I first tried to get them to repeat the radio call but received no response. Then I scanned the horizon with binoculars for a very long time. Bouncing back & forth to the radio inside to see if they were calling again. I heard a couple of squawks on the radio but no other voices. Normally the radio doesn't squawk so this was likely someone trying to transmit.
So with a lot of spare time out here, this makes one's mind go into overdrive. Was this someone in distress? Maybe in a raft with a low power VHF handheld radio (like what I carry; redundant to the boat's radio). If so, wouldn't they be more likely to be broadcasting a mayday than calling out to a passing boat by type of vessel? However, if someone's been in a raft with the weather like we've had for the past two days, they would likely be a little scrambled. Also, if they had spotted me visually as a catamaran, they would have to be very close to me - less than two miles. Any further and you can't discern a cat from a monohull. I performed multiple very thorough scans but couldn't see anything and it's an extremely clear day with zero haze to the horizon. I also scanned visually by standing on the top of the cockpit roof which puts my eyes over 15ft above the water. No joy.
Just in case, I put a waypoint on the chart showing the point of contact.
So what's another possibility?
It could be the monohull I passed a day ago so they are likely somewhere about 20-30 miles behind me. That's potentially the outside range of the VHF radio. If they didn't write down my boat name from AIS, they could be calling to me by boat type as we ended up sailing side by side just over a half mile apart for awhile.
Maybe they want to buy me a beer at Cafè Sport in Horta?
Yeah, that's the ticket!
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