mobile phones at sea

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nickloewendahl

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Hi all,

I am a final year undergraduate student, studying Marine Navigation (BSc) at the University of Plymouth, conducting a study of the use of cell phones by recreational boaters. This includes an assessment of the practices and views of a broad cross section of all recreational boaters, and I would be very grateful if you would contribute to the study by taking two minutes to complete a short and anonymous
questionnaire. Please follow the link below to access the
questionnaire:

http://facultyj.hs.plymouth.ac.uk/cellphone/

Many thanks,

Nick Loewendahl

If you would like a copy of the completed report please email me with
your contact details.
 
Can't say I'm happy with Q11

"If you have ever carried a cell phone as a sole means of communciation, what were the reasons behind this? "

I have never done this and I strongly disagree that it is safe to do so but the way the Q is phrased precludes me being able to say so in the vote for joe answers.
 
I agree with you but the fact is that anybody who goes to see with only a mobile obviously thinks it's safe to do so.
It reminds me of the time we spotted some people waving from a small sportsboat drifting off Durlston Head in Dorset, an area known for overfalls. When we got close we saw that this boat had about 8 people in it including a baby and 2 other young children. The helmsman shouted to me that he had engine problems and could I give him a tow. I told him to call the coastguard but he said he did'nt have a radio and, in any case, he'd tried on his mobile but could'nt get a signal. A bit reluctantly because of his stupidity, I called the coastguard on his behalf and they told me the nearest lifeboat was doing a demo day in Swanage and could I tow the casualty there. By this time I was a bit pissed off because it would take me an hour or two to tow him to Swanage and I was going in the opposite direction. Anyway I agreed and suggested to the peeps in the sportsboat that they don lifejackets but they told me they did'nt have any, not one, not even for the baby. So, increasingly gobsmacked, we fished out some kiddies lifejackets from our locker and handed them over
Anyway we had an uneventful tow into Swanage bay but when we turned into the bay, the helmsman in the sportsboat started shouting so I stopped and allowed him to drift closer whereupon he asked me whether I would'nt mind towing him to Poole as they were due at a dinner party that evening! Well, I damn near exploded and towed them at max safe speed to Swanage pier where the lifeboat took over the tow. I explained to the coxswain about the lack of safety gear on the sportsboat and the request for a tow to Poole. The coxswain laughed and said he's see to it by towing him around Swanage bay for the rest of the evening as part of the demo!
Feeling a bit better, I turned the boat out of the bay. About 30mins later SWMBO asked whether we should'nt have asked for our lifejackets back. Oh [--word removed--]! I suppose that sportsboat is equipped with a few lifejackets now
 
I remain mildly suprised that mobiles don't have a safety sticker warning that "signal reception cannot be guaranteed" or similar wording. I have completed the questionnaire, assuming a "not" in Q6!

As for Q11, "If you have ever carried a cell phone as a sole means of communciation, what were the reasons behind this? ", perhaps "I am trying to leave the gene pool" should be one of the answers:-)
 
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