Warnings on VHF

[tillergirl]

Out on the East Coast on Wednesday, the CG MSI announcement reminded me about something I meant to ask a while ago. The CG announce weather forecast broadcasts and the channels they will use according to which aerial is nearest to you - no trouble with that since it can be quite long and otherwise would hog too much of Ch 16 - but they say that broadcasts about high speed ferries (out of Harwich) will be broadcast on another channel (72 I think is is) and you should listen to that. We are also required to listen on the VTS port channel if in that area.

Now the VTS channel clearly must be separate but why a third channel to listen to. There is no warning when the warnings will be broadcast so you would have to listen all the time. What's the point of all this; if there needs to be a warning either do it on 16, where people are listening or say, we are going to do it on 72 in a minute if its too long. Is this too simple?

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[pvb]

HSS Discovery...

Don't worry too much about this rather confusing announcement. The warning broadcasts used to be made by the Coastguard, but are now made by Harwich VTS port radio on channel 71 (the main VTS channel). If you're around the Harwich area, it's useful anyway to monitor 71 to get an idea of ship movements.

There's only one high speed ferry operating out of Harwich, the Stena Discovery. It's as regular as clockwork, arriving in Harwich about 1000 and 1900 every day, and leaving about half an hour later. You can't miss it, it's a big white catamaran like a block of flats lying on its side. Flat out, it can do well over 40 knots. As a result, it can create a fair bit of wash. As this wash reaches shallow water, it's possible for quite big steep waves to be created. A few years ago, one morning in summer, a smallish fishing boat was over a sandbank near Harwich, in only 2 or 3 metres of water, when the Discovery went past about a mile away. When the wash later reached the sandbank, it created a wave (said to be 4 metres high) which swamped the boat and washed a man into the sea. He wasn't wearing a lifejacket, and he died. The inquiry into the accident recommended that warnings be broadcast whenever the Discovery was going in or out of the shallow approaches to Harwich. These broadcasts have, over the years, become about as routine as the "Stand clear of the doors" recordings on the trains, which is probably why they got moved off to Ch 71. I believe the Discovery's route may have been amended since the accident, and that its speed is carefully controlled until it gets well clear of the approaches.

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[tillergirl]

Re: HSS Discovery...

Yes, forgive, I know all that although I couldn't remember the channel but you're supposed to monitor 68 above Shotley Point or "anywhere in the area" as well and its fine if you know when you know its schedule. It just seems a bit of a missed opportunity to be clear.

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