Importance of horn?

[Posse]

How important would you say it is to have a signalling horn mounted for long distance cruising? I am constructing a targa arch and wondering whether to fit a horn as well.

If a handheld horn or similar works just as well, I would rather minimize the clutter on the arch.

 

[lpdsn]

If it is for fog signals you could also consider a speaker. Some VHF radios will drive a speaker for the desired fog signal. My Standard Horizon one will anyway. That said, I've never quite got around to fitting the speaker.

 

[Yngmar]

Don't have one. Only wanted it once, entering Falmouth in thick fog. We have the red plastic trumpet, but it turned out first mate's lungs were incapable of tooting it!

If you're going to fit one, for gods sake don't fit it aft of the cockpit (arch), you'll go deaf. Fit it on a spreader or somewhere up forward. Hardly worth the hassle though.

 

[penberth3]

...If a handheld horn or similar works just as well, I would rather minimize the clutter on the arch.

Handhelds break easily and run out of gas. And can you find it when you need it?

 

[duncan99210]

I've got a handpowered horn which looks like one of the ones so beloved of football fans: just push handle down for a very satisfactory hoot. Also have a lung powered one: even the Admiral's lungs can produce a decent amount of noise. We use them for the most part for waking up charter skippers heading for us on autopilot.
Given the infrequent use, I'd not bother fixing one to the arch. It's also a lot cheaper!

 

[Posse]

Thanks for the input. Sounds like an easy choice not to install one, and at least not on the arch. I already have one of those football-horns, and except for the fact that it needs to be fetched from the locker, which takes a moment, it works just fine.

 

[Shearmyste]

I have one fitted which has been used in anger once to stop a French sailor coming across my path as he played with a flapping sail under power, I had limited draft in a narrow channel, used to have a gas one but this worked quickly when I least planned to have the gas one handy, pays your money takes your choice.

 

[Hadenough]

When I rewired I installed a button for an electric horn at the helm. It has been invaluable. Letting other boats know you are there with a short blip, advising winning, focused racing dinghies they are about to be run down. Letting other boats know that you are about to come round a pier / mole. And coming into Kings Point in Plymouth letting the outgoing (speeding) yacht from the private marina know that I was incoming at 90 degrees (could only see tips of masts). Wouldn't be without it.

 

[GrahamM376]

We just have one of those compressed air ones, have used it a few times but off the Raz one time there were several other boats reasonably near us when the fog closed in but no-one else bothered to use one.

 

[25931]

How important would you say it is to have a signalling horn mounted for long distance cruising? I am constructing a targa arch and wondering whether to fit a horn as well.

If a handheld horn or similar works just as well, I would rather minimize the clutter on the arch.

I wouldn't bother with a fixed one but a hand-held not only is occasionally useful but also meets Portuguese requirements.

 

[macd]

There are gas-powered horns that never run out, at least not until your dying breath. Light, quite small, easy to stow.

 

[laika]

Having a "whistle" is a colregs requirement for boats of 12m or more. Just from the point of view of having one thing fewer to worry about when officials are trying to find fault I've been intending on installing one for a while.

Hand held horns don't really last very long when you're giving one long and two short blasts every two minutes (EDIT: except the ones macd refers to above but there's probably a boredom threshold attached to those)

 

[lydiamight]

Only time I ever used my gas powered horn was when my crew was snoring so loudly in the fore cabin that it kept me awake in the aft cabin.
A quick blast on the horn would not actually wake him up but would disturb him enough to stop snoring for a period of time. Funny thing was that in the morning he announced that he had had a disturbed night with dreadful nightmares of being lost in the fog!

 

[Ric]

I have a fixed one on my arch - yes it is useful.

 

[duncan99210]

Having a "whistle" is a colregs requirement for boats of 12m or more. Just from the point of view of having one thing fewer to worry about when officials are trying to find fault I've been intending on installing one for a while.

Hand held horns don't really last very long when you're giving one long and two short blasts every two minutes (EDIT: except the ones macd refers to above but there's probably a boredom threshold attached to those)

The hand held horn I referred to in my post is like this one http://www.thesafetysupplycompany.c...lunger-will-blow-the-horn-once---hs-phe1.html . Produces a very satisfactory honk, easy to do either short or long blasts and doesn't use much effort. Lung powered one for back up.

 

[KellysEye]

We had a hand held one and only used twice.

 

[capnsensible]

Ive got human powered fog horns on both my yachts. They have had extensive use in areas like the coast of Portugal, the Gulf of Cadiz, the Straits of Gibraltar and the Costa Del Sol.

If you stay in the tropics they can also be useful in heavy rain. Its not just fog.

Aside from restricted visibility, an easy to grab foghorn (in, say, the cockpit table) is useful for manuvering signals, especially in marinas where loadsa people really fail to look around themselves.......

 

[capnsensible]

And snow......:ambivalence:

 

[colind3782]

We have a hand held compressed air horn which is still in it's original packaging. However, as alluded to above, I can see a use for it in a busy Spanish marina!

 

[rivonia]

We had twin electric horns fitted (both same frequency) Used many many times. 5 blasts to get skiers out of the way in narrow fairways. Reversing, turning. We old fasioned sailors use the horn always at all times. We also crried a gas can type one as well (in case) Do fit one you will not regret it.