The boat most often in trouble is a small open one, like a jon boat, a bass boat or a kayak rigged for fishing, with no VHF and no beacon, just a phone. VesselSOS makes that phone count: a live link for someone at home, and an SOS screen with your position, a script of what to say and a one-tap 911 call.
Alone at five in the morning, anchored on a hump or drifting a flat, and nobody at home knows more than “back by noon”. The live link changes that: your position and battery in their browser, with no app to install and no account. If the dot ends up where it shouldn’t be, they see it happen.
On a bass boat or center console under 26 ft, federal law says to wear the engine cut-off lanyard whenever you’re on plane (46 U.S.C. 4312). Every boat needs a USCG-approved life jacket for each person, boats 16 ft and over a throwable, and most boats with an engine a fire extinguisher (33 CFR 175, checked Oct 2026). Your state may add more, and laws change, so confirm with your state boating agency. The safety checklist builds the full list for your boat.
A trolling motor with a dead battery or an outboard that won’t start is a tow: the app shows TowBoatUS and Sea Tow, each with a Call button for its 24-hour dispatch line, or dials your member number. When to call which is spelled out in boat broke down: who to call. When it genuinely is life-threatening, it’s one tap on SOS, one yes/no question, and the app dials 911.
Spring and fall fishing puts you on cold water with an empty lake around you. Your coordinates are on screen the moment the app opens (GPS needs no cell signal), and the pre-written text with a map link (one tap to open, then Send) reaches everyone you chose, on coverage too weak for anything else.
A life jacket does the surviving; the app does the finding. VesselSOS is an aid, not a rescue service: in immediate danger, call 911, or use Channel 16 if you carry a VHF.
Yes. In US waters, coastal or inland, “Yes, a life is in danger” dials 911, which reaches the local responders on lakes and rivers, often the county sheriff’s marine unit or fire rescue. The SOS screen and texts work anywhere your phone has a signal.
One big SOS button, then one yes/no question, and the app dials as soon as you tap Yes. It’s built to work when your hands aren’t at their best.
Pick motor boat for a bass boat, jon boat, pontoon or center console (the other types are sailing boat, SUP/kayak and jet ski). Its name, length and color go into the call script, and its name into the texts you send.