radio chat to passing yachts

[pcatterall]

I know that some passing yachts can't even manage a wave but if you are in the middle of nowhere would it be polite to pass the time of day over the vhf? I would always be interested to learn where someone was going etc.
Is there a protocol for calling someone up say on 16 low power and choosing a suitable channel for a quick hello?
Also if someone is fairly close is it the done thing to close up a bit for a gander and a wave?

 

[lustyd]

Careful, you'll start a Colreg thread with all that talk of turning towards another vessel!

 

[Searush]

It will depend on them having the VHF switched on. Doesn't seem a lot of point if over 20 miles off shore. Not knowing their name can be a bind. "yot 20 miles NW of Holyhead" may catch their attention, but then again it may not.

 

[prv]

I wave to everyone, most wave back, I don't get upset about those that don't for whatever reason.

I've never called anyone up, or been called, but if I were somewhere less travelled than the Solent then I certainly wouldn't object. Makes a change.

If I'm not going anywhere in particular then I have been known to manoeuvre to pass close to interesting boats - usually involves lying in wait for them as I'm unlikely to catch them up

Only reason I can see it being unwelcome is if it's a blazing hot day and they've taken the opportunity for a bit of sailing au naturel

Pete

 

[chubby]

We have several times heard other boats give a TR to the CG for a similar trip and have called up mid channel and met up ashore, last year we heard another boat leaving Lymington at the same time we were leaving yarmouth for Cherbourg, met up in france and cruised together for a few days.

 

[Coaster]

It will depend on them having the VHF switched on. Doesn't seem a lot of point if over 20 miles off shore. Not knowing their name can be a bind. "yot 20 miles NW of Holyhead" may catch their attention, but then again it may not.

I may be naive or ignorant but I've always been quite concerned to have the VHF radio switched on when making a passage. For example we've just spent 10 days trundling around the southern Irish Sea (Milford Haven - Arklow - Howth - Carlingford Lough - Dun Laoghaire - Milford Haven), finishing on the Bank Holiday Tuesday.

Thoughout that time, whilst making our rough and ready way from one location to the next, we made sure the VHF was on so that other vessels could call us if that was considered necessary. Unless a boat is very short of battery power I can't see any good reason to switch the VHF off.

 

[AntarcticPilot]

It will depend on them having the VHF switched on. Doesn't seem a lot of point if over 20 miles off shore. Not knowing their name can be a bind. "yot 20 miles NW of Holyhead" may catch their attention, but then again it may not.

You raise an interesting point! I always know where I am, but how I'd describe my location to a 3rd party may be very subjective, depending on my intentions and my own appreciation of my situation. To give Clyde examples, I might well describe my position as being X miles East of Toward Point if I were heading towards the Kyles of Bute, but Y miles North of Great Cumbrae if I were heading for the Hunterston Channel. They could both be the same place, especially I were tacking from the north. And I might be thinking in those terms as well; if I'm heading towards the Kyles of Bute, Cumbrae is an irrelevance, and if I'm heading towards Largs, Toward Point is even more of an irrelevance! So, I might not make the connection between "Yacht Y miles North of Great Cumbrae" and myself If I were heading for the Kyles. You'd need good binoculars to read our name; it is in letters about 5 inches high on bows and stern!

I guess that an AIS transponder would get round it, broadcasting my MMSI!

 

[Neil_Y]

Call up on 16, describe yacht and location/position...generally I've only done it when miles from land, but have used it to ask for weather info when I've missed broadcasts or couldn't get ssb weather fax.

This picture was taken about 600miles west of Azores, saw a sail on the horizon and called up, came close for photo shoot and then met up in Horta and Spain.

I have often called up ships to pass on position to family/friends as we had no long distance comms.
Small yacht small yacht or large ship large ship seems to work.

 

[VicMallows]

I may be naive or ignorant but I've always been quite concerned to have the VHF radio switched on when making a passage.

I believe the Col Regs REQUIRE you to 'keep a lookout by all available means' and logically that includes keeping a listening watch on Ch16. Obviously one must balance that with not excessively depleting battery power, but that aside I am more inclined to keep the VHF on when offshore or in remote coastal waters than in the Solent with endless chatter.

 

[RobbieW]

Talked to a chatty OOW on a US registered container ship mid atlantic a couple of years ago. We were about half way between Bermuda and Horta, he called up to ask what we were doing out there Said he had a Morgan 38 somewhere in the US, we had a chat for a bit then carried on in opposite directions.

