Skip Gundlach wrote:

... three power boats were coming up on our stern. I got on the
blower and said, "Southbound power boats approaching southbound St.
Thomas registry sailboat (our name is on the bow and sideboards, not
the stern), when you get to me, I'll pull over to the right and go
into neutral to allow you a safe slow pass." ...

I have made 12 or so transits on the Atlantic ICW from the NYC vicinity to
the Keys. Despite the prohibitions regarding traffic on VHF 16, I routinely
contact upcoming power boat traffic (and sometimes sail traffic that is
clearly able to pass quickly) and advise that I will pull to the right
(usually) and go to neutral to allow a quick pass. I don't recall ever
encountering an uncooperative vessel under such circumstances. Usually I
get a response on VHF 16, a short "OK" or the like. Sometime they leave me
guessing but still pass well.

Unfortunately this abuses 16, so I don't often mention my boat name, just
something like "small white sailboat 400 yards on your bow," etc.

Works for me.

--
Good luck and good sailing.
s/v Kerry Deare of Barnegat
http://home.comcast.net/~kerrydeare

On Sat, 10 Nov 2007 07:29:36 -0500, "Armond Perretta"
wrote:

Unfortunately this abuses 16, so I don't often mention my boat name, just
something like "small white sailboat 400 yards on your bow," etc.

As long as you are calling someone and keep it brief, there is no
abuse of 16. You can also switch to low power which will limit the
range to a couple of miles.

"Wayne.B" wrote in message
...
On Sat, 10 Nov 2007 07:29:36 -0500, "Armond Perretta"
wrote:

Unfortunately this abuses 16, so I don't often mention my boat name, just
something like "small white sailboat 400 yards on your bow," etc.

As long as you are calling someone and keep it brief, there is no
abuse of 16. You can also switch to low power which will limit the
range to a couple of miles.


Yeah, that's another thing that drives me crazy sometimes... people blasting
out on hi power when the two boats are next to each other.

--
"j" ganz @@
www.sailnow.com

On Sat, 10 Nov 2007 12:38:47 -0500, Wayne.B wrote:

As long as you are calling someone and keep it brief, there is no abuse of
16.

bzzzt! Oh sorry Wayne, but thanks for playing.

mr.b wrote:
On Sat, 10 Nov 2007 12:38:47 -0500, Wayne.B wrote:

As long as you are calling someone and keep it brief, there is no abuse of
16.

bzzzt! Oh sorry Wayne, but thanks for playing.

The handout we got from the Coast Guard recommends contacting boats (for
any reason) on 16 and then immediately switching to another channel.

Stephen

Stephen Trapani wrote:

mr.b wrote:
On Sat, 10 Nov 2007 12:38:47 -0500, Wayne.B wrote:

As long as you are calling someone and keep it brief, there is no abuse of
16.

bzzzt! Oh sorry Wayne, but thanks for playing.

The handout we got from the Coast Guard recommends contacting boats (for
any reason) on 16 and then immediately switching to another channel.

True. But even the CG can't adhere to this all the time. They will
try to switch someone who is having a problem to channel 22Alpha, and
won't be able to do it.

If you contact someone, about passing in the ICW, you have to have at
least ONE response from them in order to do that "immediate switching"
to another channel. It's quicker, and easier, and ties up the channel
LESS, if you contact them briefly and state your intentions in one
short transmission, and they acknowledge.

If they don't acknowledge, you don't know if they have heard you. And
some radios are not very easy to switch from one channel to another.

We were called by someone in Norfolk on Channel 16 - they had been
traveling along the ICW at about the same speed as we were. The
wanted to tell us that there was a tug and barge coming up behind us
that wanted to pass who had been calling us on the radio, but we
hadn't heard them. We didn't need to switch to talk about it. They
called, we answered, they told us to move over and that was it.

And if you switch to another channel, you have to have someone to
operate the radio (or you have take time to change the channel
depending on your setup) and then make contact again - all to say what
you could have said in one short transmission and answer.

Which ties up the channel less?

A: Wet Dreams, Wet Dreams this is Blythe Spirit - stay close, go slow
and we will shift back to neutral as you pass. Over

And then either
- OK Blythe Spirit Out
or (more likely) no answer.

B. Wet Dreams Wet Dreams. This is Blythe Spirit - shift and answer
channel 69..

Wet Dreams, Wet Dreams this is Blythe Spirit on 69. if you give us a
nice pass we will shift to neutral as you pass.

(no answer)

Wet Dreams this is Blythe Spirit on 69

Wet Dreams this is Blythe Spirit on 16

and by that time Wet Dreams has caught up and the whole thing becomes
moot.


If you are talking to someone on a regular basis and at length, then
yes, you ought to contact and switch. I don't need to hear all the
fishermen discussing their catch or that kind of thing. In that case
you probably already have an agreed on channel to switch to.

In article ,
Wayne.B wrote:

On Sat, 10 Nov 2007 07:29:36 -0500, "Armond Perretta"
wrote:

Unfortunately this abuses 16, so I don't often mention my boat name, just
something like "small white sailboat 400 yards on your bow," etc.

As long as you are calling someone and keep it brief, there is no
abuse of 16. You can also switch to low power which will limit the
range to a couple of miles.

Well you may not see it as "Abuse", However, by International Convention
(International Maritime Organization, or IMO, an appendige of the United
Nations) Marine Channel 16, IS a Calling and Distress Channel ONLY.....

