite wishing I could.
i tried following the instructions, still cant do it
Yup. Can't regular whistle either. Tried my whole life and I'm gonna be 40 next year. Our mouths must be shaped weird or something 🤔😒
I spent 23 years as a coxswain with the Coast Guard Auxiliary before retiring four years ago. We did a lot of search-pattern training and I wish I'd had your video to show new crew members before going out. You did an excellent job, and it was a pleasure going through it again with you.
The animation of the VS search following that janky course was brilliant. I had to rewind and watch it again. The static pattern flowing over a moving plane suddenly made sense. Thanks for making it so easy to understand!
Your observation was well put. Thanks for being the first to put this into eloquent wording.
Well I just learned how to whistle with my hands the first try... That is crazy haha.
I hyperventilated and blew spit all over the place.
Thanks for your videos, you helped me out a lot.
I am still unable to whistle at all
Hey Chris, love your channel!
yeah tried it lined up the lines nothn, my mouth broken
This patterns reminded me of patterns for farming operations. Every pattern is good for certain conditions. For example, the most efficient way for harvest is "narrowing square" or "narrowing parralel" but if there are wild animals spotted in the area, you need "expanding parralel" pattern for those animals/birds to be able to escape.
This needs to be the next video
Wouldn't have thought of that! I'm nerding out on patterns now‐ thanks a lot, Destin.
Too good. @@chrisistubeyou I agree with you!
@@geogineer same lmao
ngl, this comment sent me down quite a learning-hole lol
Hey, farming tech could be the next series for Destin!
I love what the Coastguard does. Your videos highlight the precision and professionalism of how they do and why they do their business. As pilot, I’m awed by their SAR process.
The sign of an expert is being able to explain their craft back to you in a simple way. These coast guard members were very well practiced in what they do
Smart group of young people. I'm actually quite shocked, and reassured. Most young people I encounter, barely look up from their phones, and when they do, it's to talk about what's on their phones.
Not exactly. Expertise (in a field) and teaching are separate skills.
Teaching is basically translating (from the expert to the layman); if I'm bad at translating from English to Spanish, it doesn't mean I'm not an expert at English. It just means I'm bad at translating to Spanish.
@@jacobshirley3457 100% agree. I can't begin to tell you how many bad professors I've had. I don't care if you literally wrote the book on something, if you can't break it down and explain it to laypeople, you aren't going to be a good teacher.
I have a great respect for the many scientific communicators on YT such as Kyle Hill, Because Science, and plenty of channels like this one (Smarter Every Day) or Economics Explained for their ability to explain complex topics in a way large audiences can benefit from.
I hope everybody watching this video series will appreciate the level of training and competence of the Coast Guard personnel. Because they are so well trained, the Coast Guard entrusts their junior personnel with a tremendous degree of authority and autonomy. The Coast Guard is a great organization with some really impressive people.
Semper paratus!
Amen, Douglas. If you notice in the video, most of the individuals conducting the mission and the training are E-4 and E-5s. Not too many government agencies would qualify a 20 year old, E-4 to be in charge of a boat like that!
That whistle moment gave me chills! Destin, your genuine surprise and glee was so awesome. Thank you for your video!
I have been trying to learn this FOREVER. Got it on the fourth or fifth try!
Ive had my hands in my mouth for 5 minutes. i feel silly and still cant figure it out haha
@@ipstardell Grab some paper towels. I didn't get on my first, second or third try. Gotta dry off and I'll try it again.
I'd like to compare my no-fingers method to this double-guns method.
@@christophermusso the no-finger method is better.. learned it when I was a kid. Over the years I learned how to change pitch mid-whistle
I remember reading once that in a "man overboard situation" if you happen to see the person fall overboard or already in the water- you should not take your eyes off them. In rough seas you may never get another visual on the person due to the waves etc, and you may never find them again.
I had a hard time acclimating to college and almost quit pursuing engineering to find another major, but through your videos and some other fantastic creators in this genre I found a major I enjoy. So thank you.
That's so fantastic, best to you in your pursuits! 👍
The genuine surprise, awe, and excitement over the whistle working was so fun to watch.
I’m slightly annoyed and jealous that it worked first time and I’m here with my fingers in my mouth going “pftpfpfpftftf”
I learned to do this whistle with no fingers after seeing someone do it during a winter concert rendition of jingle bells when I was like 10. I still can't do it with fingers, and this method didn't work for me either. I feel like it's more useful to be able to do it without needing your hands anyway, but I still don't understand why I can't do it, lol.
I never knew how to whistle. I just followed what he said and 'pfpfpfpf'
Same response as destin. "Holy Cow"
@@lukefreeman828 And we all try that, don't we :-D
no shot he did ti his first time. Im literally drooling iover myself wit hmy attemps
Amazing video as usual. Also, whistled first time with that trick!
