fog bell

[jbenagh]

Kailua,
Thanks for getting me to re- read everything. I think after a while I settle into patterns of behavior that may or may not be right. Always good to refresh on the actual requirements and form a reasonable plan.
I'm still more scared by the gas horns than I had been, due to flammable propellants. That's what prompted me to go with battery power.
Jeff

[fmueller]

I better get a bell ... since I seem to specialize in running aground ... twice this spring already ...

In my defense I'd like to point out that it's a lot more prudent to touch bottom in shallow water than deep water.

[Jim Walsh]

I better get a bell ... since I seem to specialize in running aground ... twice this spring already ...

[Carl Thunberg]

Way to go, Fred! You may have broken Leo MacDonald's record.

[fmueller]

Carl,

In Narragansett Bay, thankfully, there is usually not much crunching going on.

One of my more sublime groundings was off Nyatt Point two summers ago ... blistering hot day and almost no wind. I was creeping along feeling nearly comatose, hand draped on the tiller, eyes (or maybe an eye) shifting about for any sign of a little wind. At certain point I sort of came to and became dimly aware that I really wasn't moving at all. How long I had been sitting there in a trance, grounded, I can't really say ... could have been five minutes ... could have been more.

A little reverse prop got me out of that one without a drop of drama; didn't have to suffer the embarrassment of calling up Seatow.

[Kailua Kid]

Jeff: I share your sentiment about the propellants in the canister horns. A solution to that, for when the electric one fails, is the Attwood Eco Horn, or something like that. You charge them up with a bicycle pump. I was skeptical, but have found mine to work really well. Plenty of volume and maybe not quite as painfully high-pitched as the standard aerosol horns. I have had the pump-up horn on my General Marine 26 about six months (I use that boat as a daily commuter) and it has held up nicely. My Standard Horizon electric horn is mounted on the top of the wheelhouse and works well until a day or two after the next big wave goes over the wheelhouse, and then the volume goes down to about 10% of normal (until I clean out the cone). There is something to be said for the simplicity of the pump-up Attwood.

[JD-MDR]

My Sitex MDA 5 AIS arrived but not installed yet. I did get my DSC set up on the vhf. I wondering if I should'nt toss the ugly radar reflector when I get the AIS set up. I'm starting to get too much stuff on the boat. I think I need to install a separate GPS antenna (included in the Sitex package)

[Kailua Kid]

Since not all vessels that have radar also have AIS, it would be safer to keep the radar reflector even though you have AIS. If you are dissatisfied with the look of the standard style of assembled plates reflector, you might consider the more conical style refector that is not comprised of plates and that creates less windage aloft.

[wikakaru]

Sorry I'm late to the party so to speak, but maybe you will find this helpful...

I had a bell mounted in the cockpit of the 35' steel cutter that I owned for 17 years. I used it *zero* times. It looked plenty nautical, but it just wasn't a practical sound-making device.

Bell.jpg

Note that bells are not required for boats less than 26 feet, which includes the original poster's Typhoon.

I prefer this kind of horn for making sound--no cans to fill up or replace. As long as you are still breathing, it works.

Horn.jpg

Actually, I prefer a larger horn of a similar type that has a deeper note, but I haven't seen them for sale in the US for 10 or 15 years. I made the mistake of selling the last one I had with the boat it was on. Here's one from the UK:
https://www.coastwatersports.com/plasti ... rrency=USD

I've been considering making my own out of PVC pipe. There are lots of videos on how to do this:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jgmwsYhBEJ4

Smooth sailing,

Jim
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yZKm6RhW6W0

For what it's worth, I find that, with the exception of the commercial ferries that cross Penobscot Bay, I am the only boat on where I sail that ever sounds a fog horn at two minute intervals as required. Lobster boats and recreational power boats zip by me in the fog all the time, and might sound a fog horn when they come within visual range, which sort of defeats the purpose of a fog horn. Fortunately (?) they are all so loud that I can hear them coming for miles.