do sailors have better skills than motorboaters

[oceanfroggie]

Well, here's an example of yachties and motorboats working together in harmony to solve a tricky situation.

What was the 'tricky situation'? It looks a mess with the blue speed boats anchor fouled around the keel boat. No fenders and the stern of the speed boat looks like it is in fenderless contact with the fly bridge vessel.

 

[[2068]]

What was the 'tricky situation'? It looks a mess with the blue speed boats anchor fouled around the keel boat. No fenders and the stern of the speed boat looks like it is in fenderless contact with the fly bridge vessel.

Anchoring in Newtown Creek is by definition a bit tricky, because on a busy day all the boats are quite close together.
It's a lovely spot, but I've had my own anchoring disasters there too.

It only takes an anchor to drag a few meters, or the tide to change, and you can find a relaxing lunch turning into "Oh My, where did that wall come from" or "Why have we just rammed the sailing yacht".

 

[boatingdave]

Slight bit of thread drift here but to have a VHF antenna that far away from the vertical must really degrade the performance of the radio. Not what you want if you have to call for assistance.
In fact I have noticed this a lot recently on motorboats where the antenna is position for aesthetic effect rather than for best performance.
We have always kept ours vertical even if it means having to lower it to pass under bridges etc.

I believe something like a 23DbW cross polarisation loss at 156MHz?? Higher in frequency (microwave) it reaches infinity....

 

[RIN]

I believe something like a 23DbW cross polarisation loss at 156MHz?? Higher in frequency (microwave) it reaches infinity....

Bit of a write up here even if it is in US speak http://www.boat-project.com/tutorials/vhfant.htm

I particularly liked this bit (pictures of 2 boats missing)

Mounting Techniques

Now that you know the electromagnetic radiation characteristics of the typical 8ft antenna, you should be able to determine which of the boats below will have a longer range when communicating with other boats.



That's right - the top boat with the completely vertical antenna will have the longest range to other boats. The boat on the bottom, while its raked back antenna might look cool, will have a diminished range in respect to other boats. However, in reality, from "there is always an exception" department; it would have a longer range if attempting to communicate with high altitude objects at long distances - such as the Moon.