Nice!! Yeah I was blown away that it worked for me.
Love both your videos!! And yeah!!! It totally worked the first time. I had the same reaction as Destin!!! 😯🤯
Loved how excited you got.
Amazed it worked the first time though, when I was a kid I almost passed out trying 🤣
I agree. I’ve been able to whistle with thumb and finger for many years, but was inconsistent with it. Now I have a better understanding of the mechanics of it, I think I’ll be much more consistent in executing it.
I’ve always wanted to be able to whistle like this, long story short I’m very surprised how easily this worked. My wife is not so thrilled >.
Great to see Station Rochester featured (and of course CG in general)! I work in the Sector Command Center for Rochester's AOR and it's still amazing to me the tools we use to get the job done. Definitely checking out the rest of this series, I've really enjoyed your channel!
Everyone talking in this video were able to articulate themselves really well. They don't sound like they only recite stuff they memorized, but like they understand the subject (including the math) and are able to explain it. In short: they all seem to be smart people on top of the can-do attitude. I imagine that the acceptance tests to join are not easy.
Coast guard has the highest retention rate out of all the branches so the coasties tend to like what they do which in turn leads to them understanding better what their jobs are
They each own a advanced levels of motorboat licenses.This require you to be fluent in navigation
You are correct. In the Coast Guard, we are expected to learn everything related to our assets including specifications, gear on board, limitations, and how to operate the asset. We pride ourselves in training for all possible vessle casualties, including casualties to our own assets. The maintenance and cleanliness of all assets, as well as the training of all personnel is a daily event for us. It's an honor and a privilege to serve you, the American people!
Highest Regards,
-FA Wiese
USCG STA Monterey
@@Biltwon plus they don’t usually get killed or kill people, at least not on purpose.
Yeah, I agree, the only thing that bothered me is the oddly formal terminology like “air assets”. Reminds me how firefighters like to say apparatus instead of fire truck.
As a (much less experienced) mechanical engineer as well, I think it makes perfect sense to call the buoy a datum because it is stationary RELATIVE to the drift of the water. You are keeping track of your starting point relative to the drift, not geological coordinates like the GPS uses, and thus measuring the exact drift at the same time!
Yea, it's completely legit to call it stationary because it is in its specific point of reference. Our geo location are stationary in the planet point of reference but if we take Sun as the (0, 0, 0) your house is dancing around the sun and orbiting the center of Earth + Moon center of mass, right? :)
@@aikenPL Yes, everything is relative to your frame of reference
@@theELiTEboarder no, yours!
true, I instantly thought of this and I am still in HS lol
@@jack2u smart dude
As a random lateral connection. I have seen many pro paragliders recommending this search pattern for thermals. Most guides say to turn into the thermal. But in doing so you often just circle past it and miss it. The solution, apparently is to do a 270* turn away from where you think the thermal is, which should then align you to pass through the centre of it. It also accounts for your wind drift and the thermals.
I'll have to try that next time I'm looking for thermals
I feel like I'm missing something... what are thermals?
@@trickytreyperfected1482 Rising columns of warmer air.
Like when you boil a pan of water you see the water vapour rising from the pan. The air that's rising above that pan is a thermal.
Those thermals can happen at much larger scales as well when a piece of land gets hotter than it's surroundings. Then you get a much larger thermal and it is what raptors and glider pilots use to gain altitude without the need of flapping or an engine.
@@martijn9568 I see. That's actually very interesting. Thank you! I probably won't ever be able to use that information, but I personally love knowing cool things that I'll never realistically use.
@@trickytreyperfected1482 Atleast you now know why that hawk or glider is circling your house😉
Destin, that was sooooo cool and informative. I’m glad to see that there is a clear scientific method to their madness when conducting these operations. I love your enthusiasm and work, keep up the good job.
17:14 thank you for doing this. It's always easy to say something, but more effort to show something. You could've just said so, but you decided to prove it to the viewers by giving a demonstration. Yes it's more effort and it seems like a very small and short addition to the video, but it's far more informative. I know you do this a lot, but I felt this specifically deserved a mention, thanks again!
This is a great
Nice
a great
video?
Why are you everywhere
The square wave search pattern is called Boustrophedon, literally meaning "turning like the ox plows". That's the one piece of information I can't forget from my university signal-processing classes....
*Destin listing search patterns * “…and the last one is…” *garbled*
Thanks for that! It's similar to the way CRTs would draw images on the screen!
It's also how some adressable led screens are setup.
@@satibel Honestly, this method is still used on most modern screens which is why gaming monitors tell you the refresh rate lol
@@3nertia Are you referring to the way a cathode-ray vacuum tube electron gun manipulates the electron beams to display images on a phosphorescent screen?
Spent 20 years and a month in the Coast Guard in engineering. Never heard of the search pattern VZ. It is job specific. That being said, I'm 57 and just learned to whistle with my fingers. That was awesome. Thanks for the videos.
