BoatBanter.com - View Single Post

wrote in news:1138217939.683622.314630
@o13g2000cwo.googlegroups.com:

Often as not... the bridge duty officer is preoccuppied with constant
paper work and on going questions that are generated over the air
waves by the charter much less the ship's owner. The VHF unit may
or may not be on...and if so... the squelch threshhold level is set
so high... that an outside party would have to be right next door...
to break through.

Thank you, Bill. That's precisely what I was talking about. These
boaters think the ships are like a WW2 destroyer with watches on bow,
stern, bridge wings and in the crow's nest. It's just not true, as you
say. It's why their sailboats get run down, occasionally and noone on
the ship notices it.

When I'm on a midwatch, bored to tears, and I see a ship on radar or its
lights, I try to call them on 16 or 13 just to see if anyone is really
listening. Once in a while I get a response, most times NOTHING....same
with fishing boats. Sure there's lots of boats close to shore within the
15 mile range of a VHF, but most of them aren't listening to 16, much
less the Channel 70 dream channel. We have two VHF DSC radios and the
Icom M802 on HF....I'd hate to think I had to find someone to answer my
distress call 100 miles S of the Charleston Jetties on the edge of the
Gulf Stream when I haven't seen a soul since we passed the Savannah ship
channel.

Those of you that think you're going to get attention, just try it. When
you're out there cruising along, switch to Channel 16 and just call for
any station to respond to see if anyone is listening. That's not an
emergency. Do what the boaters all do in the harbor, ask for a radio
check and see if anyone answers. I bet you'll feel very "alone"....

It's way time the world's governments, including ours, with ITU support
simply decided if you can't afford a working GPS-enabled EPIRB, you don't
belong out of sight of land. It's the least you can do for yourself,
your passengers and those poor *******s that have to look for you over
hundreds of square miles when you don't show up. Simple...No 406 EPIRB
with a current status sticker from the safety shop...no leaving the 3
mile limit into International Waters.

Like Bruce says and all his Alaskan fishermen know...406 EPIRB works
great. What I don't understand is this stupid reluctance to use it if
you're stranded "out there" and noone answers your VHF call. What's with
that? You don't have to be drowning to call for help, do you, when it's
too late?? This goddamned independence fetish lots of boaters have is
what's killing them.