 

[Tranona]

Depends on how obsessive you are about the need to be in communication with others. One of the attractions of sailing for many is the escape from the constant chatter as exemplified by the compulsion to be on a mobile phone all the time.

I usually find I have more than enough to do when sailing, even on a long passage without feeling the need to speak to somebody else.

 

[john_morris_uk]

I have chatted to a couple of ships when offshore and the truth is that watchkeeper is usually very happy to chat to pass the time. Watch keeping can be VERY tedious when out if sight of everything so chatting to a passing yacht is normally not a chore.

I am also old enough to remember the joys of sailing without GPS or any other electronic position finding equipment. Ships used to have a primitive form of sat nav which wasn't available to the average yachtsman and so some of us would resort to 'chat nav' and call up a ship for a position check. Difficult to imagine how grateful one could be if one hadn't had a sight or fix for a while...

I don't have a problem with the VHF being on when offshore. People claim they want peace and quiet and to 'get away from it all' but you don't hear anything for days anyway so what's the problem?

 

[VO5]

In open water normally my VHF is off.
I switch it on when I spot a ship.
As John rightly says, watchkeeping in mid ocean is very monotonous, boring.
I have found that passing ships call me to ask where we are heading, last port etc.,and whether everything is OK.
I have had very interesrting conversations with watchkeepers on passing ships.
The most memorable was with an Indian CO in mid Atlantic who turned out to have an older brother I went to school with and played cricket with, small world!

 

[Neil_Y]

Shouldn't you always have your vhf on especially in open water? if you've been dismasted, or you're in your liferaft and you see the sails of another yacht they probably can't see you. You could be within a mile or two of a vessel in distress who can see you and could reach you on a handheld.

I've also picked up on vhf, mid ocean, a call relayed from a vessel that was drifting without fuel and low on water, we were too far away to help but another vessel helped them out. All done on vhf.

On the usual passage routes I think you may often be within vhf range but out of sight.

 

[Porthandbuoy]

Always cruised with VHF switched on, but the only call I've had offshore was from a US warship somewhere off the Libyan coast (we were heading for Linosa, a tiny Italian island closer to North Africa than Europe).

I've just bought a Standard Horizon GX2100E VHF which incorporates an AIS 'radar' display and CPA alarm function, once connected to GPS of course. I reckon its power consumption in listening mode is less than separate VHF and AIS systems; important to me. Offshore, with plotter off, this need be the only piece of electronickery powered up.

 

[jakeroyd]

I keep it on around the coast because I get concerned about firing ranges etc. I suppose I should check the data but always forget till we are at sea.
Having said that I have only been moved by the range control boat once.

The other good reason is I have heard the CG call for other vessels in the area to assist in some non emergency situations etc.

Interestingly I am reading Val Howells book where in those days you would post 'MIK'in flags (please report me to Lloyds) and hope for the best if the watch did not see you.

 

[Frankie-H]

I believe the Col Regs REQUIRE you to 'keep a lookout by all available means' and logically that includes keeping a listening watch on Ch16. Obviously one must balance that with not excessively depleting battery power, but that aside I am more inclined to keep the VHF on when offshore or in remote coastal waters than in the Solent with endless chatter.

Once you get down into the Med, you will turn you VHF off very quickly, especially at night. The vile and obscene chat which goes on will soon cure you of any desire to listen to ch16.

Keep a good look out, use your radar, if you have one and only turn your radio on when you need it or if you have a schedule with another boat.

 

[RichardS]

Once you get down into the Med, you will turn you VHF off very quickly, especially at night. The vile and obscene chat which goes on......

Any chance of exact coordinates please?

Richard

 

[laika]

I have often called up ships to pass on position to family/friends as we had no long distance comms.

With appologies for a little thread drift...I've always wondered...If a vessel is flying ZD2, what is the process for reporting their position to Lloyd's of London, and how would anyone else get that information from Lloyds?

Edit: This is a thread on radio comms not flag comms so I'll ask this in a separate thread on scuttlebutt

 

[lw395]

Around the Solent, we normally leave it off, apart from listening to Ch11 when near Portsmouth. Far too much drivel on 16.
Usually switch it to 16 around about the Nab Tower or halfway across Poole Bay.