Did 10, also as a Snipe. Never went to a station.
But I also think it's a relatively (compared to our tenure) technique.
The expertise and dedication of these young men and women is impressive. To all the Coasties out there, thank you for your service!
The most mind-blowing thing I'm taking away from this video: I just learned how to finger whistle.
I can whistle a tune well enough, but I've never been able to do those really loud whistles. I tried learning the way where you make a ring with your index finger and thumb and blow down that, but was never consistent. But I did the step by step he showed in this video and immediately got a loud clear whistle. Very minor thing but I'm honestly really amazed right now. (Not anywhere near consistent though, I'll need practice.)
Keep practicing.. I've been able to whistle like that and the no-finger method since I was a kid
Same! I found the key, at least for me, is my pinkies staying parallel. Let my main gun fingers bend into my mouth and BLAM instant super loud whistle. Been trying my whole life and this was the first time and it took seconds of trying.
I got nothing but dizzy. I can whistle really loud though with just my lips.
I managed to get out a tiny bit of sound on the fifth attempt, kept trying now my lips hurt and I'm dizzy lol
After dozens of unsuccessful attempts, I went back and rewatched the video. I found out that what I was doing wrong was the angle of the hands and fingers in relation to the body. Your hands should be pointing up, not into your mouth.
I'm now able to do it consistently.
CG Vet here. Glad you did a series on the USCG. By far the best decision of my life, best people to serve with. And, unfortunately, the lease funded or talked about service. Fair winds and following seas… Semper Paratus!
That's because you're a Puddle Pirate and not a part of the military! 🤣Unless you were a part of the CG prior to 2001
@@Lady_Mandoyou’re disgusting.
@@Lady_Mando u suck
@@Lady_Mando least the CG are rescuing people and reuniting families instead of bombing weddings and shooting intersections.
Semper Paratus my friend.
Wow, as a scuba diver this is so reassuring and although it makes total sense, it would definitely not have been the way I would've steered the boat if I ever lost a buddy. So cool, and everyone in the video is so nice! Thanks for this video :D
Currents can act different underwater so it may not be completely applicable but it beats just staying in one spot looking around
“I was out of phase” is SUCH an engineer way of saying “I forgot it was already on” lol
Loving this series. Keep up the great work.
I’m 45 years old. Wanted to do that whistle my whole life. Did it within the first 30 seconds after watching this video. Amazing! Thank you.
I can't figure out what you do with your tongue. HELP ME!!!
Same
My tongue is folded over. Spit just flies everywhere. No noise.
Doesn't work for me at all.
@@piyh3962 Curl your tongue back so the tip is pointing upwards and the underside is facing out, but behind your teeth. Your finger tips should be touching the underside, and your hands/finger guns should be straight, but should be tilted downwards. Then blow.
More advanced is to make a ring with your thumb and forefinger, and place the tips evenly on the same underside of the tongue as before. Then blow. That's the one handed whistle.
Expert is more difficult again, and only uses the tongue to make a shaped opening with the teeth, lips and blowing. It can be quite loud, but for volume the previous two methods win.
21 year retired Coastie here and you explained that perfectly. The funny thing is our small boat station community are some of our youngest people and they are performing these searches all the time. It sounds complex but when you do them all the time it becomes routine. The large ships and aircraft use the same procedures.
I was just thinking that they must practice these searches at least monthly and with crew in changing roles.
@@travelinman70 I was an in the U.S. Air Force and my role was as an Air Force Tactical Air Control Party (TACP) team member. Personally I was active duty and we practiced our roles weekly and I'd be interested to know if the Coastie have a similar regimented training schedule.
I loved the end of this video. It's great to go out on a laugh. I think I replayed the dummy being pulled out of the water and hitting his head on the boat. Ortiz's laugh was so genuine.
Destin, I’ve been following your channel for a long time. Love your content! This one in particular hits home because I’m one of the lead technicians that maintains the software and infrastructure for the SAROPS program that you’re referring to. My coworker and I are on-call 24/7/365 to ensure a 100% uptime of SAROPS program for all the command centers. Thank you for such an excellent video, please keep them coming!!! I will be sharing this with my team!
And you guys do a great job of that Phil! Thanks
@@thewendts Thank you 😁
What kind of infrastructure is needed to maintain this program?
Is the software standalone, or does it require internet access to talk to your servers or databases?
To calculate search patterns, is the info from the Victor Sierra (set and drift, was it?) all you need to perform the necessary calculations, or is there supplementary information the program provides such as info on tides, wave height, wind, and weather?
You're one of the best my brother!
@@Romeo_Alpha thanks brother, hope you’re enjoying your retirement!!
