sound over water,carries.

[laffinskip]

It would appear that a lot of people don,t realise just how sound carries over water.

Eric Hiscock quoted,being at anchor in the beaulieu river when a dinghy with outboard came by & the conversation went.

ooh look theres wanderer,she,s a lovely woman but he,s a bit of an old *******.

He nearly choked on his glass of scotch.Susan preened all night.

In the same river we were moored up on piles near the pub,6 of us on board had decided to have a meal & a few drinks on board

that night. A middle aged couple came rowing by about 7-00pm obviously heading for the pub.Good evening they both said,has,nt it

been a lovely day,both dressed in their regulation blue outfits with touches of red,she with handbag over her arm,both fraytfully nice.

4 hrs later returning from the pub,we heard oars splashing.Him obviously totally ratarsed,her shrill (by then) voice no doubt full of

G&Ts Her-you have done nothing but ogle that woman all night & you can,t even get it up for me.Him-shaddup you bloody old bat

why would I want to.Lots of effing & blinding followed until they neared our boat,then realising we were all in the cockpit having

drinks reverted to mr & mrs freytfully jolly with from her.Has,nt it been a lovely evening.

He carried on rowing & through our fits of laughter we heard in the distance Just F Off from him I am going to get a younger model

her shrieking a fat lot of good you would be to her.

Obviously totally oblivious to the fact that they could be heard 200yds away. Any one else experienced voices over water.

We were all still laughing the next morning.

 

[WestWittering]

I enjoy a good eavesdrop - and it is not difficult to hear other people airing their differing opinions when you are on the water. Nothing terribly interesting heard so far, just the routine squabbling, but I do try to remember to keep my voice down in moments of stress. But why does sound travel so well across water? Is it because water is more dense than air and is reflected from the waters surface?

Di

 

[stevebrassett]

I learnt this whilst wild camping in Wales with the Scouts. We we camped near a tarn about a quarter of a mile across. The night was so still you could hear a normal conversation from across the other side.

 

[Danny Jo]

But why does sound travel so well across water? Is it because water is more dense than air and is reflected from the waters surface?

I can't find a better answer via Google, so here's my take on it:

Notice first that when you make that observation, the water is flat (lakes, still estuary or harbour, etc). Sound travels from a point source declines in intensity with distance according to the inverse square law, in the same way as electromagnetic radiation such as light. Sound bouncing off a vertical surface some distance away can be heard as an echo, some time after the original sound. But sound travelling parallel to the surface of smooth water is reinforced by the sound reflected off the surface of the water. In theory (but I haven't tested it) the effect should be most pronounced when the source and the listener are at the same height relative to the surface - as the difference in height increases, so the primary sound wave and its reflection become more and more out of phase.

 

[michael_w]

Why is it that you have to shout over the noise of an outboard yet your conversation can be plainly heard at a distance.

 

[NUTMEG]

I have noticed the same thing. Often puzzled me.

 

[fireball]

Why is it that you have to shout over the noise of an outboard yet your conversation can be plainly heard at a distance.

Because you're close to the source of the sound ... plus you get the reflections of the sound from the outboard bouncing off the inside of the tender. More noticeable with an inboard diesel in an open boat where it can be deafening inside the vessel yet just outside it's a comfortable volume.

 

[paul.norton]

Why is it that you have to shout over the noise of an outboard yet your conversation can be plainly heard at a distance.

British Seagull used to warn about this in their operating instructions

Paul

 

[WestWittering]

British Seagull used to warn about this in their operating instructions

Paul

Briliant!

Di

 

[Seajet]

British Seagull used to warn about this in their operating instructions

Paul

Well I met a couple who didnt read the instructions, then !

Please excuse me if you've seen me mention this before.

When at the Folly pontoon chatting with someone a small cruiser ( a Caprice I think from memory ) roared up, Seagull on the back blaring, nervous looking woman on the front; the hero in the cockpit yelled above the engine noise

" FOR CHRISTS' SAKE LOOK NATURAL ! "

 

[Marakei]

I was in a sailing school Bavaria 36, entering Portsmouth Harbour via the Inner Swashway. A Legend was just behind us and we were waving.

Our instructor, a purist who hated the Bavaria, said 'don't any of you ladies ever buy a Legend. Fat bottomed American boats for fat bottomed people'. Suddenly the smiles in the Legend curdled, and I realised they'd heard him!

 

[guernseyman]

Two considerations:

1. sound travelling across open water encounters little sound absorbing material;

2. often there is a temperature inversion above water i.e. the temperature increases with height. That bends the rising sound waves down and thus the volume decreases slower with increase of distance than the normal inverse square relationship.

 

[laffinskip]

I was in a sailing school Bavaria 36, entering Portsmouth Harbour via the Inner Swashway. A Legend was just behind us and we were waving.

Our instructor, a purist who hated the Bavaria, said 'don't any of you ladies ever buy a Legend. Fat bottomed American boats for fat bottomed people'. Suddenly the smiles in the Legend curdled, and I realised they'd heard him!

Talk about the pot calling the kettle black.!!!