One mans "Abuse", may be anothers, "Little White Lie"......

I routinly complain, to the Comander of USCG District 17 Communications
Operations, about USCG conducting Flight OPs Communications with their
Helio's on Channel 16, rather than switching to their Assigned Working
Channel of 21A. The first time, I got a nice letter stating, "That
the USCG was not Governed by the FCC Rules for Radio Operations."
Then I made an appointment with the Commander, and upon meeting him,
showed my credentials, as the local FCC Field Agent, and reminded him,
that Maritime Radio Communications was an International Convention,
and the United States, WAS Signitory to that Convention, and his
Oganization, was a part of the Department of Transportsation (at that
time, now a part of Homeland Security) and therfore WAS Required, by
said International Convention, to not conduct Flight OPs Traffic on
Marine Channel 16, UNLESS that Flight, was Designated a "Search & Rescue"
Flight, AND Flight OPs Traffic could not be passed by any other means.

The Commander did a little research, and I got a very nice letter from
him with a CC to all CommStations in USCG District 17, ammending the
Policy of conducting Comms on Marine Channel 16, so as to be in
compliance with the IMO's Convention. I also got a nice letter from
FCC Hq.

Seems like every time USCG District 17 gets a new Communications Officer,
they go back to their "Old Habits", and I have to remind them of their
responcibility.......


Bruce in alaska
--
add path before @

"Bruce in Alaska" wrote in message
...
snip..
I routinly complain, to the Comander of USCG District 17 Communications
Operations, about USCG conducting Flight OPs Communications with their
Helio's on Channel 16, rather than switching to their Assigned Working
Channel of 21A. The first time, I got a nice letter stating, "That
the USCG was not Governed by the FCC Rules for Radio Operations."
Then I made an appointment with the Commander, and upon meeting him,
showed my credentials, as the local FCC Field Agent, and reminded him,
that Maritime Radio Communications was an International Convention,
and the United States, WAS Signitory to that Convention, and his
Oganization, was a part of the Department of Transportsation (at that
time, now a part of Homeland Security) and therfore WAS Required, by
said International Convention, to not conduct Flight OPs Traffic on
Marine Channel 16, UNLESS that Flight, was Designated a "Search & Rescue"
Flight, AND Flight OPs Traffic could not be passed by any other means.

The Commander did a little research, and I got a very nice letter from
him with a CC to all CommStations in USCG District 17, ammending the
Policy of conducting Comms on Marine Channel 16, so as to be in
compliance with the IMO's Convention. I also got a nice letter from
FCC Hq.

Seems like every time USCG District 17 gets a new Communications Officer,
they go back to their "Old Habits", and I have to remind them of their
responcibility.......


Bruce in alaska


Outstanding. Nice to see someone go head to head with a gov't dept and
'win'.

On Sun, 11 Nov 2007 19:29:46 GMT, Bruce in Alaska
wrote:

In article ,
Wayne.B wrote:

On Sat, 10 Nov 2007 07:29:36 -0500, "Armond Perretta"
wrote:

Unfortunately this abuses 16, so I don't often mention my boat name, just
something like "small white sailboat 400 yards on your bow," etc.

As long as you are calling someone and keep it brief, there is no
abuse of 16. You can also switch to low power which will limit the
range to a couple of miles.

Well you may not see it as "Abuse", However, by International Convention
(International Maritime Organization, or IMO, an appendige of the United
Nations) Marine Channel 16, IS a Calling and Distress Channel ONLY.....

One mans "Abuse", may be anothers, "Little White Lie"......

The reason that I don't consider that particular example to be abuse
of 16, is because it is a call to another boat (permitted), that
contains a few brief words of other information. Since there is no
prolonged exchange over multiple transmissions, it is hard to construe
that as abuse except possibly in a narrow technical sense. Ideally
that kind of "bridge-to-bridge" transmission would take place at low
power on channel 13 but many pleasure boats do not monitor 13. The
only time that we monitor 13 is in harbors with a lot of commercial
traffic.

Wayne.B wrote:
On Sat, 10 Nov 2007 07:29:36 -0500, "Armond Perretta"
wrote:

Unfortunately this abuses 16, so I don't often mention my boat name,
just something like "small white sailboat 400 yards on your bow,"
etc.

As long as you are calling someone and keep it brief, there is no
abuse of 16. You can also switch to low power which will limit the
range to a couple of miles.

VHF 16 is a hailing and distress frequency. Of course hailing _could_ mean
"short conversation," but I don't subscribe to that school. However
practicalities do enter into the discussion, and in many cases, especially
with commercial traffic, exchanges on 16 take place and simplify matters.
In the general case, vessels are required to exchange navigational and
traffic information on VHF 13, but not too many pleasure vessels do so on
that channel.

Another aspect is that geography enters in. In New York Harbor just about
all nav and piloting info runs on VHF 13. Along the Georgia ICW just about
all nav and piloting info runs over 16. Meanwhile the VHF rules and
guidelines do not differentiate geographically.

Offshore I have found that in general there is usually no need to converse
on 16 after hailing, and most commercial traffic moves to 13 or another
working frequency to exchange information. In Maine, lobster fishermen, if
responding at all, usually run on 68 or similar and 16 is not involved.

It is probably a good idea, and good manners, to move off VHF when in doubt.

--
Good luck and good sailing.
s/v Kerry Deare of Barnegat
http://home.comcast.net/~kerrydeare