A long time ago I saw a video from a fixed camera over a stretch of water with icebergs of various sizes and they were going in all different directions past each other. Basically the wind blew in one direction, the surface current went another direction, and the deeper current went in a third direction. As the icebergs of different sizes and shapes rotated, the 3 forces just pushed them in apparently entirely random directions, it was amazing to watch!!
This brought back memories of being a rescue swimmer years ago. One of the most disappointing things was staring out the window of the helicopter, searching for hours and hours, and never finding the victims.
Seriously, thank you for your service. That’s one hardcore job.
@@ScotPhelps Yes thank you. Very brave
Genuinely makes me want to cry thinking about it. I could never handle that work, even if it's not my fault we don't find them.
Semper Paratus, Coastie. Thank you for your service.
Imagine if our teachers in school were as enthusiastic as Destin. A full grown man who almost passed out from excitement from learning how to whistle. 😂
Having served in the Coast Guard for 6 years more than 30 years ago it is nice to see an educational video of these fine professionals. No on ever seems to think about those that risk their lives to save others. The old saying, “They say we have to go out…they don’t say we have to come back,” is so true. Training is done on nice calm sunny days like this but I can assure you when you are doing SAR cases in real life that is never the case. There were many times I thought we weren’t going to make it back in the seas we were in. I have passed on my patriotism and desire for service to two of my children who now serve in the Army. So proud of them both. God bless this great nation and those that protect her. Semper Paratus!
Why does coastguard do law enforcement at all? It's like if firefighters arrested people, or if paramedics handed out traffic citations. Isn't that an obvious conflict of interest?
@@introprospector They're in charge of maritime registration and inspection. They can do a random spot inspection of your boat at any time on the water, though they're usually pretty cool and just give you a warning for things to fix (like replace an expired fire extinguisher). Since they're going to be randomly boarding and inspecting boats anyway, they need to have the authority to act on any criminal activity they come across. BTW, firefighters do the same thing too. If you own a business where the public comes onto your premises, it needs to be inspected by the fire marshall. They can issue fines, shut you down, and even arrest you if you're not in compliance.
Semper Paratus!
"No one ever seems to think about those that risk their livesbto save others..." Actually some of us civilians do think of first reponders and appreciate what they do.
@@introprospector It is one of the founding missions of th Coast Guard. Originally there was two separate services, the U.S. Life Saving Service and the Revenue Cutter Service. The Revenue Cutter service acted as customs for ships coming from overseas and they would collect tarifs (hence the revenue) and fight smuggling. They ended up combine the two services and responsibilities along with others like the Steam Boat Inspection Service and the Light House Service. That is why the Coast Guard has so many main missions that were listed in the previous episode.
Thank you for highlighting the Small Boat role in SAR. Everyone focuses on the "Airedales" and the glory of the helicopters; what they miss is the crews that go out in the worst weather, spend hours on scene searching and getting beaten on by the ocean, only to have the air assets show up and make the rescue. And we still have hours more punishment going back to the station, doing maintenance to get ready for the next call, and doing our reports.
Like the crew from Station Rochester said, sometimes it's fun and sometimes it absolutely sucks. That said, we wouldn't want to be anywhere else.
Semper Paratus.
I don't get why both you and Destin say that everyone thinks about the helicopter rescues, the boats are always what primarily comes to my mind when I think about search and rescue
well said. nothing worse than being in rough seas in a tiny boat for 8 hours
Hats off to the "Black Shoes", they earned their paycheck hard each day, us Airedales had a limited time in the air before we headed back to the house to refuel and grab a bite to eat. Hey, we depended heavily upon our surface assets and just "bird dogged" for you guys.
We beat the airsta one time and it was a huge win for us.
I was an airdale... The small boat crews are essential and under appreciated. There are many elements to the USCG; I was also a marine casualty investigator... marine safety side of the USCG is even more under appreciated; if they do their job right, nothing happens. Working as a primary care provider in the medical field, (as opposed to emergency medicine) when never get thanked when I get someone to take a flu shot and they don't get the flu.
To your point though, there was never a time that when I was out on a case that I did not appreciate what our small boat crews were doing. In particular with boat hoisting work; going out in December to help keep the aircrews current... that is unique sort of sacrafice... so please let me say it now for all times it was over looked... THANK YOU TO ALL OF THE USCG BOAT CREWS from a H65 pilot.
The palpable Joy you feel figuring out how to whistle like that is EXACTLY why I love this channel.
Love this, so much. As a kid I knew there was so many variables that has to be able to calculate into real events, there is no way we can't have formulas for everything needed. That's why i'm so in love with this, and made it so effective.
Hello how are you doing ?
