International gesture for "I can't hear you"

dylanwinter

dylanwinter

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Joined
28 Mar 2005
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Location
Buckingham
www.keepturningleft.co.uk
The outboard is right at the centre of a lovely parabolic reflector

from outside the boat sounds almost silent

but in the cockpit I cannot hear a word people are shouting at me

I am after an easily uinderstood gesture that says

"I can't hear a blooming word you are saying"

cupping an ear makes people try harder

covering your ears looks rude

any suggestions from other outboard users

Dylan
 
How about pointing at your ear with your index finger and rotating it in a circular motion whist shaking your head.

Works for me.
 
Should work for most people

Stand facing the individual(s), then place open hands to the side of your head, remove hands & shake your head (face left & right)….. should be clear enough to most intelligent individual(s). ;)

Edit .... thanks for the videos / uploads ... at last! :rolleyes: :D
 
How about whirling your hands around in sign language, like in the old 'Vision On' programme; though it may confuse people when they translate " We're sorry we can't return your pictures, but we burn them after the show ".

Realistically this is a big problem which I suspect a lot of harbour authorities etc don't appreciate; I have an external speaker for the VHF, but if the engine is running at any more than idle I simply can't hear.

So I may be able to throttle back to transmit and listen when I choose - though a pain if punching a tide at a harbour entrance say - but can't hear any incoming radio or indeed shouted messages.

I know the technology is there to create a system to translate VHF at least into text on a screen, but that would be too time consuming to reply to and not much help right now.

Crude as it may be, and I'm aware of the overheating etc, but I wonder if having something like an old sleeping bag to chuck over the engine temporarily while conversing may help ?
 
I like the idea of a little sign on a stick. A bit like what Wile E Coyote holds up to communicate with the audience :)

Pete
 
I lived in a small cottage. My small baby son slept in the room next to the living room and was a bad sleeper. I only had time for tele from midnight to two in the morning so in order to hear what was going on on tele I made myself some real big Mickey Mouse ears out of aluminium. Amazing what one can hear like that. On a boat in public ?? dono, dangerous in a lot of wind to, could break your neck.
 
Why not "mouth a reply" silently? That way they might stop trying. Although it'll back fire if they can lip read!

Tony Hart didn't burn the picture I sent into Vision-on, did he?:eek:
My sister sent some candles she made out of polythene & string to Blue Peter! The letter she got back, along with her badge, said that if we watched the programme closely we might see them on the shelves. We didn't!:p
 
You could try curing the problem or at least making it a bit better. Try some soundproofing either side of the well that might stop the reverberation and make Tia bit better.

Or what about a tea cosy type hat for the outboard, need to make sure air can get in though.
 
dylanwinter said:
The outboard is right at the centre of a lovely parabolic reflector

from outside the boat sounds almost silent

but in the cockpit I cannot hear a word people are shouting at me

I am after an easily uinderstood gesture that says

"I can't hear a blooming word you are saying"

cupping an ear makes people try harder

covering your ears looks rude

any suggestions from other outboard users

Dylan
Click to expand...

Get an old-fashionned ear trumpet.
 
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