May Day Today

Pan Pacific Hotel, Rm 1214 (Melbourne)

Friday 1 May 2020

In looking at the date today I see it’s the 1^st of May, a holiday in many countries; simply known as May Day.  A time to dance and weave our streamers around a tall pole in the village square, or march in solidarity with our comrades in support of worker’s rights.    

Of course, it also means that four months of the year are now gone, and are not coming back.  Winter, or Summer, (depending on your address) is just 30 days away and there are just 239 shopping days till Christmas; although, hasn’t online shopping and the Coronavirus made a mess of that ol’ one liner.

Now, “May Day” of course, can also mean something completely different.  And it’s here that a small amount of nautical-speak is being inserted back into this blog – despite the distance I am currently from my boat; 1,396 nautical miles, or 2,585 kilometers to be precise.

Because when called three times over a radio, it had better mean something more than just … “we’ve run out of cold beer”… In fact, in the United States, it can land you in jail for up to six years and a fine of up to $250,000 (that’s $US) if your distress call turns out to be a fake.  No doubt similar penalties exist in other countries.

In short, “May Day!” is something you never want to hear, or have to plead, over the radio.  It means you are at the end of the road … or water, or altitude … take your pick … or you will be very soon.   

When it comes to water-born disasters, I’ve heard stories of people abandoning ship and retreating to the “safety” of their life raft, amidst a “May Day Scenario” … only for their distressed and sinking boat to be discovered days, weeks, even months later … still bobbing above the waves.

The dark-humour of the sea has it that … “you never step down into a life raft, you only ever step up.”

But where did the term “May Day” come from, and while we’re at it … those other, less drastic radio messages “Pan Pan Pan” and “Securite, Securite, Securite”.  You learn this stuff when you sit for your radio licence, but it never occurred to be to look up the origins of the terms until today.

And would you believe … and I quote …

Mayday got its start as an international distress call in 1923. It was made official in 1948. It was the idea of Frederick Mockford, who was a senior radio officer at Croydon Airport in London. He came up with the idea for “mayday”  because it sounded like the French word m’aider, which means “help me.”

Now, isn’t that interesting ?!  I never knew that until today.

And while we’re at it …

For situations that are less than life-threatening, one of several other urgent messages can be conveyed. For example, “Pan-Pan” — from the French word panne, which means “breakdown” — can be used to signal an urgent situation involving a mechanical or medical issue.

Another signal is “Securite”—from the French word sécurité, which means “safety.” Securite is often used to convey a message about safety, such as bad weather or navigation hazards. Like mayday, these phrases are usually repeated three times to avoid confusion.

https://www.nationaltrust.org.au/places/polly-woodside/

Relating all that back to my confinement and detention here in room 1214 at the Pan Pacific Hotel … well, there’s no possible way of doing that I’m afraid … unless it was called the … Pan Pan Pan Pacific Hotel … which would be silly really.  Who’d stay at a hotel like that, with a perpetual warning of “breakdown” in its name.  For some reason the words “Fawlty Towers” just popped into my mind, but I digress.

Thank you to everyone for your continued encouragement and best wishes.  My accumulated store of boutique brown paper bags, “used only once” … is getting larger.  I think I counted 14 bags in my neat pile, along with a similar number of plastic takeaway containers; all meticulously washed in my washbasin – they say routines are good for you when in isolation.

Apparently, it was cold in Melbourne today.  It certainly looked a bit on the chilly side, but of course there is only one “season” here in room 1214.  No rain of course and it’s always (exactly) 23 degrees; day and night.

The sun starts the day streaming into my room, once I press the UP button on the electric blind switch of course … which means it goes to bed on the other side of this building.  I’ll have a good look in 10 days maybe.

The low afternoon sun, and there was some this afternoon peering through the clouds, creates reflections in the windows across the Yarra from me that looked bright enough to start a fire.  I took a few photos which tell the story, despite the dirt on the outside of my window – I think they’re having difficulty finding a window cleaner with a ladder long enough to reach?!

Till tomorrow…

Smooth seas, fair breeze and may day today

Rob Latimer