I took part in a (ultimately successful) search for two missing persons of a downed aircraft over the ocean, but the patterns proved entirely wrong in this case because they did not predict or include the possibility the persons in the water would be swimming towards the nearest shoreline, and had moved many miles from the search area. I did happen to fly over the missing persons, as I was not part of the "official" search and/or pattern system, but I unfortunately did NOT see them in the water, and was only informed I flew over them by them telling me this after the fact. (This is hard to hear and not get discouraged.) As you mentioned, a person is VERY hard to see in the ocean unless you are very close to them. When they were only a mile or so from the shoreline, they were ultimately spotted by an aircraft landing at a nearby airport.
Don't be discouraged, like most misses, the best you can do is learn from it.
However, I gotta admit, not taking into account swimming seems pretty surprising. Anyone who has the knowledge and strength is probably going to go for the route the empowers them.
Unlike, say, when you get lost in a forest -- to be lost means you don't know which direction to go so, if you have done the right thing and informed people of where you would be and expected return time, best to stay put.
I came down to the comments to ask about accounting for a person swimming, looks like you read my mind. I wonder if there is a standard "they'll head for the coast, are a moderate swimmer and 20 years old so we make this adjustment" kind of thing? It could get really complex but if I had to guess, I'd say they don't consider this as it's too variable
One thing that was drilled into me when I was beginning to explore the wide open world outdoors was to stay with the wreck unless it became unsafe to do so. SAR has a much easier time spotting a 15' long jeep or boat than a person, especially if they're in the water. Strong swimmer or not, it's also very difficult to judge how far you are from land when your eyeballs are only a few inches above the surface and only get intermittent glances.
@@jarphabib My counterpoint is that if you have survived a sinking (not a capsize), can see land, and are a moderate swimmer, you can probably make it on your own, and even if you can't, you're doing something - anything - to keep that will to live. The psychological is usually the bigger battle. I can't imagine thinking "I'm just going to tread water right here for as long as I can."
@@PatrickKQ4HBD Is it really a counterpoint when I directly said "unless it becomes unsafe" and an entirely cleanly sunk boat would probably qualify. Will to live can manifest in many ways. "I can't imagine burning all my calories struggling against unknown currents when I could just float here for free."
I haven't been in the boating game in a while, but IIRC most modern composite boats and even aluminum ones tend to be neutrally buoyant when flooded, they don't Titanic straight to the bottom unless heavily damaged. Steel hulled ships and workboats are a different matter of course. But then you're going to have a debris field, and 50 floating lounge cushions are going to be easier to find than one swimmer who struck out alone.
I am so happy that you are raising awareness of the U.S. Coast Guard. I lived that life for four years, saving the lives of scores of people, None of whom I know personally. However, wearing Coast Guard swag, I have people thanking me for my service, which, serving just a few years after the end of the Vietnam War and remembering their cold reception returning home means alot. But what is really cool is that at least once a year, someone would come up to me and say that they are alive today because of the Coast Guard. That's what it's all about. The Auxiliary taught people to be safer boaters and avoid becoming victims. Usually, the ones we rescued missed those classes. We also did law enforcement patrols to protect our shores and natural resources. Coast Guard ATON units, the black boats took care of all the aids to navigation and the red cutters are ice breakers. They love to back and ram. Or at least that's what their tee shirts claim. The helicopter swimmers are like the Coast Guard's special forces. After a hero with Navy Seals swimmers who rescue downed pilots assisted on a mission in the early 80s, rescuing victims too exhausted to get in a basket on their own, the Coast Guard recognized that we needed the same resources, the Coast Guard AST's were born. Less than 50 percent of those who attend AST school actually make it through the training. They truly are a special bree d.
Destin, I'm constantly amazed how things I thought were simple no-brainers, turn out to be "brainer" things, like this video on search patterns for example. Also, whatever mic system you are using for picking up stereo audio works amazingly well, especially when you were speaking with the CG guys towards the end of the video, I felt like I was right there in the middle listening to you and them speaking to each other. Thank you for the video, it is so nice to discover there are neat cool things we can learn from all around us.
Love the sly smile from the coastie while explaining 6 knots for 1 minute.
When I was in the Army, I learned a similar thing to the Victor Sierra for land navigation. We called it a Clover. Basically, if you're looking for something at a specific coordinate, you plot it out and get to wherever you think that coordinate is. Then you use wherever you are as a starting point and make four loops in every direction, like the leaves on a clover, to try to find what you're looking for.
An old high school friend of mine is a Captain in the Coast Guard. I appreciate these videos. I really had no idea how much the Coast guard does for our safety.
I appreciate that the hand-drawn intro was probably as much effort as the rest of the video.
The humility to admit when you messed up. Doing it when you could just edit that out and pretend it didn't happen - priceless. You're a man of character, Destin.
character lmao, more like short on time
@@eavyeavy2864 his video is way over the 10 minute mark, wdym
@@youreright...1284 "short on time" here means "lacking time to produce the video to the desired standard", not "lacking video runtime/length".
@@JivanPal oh my bad 😌
Thank you, for keeping me thoroughly entertained, while I waited for you to answer the question.
Not the destination but the journey?
In my early days of doing analysis of anti-submarine warfare for the US Navy, we had a term called "flaming datum". If a friendly surface vessel got torpedoed, it was a datum used to initiate a search for a hostile sub in that area.
GO NAVY
That is assuming that it was still afloat! If it was a ship full of ammo.....! Huge datum of floating bits.
The post-it note with the bidet checklist is hilarious! lmao
I've tried I don't know how many times in my life to whistle like that and never figured it out... until now! Absolutely amazing!
Your whistle is weak bro
Where did your tongue go!!!
The software they're using was developed by just one employee many years ago! He was actually asked to stay on for years after his retirement because he was the only person who knew how to work the software! I believe that the search pattern originally included eight search objects (it was hard to get people to agree to just go adrift for research!) but eventually expanded to the number that we have today. The setup became so well used because it was considerably more effective than traditional search patterns (although never perfect). Sadly I heard all of this years ago so I can't remember if this was the story of SAROPS (the current system) or SARPS (the original system). On one hand it was the first of it's kind so surely it was SARPS, but on the other I remember it's use continuing until fairly recently, which might make it SAROPS (which started being used in 2003).
Ah, hiring only one developer for crucial software. That's a tale as old as computers.
@@vigilantcosmicpenguin8721 Surprisingly, they didn't hire him to do it at all! He was a researcher publishing papers on the subject, and chose to make a system that predicted drifting patterns based on the parameters that he had tested. I think he also worked for the Coast Guard and used his program to inform the suggestions he made to search and rescue officers. People heard about it and it was officially integrated, and he became the go to expert on this amazing tech that nobody had even tried to make for serious use. If I remember correctly, even after his retirement he received calls from other nations on occasion asking for his advice on search and rescue of important objects.
Yes I remember hearing this story too! It was really interesting
@@kinseylise8595 that isn't surprising at all, most softwares are created by people whom are just there to get the job done and take on some other task they're interested in. Literally why google has a "do what you want as long as it's productive" 10-20% of your time
Very cool, despite being a recreational sailor for 30+ years I learned something today :) At one time in the sailing community, “man overboard poles” were standard equipment, basically a 2-3m long fiberglass pole with a weight at the bottom, float in the middle, and a flag on the top, commonly also attached to a life ring and buoyant line. The idea was to toss it over the side if anyone ever went overboard. The unit would act like the datum in this video, floating close to the person in the water as well as being a visual marker easy to see above the waves. In recent years these poles have largely disappeared from boats in favor of GPS chart plotters where you can fix a waypoint if anyone goes overboard and the gps will bring you back to the waypoint. BUT the waypoint will be fixed in space and unlike the person in the water will not drift with the current and wind. So the old fashioned MOB pole seems like a better tool to recover an overboard crew member than the newfangled GPS method.
This very much still exists in the form of a Danbuoy. These are pretty sweet pieces of safety equipment. it's a big brick that you throw at the person that went over, and it immediately inflates with a strobe on top and straps for the person in the water to hold on to. Some versions also have an EPIRB. They're required to have on board in every offshore race that I've been a part of.
@@Troggination that’s so cool! Same principle just a little updated, I like it
These guys are legendary..knowing these guys are out there doing this important work makes me feel safer when I go out sea fishing..
I always admire how you unabidingly *try to pry* at hardcore service personnel, slowly cracking them up with your genuine enthusiasm and admiration. 🙂
As a previous service member I'd like to say that it is easy to say that if one service member meets another service member a truly sincere and interesting conversation about what did will ensure. At least, for me, it was difficult to find another person who was interested in anything other then themselves. There are so many interesting and fascinating career fields which exist in the service of the USA that every selfless member of our armed services is amazing!
Great video. I spent my career in the Army; wouldn't change a thing. If I had to do it over, I would consider the Coast Guard, though. They push so much responsibility to junior personnel. Their missions are pretty incredible as well: search and rescue, disaster response, law enforcement and war fighting. Mad respect to the Coasties.
Their drug interdiction work is some of the most respectable in that category as well.
Addendum to how hard it is to find things in the water: also consider that the quickest way you'd normally recognize a person at that distance is to find movement against a relatively still background, which *also* doesn't really work on open water.
26:24 Glad im not the floating dumby, got a heck of a head smack lol
Absolutely amazing work. My grandfather was a Coastie for 25 years and spent several years as a recruiter/educator, so seeing these people explain their operations greatly remind me of the stories he used to tell. Thank you for putting these out.
This is such a great video. I’m 55, but if I was college aged, I’d go talk to a coast guard recruiter this afternoon. I’m waiting for a rainy day to play this for my students. I love how varied your content is.
Civil Air Patrol pilot and we do inland SAR (I'm in MT). This video is excellent material to help me teach our cadets.
Thank You!!
When you whisled and learned something so fast, I enjoy that feeling too, how amazing is that, I just get so hyped like you do. I learned some harder maths for an assessment and I was just so happy, after the test I passed out so hard from being excited all day. I just wish there was more people to have fun with math with, so really get people into it... There isn't much play room for maths with others.
Hello Rusty
I do remember hearing, the coast guard has the smallest budget, and has some of the most outdated equipment. Like their Ice breakers, unless changed, their newest ice-breaker was constructed in the 50’s or 60’s
thats good! quality american-made metal from the 60s vs the cheap chinesium from today
@It's not looking good its not outdated though, there’s nothing of date to use that is worth the investment. What’s so great about the coast guard is that the most of their budget is in training vs buying new equipment that does the same thing as the old stuff
@@calebmauer1751 ok. i didnt ask whether you agreed or not. the money should be given to american companies not chinese ones.
Do take into consideration, older equipment can cost more to operate in terms of service, repairs, updates, and maintenance. IE the CG cutter Smilax, in service since 1944, I would imagine operations cost significantly more than a modern vessel.
@@gearbanginentertainment7476 I wish China buys you out
Starboard comes from steering board. In olden times the steering board was at the right rear of the boat so the seaman could use his right hand to steer. Thus, the right side of the boat was the steering board side, or more simply starboard.
Because the steering board was hanging over the right side boats would dock with the left side against the dock, so the left side was known as the port side, or simply port.
I always remembered it as, in proper orientation we read left to right, and when remembering directions it's usually listed port to starboard. No history behind it, but it's easy to remember. Same with fore/aft and bow/stern, it's just reading top to bottom, so it SHOULD be easy for normies to remember...
Used to be called Larboard, loading side. With time, especially in military applications, people began thinking that it was too easily confused with starboard so it became port instead.
Huh, didn't know that, now I might actually remember which is which for once XD
“Port is a kind of wine, grandpa likes wine, grandpa is left handed” as stupid as this is that’s how I learned it
Thanks for the insight. Unfortunately, I'd need to do some googling to understand about "steering board was at the right rear of rhe boar" and whatnot, lol
i’ve been loving the recent 2 deep dive series! i wonder what will be next :0 keep it up!!
When I was stationed in USCG Air Station Clearwater on HC130H's, did a SAR for a sinking/sunk sailboat off of Bermuda. I was a loadmaster, camera operator, dropmaster and other things. I don't make the search pattern, our radar operator does that, so don't really know much about it.
This helps make sense of why district gave us a search box pretty far away from where the EPIRB was pinging (satellite beacon that floats in water). Probably took us 8+ hours to get on scene and it was pretty rough waters so I guess district did their drift calculations and came up with the search box. We/my aircraft commander wanted to fly directly to the EPIRB first but was told to begin the search box instead.
Once we completed the search box and only had I think 30 minutes of on scene time for fuel left, my aircraft commander flew us straight to the EPIRB and we found them! The sailboat's captain kept the EPIRB on the raft they got on as the sailboat sunk. The EPIRB was not floating around separate to them. We stayed on scene to direct a good Samaritan cargo ship to them and they were saved. All survived, nice to have days like that. Think we were near 15 hours of flight time.
I really envy this channel and what Destin gets to do all of the time. Being able to speak with people in certain fields who actually have experience is always a treat. I wish I had the luxury to do this kind of thing. I’d love to learn the ins and outs of SO many different things a lot of us just don’t have the knowledge of. That’s why this channel and Destin is one of my favorites. You can tell Destin loves what he does. He’s just a nerd who likes learning.
Same here man! The interesting places and operations he gets access too is amazing. I get joked on my all my friends and co-workers because I find understanding things or feats of engineering so amazing, I just wanna dive in and get into how things are working. I just wanna learn all about a topic even if has no application in my life. I work in computer networking. Most of the projects I complete I end up speaking with someone about the process at say a plant (making soda's,oil and gas site's, rock quarries, etc) we are focused on the computer communications piece but I get sucked into the operation of say some crazy pump, or rock mover, or drill. I start conversations just like Destin and it seems to make peoples day that I care not just about getting a big network rolled out to make some machines automated but about the specific workings of the machines that get the work done. They are surprised I get so hyped on some crazy break press at their plant. I try to actually live by getting smarter every day. In my case, Destin gets to do this in most grand scale. He goes to NASA, Military locations, Rocket launches,etc etc.
To add to this, I watch alot of channels just like Destin's, because of my love of video and communication. I have learned so much from RUclips because of how it engages me. I taught undergraduate college classes when getting my masters. Not a single professor or teacher in a school ever sucked me into a topic like these educator youtubers. Just look how many people spent 26 minutes learning about the SAR? Its because he made it compelling and interesting. I lack that ability. I may find the James Web Telescope to be this monumental feat of engineering and geek out over it. But when the topic comes up at a dinner table of friends, I cannot convey this information in such a way like 3brown1blue, Donut Media, veritasium, SAE, Tom Scott, Mark Rober, RealEngineering, Mustard or Steve Mould. I may speak about some amazing precision that it required (which destin made a video about!) and it blows my mind. The people at the table just shrug it off. No inquiry or awe. I wish I could engage people when i uncover some amazing topic that I want to share.
Its a similar feeling to when Neil Degrass Tyson speaks or Brian Cox. They radiate something with their voice, word choice, speed of speaking that pulls you in. The end of the 7 holes in the ISS from destin, literally flabbergasted me. So much was taught, so much emotion in the story of getting that feat completed. I got chills. I wish I could spread that feeling these educators give to me so often.
I honestly feel like you know exactly what question we would ask and ask them for us.
It really shows the dedication you give to the audience and the subject.
Woah, as a Rochester native, it was crazy to hear it get mentioned out of seemingly nowhere! So cool that these techniques are so standardized. Would love to see how the technology progresses, having the search patterns sent straight to the boats sounds like a no-brainer to me! Hope you enjoyed your time here!
This is odd as I work in Rochester, Kent, UK: Historic Naval port. I didn't know Rochester, NY existed. Hi!
Love Justin’s _“Awesome Mix vol. 1”_ tattoo!!! Guardians fan no doubt!
I applaud Dustin's self-confidence and humility in admitting mistakes (and including them in the video) and moving on. It's not juts okay but good to be human and fallible and still be able to produce great content. Shows great emotional maturity and a good attitude as a learner - mistakes are just part of the process. :-)
Destin*
Like Destiny's child. Without the y or the child. Or the pop group. Or the music.
Many might fear loss of credibility when mistakes are admitted but such honesty only increases credibility.
@@esnebta u got baited brother
@@longlivelinux90 oh ok
@@stryderlee after the video it makes sense, inside it is a bit unnecessary
The similarities between this search and rescue technique and a specific maneuver I learned in order to attain my commercial pilots certificate are almost a match. The maneuver is called “eights on pylon”. This maneuver is a ground reference maneuver where the speed over the ground determines your height above the object “pivotal altitude” where as you turn around the reference point, the object will stay under a specific area of the aircrafts wing. Just as drift comes into play in the search and rescue mission, the velocity of the wind will affect the ground speed of the aircraft. Instead of using the throttle to control the ground speed, the pilot will vary the altitude of the aircraft in order to stay at the pivotal altitude. We also enter the maneuver with the wind at our tail as the cost guard enters the grid with the drift behind them. The reason we start this maneuver with a tailwind is because the faster your ground speed, the higher the pivotal altitude. Being a “fixed power maneuver” it is preferable to descend and gain airspeed than to climb and lose airspeed. Starting pivotal altitude is determined by; (Ground Speed) squared / 11.3.
Thanks for the awesome video!
Dude, this was so freaking cool. Well presented, too. That graphic at 19:25 made it totally clear. Kudos to whoever did that.
(Also, I still can't whistle)
Thank you! You’ve saved me 25 minutes getting to the point.
Solid content. It’s impressive seeing the coast guard guys talking easily about complex procedures. Respect.
Thank you for doing this segment. Retired airedale, HC-130 and HU-25, spent many hours turning JP-8 into noise. BOAT OWNERS: Buy an EPIRB, make our jobs easier. Semper Paratus.
P.S. Us Coasties don't have cafeterias, we have a Mess Hall, funny. You were in my back yard, I spent my last 7 years flying out of ATC Mobile (Aviation Training Center), and lived in my hometown of Pensacola, FL, I was HOME at night. Loved the Coast Guard, myself I was prior service US Army and found the Coast Guard a much better way of life and skills learned and applied daily. Not just training for "something" I might use one day. We used DMB's in the aviation side of the house, Data Marker Bouy (electronic) dropped it into the water first thing when we got on scene and started out search, ran the search, and if unsuccessful we would re-locate the DMB to get a good track of the potential drift of the PIC / Vessel. Our boat crews used to be able to wear short pants in the good old days, the long pants suck. Small Boat Crews ROCK, they earned their pay each day.
Kinda wish I had gone into the coast guard it seems like a really fulfilling career
I'm sure someone has already said it, but the animation at 19:38 was very well done, with the overlaid triple triangle. A+
I was boarded once by the USCG Grand Isle Louisiana for a safety inspection. My wife and I were excited and honored because the women and men performed their duties flawlessly and professionally. They even let us take pics! It helps to have all your gear in good order to make this an awesome experience. God bless them all. 🇺🇸
I said it on the last video in this series, but I feel these are as important as they are interesting, fantastic work Destin and a big thank you to you and all guys and gals out there risking their lives every day for our safety