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**Hudson Force** · 22-02-2015, 06:42

Quote:

Originally Posted by Captain Bill

..................
............. In my experience neither the bell or the fog horn is of much actual use and are relics of the age of sail. .......................
........

I agree with Captain Bill's comment. Our most common safety tools while underway in the fog are the Radar and the VHF.

We also had a wonderful dog as a crew member for many years.

Schipperke's are a breed developed for the purpose of allowing barge captains to locate each other in fog as well as other boat duties. Our schipperke, Zorro, would always bark facing in the direction of other boats that we could only see on out radar.

Zorro was a treasure in the fog!

rognvald · 24-02-2015, 09:14

So, the bell has become obsolete? Scenario: You're sailing along a Northern coast or offshore in a dense fog. It has been recently predicted through reliable weather sources that the fog will remain for the next 10-12 hours. Do you blow your whistle every minute for 4 seconds(600 to 720 times) or do you use your air horn until the fog clears? Which do you prefer? How long will the air horn last? For me, I use my obsolete ship's bell temporarily mounted in the cockpit that will alert other vessels that I am in the area. The sound carries amazingly far on the water and will notify other prudent vessels of your presence.

Stu Jackson · 24-02-2015, 09:36

Bell on a bulkhead down below with another holder on the dinghy motor mount in the cockpit.

**Hudson Force** · 24-02-2015, 10:39

Quote:

Originally Posted by rognvald

So, the bell has become obsolete? Scenario: You're sailing along a Northern coast or offshore in a dense fog. It has been recently predicted through reliable weather sources that the fog will remain for the next 10-12 hours. Do you blow your whistle every minute for 4 seconds(600 to 720 times) or do you use your air horn until the fog clears? Which do you prefer? How long will the air horn last? For me, I use my obsolete ship's bell temporarily mounted in the cockpit that will alert other vessels that I am in the area. The sound carries amazingly far on the water and will notify other prudent vessels of your presence.

Are you sending the message that you are anchored when you are actually underway? I'm all for producing an effective sound, but not a deceptive sound. 'seems like such a practice could cause you to lose any claim of rights in the event of a collision.

**carstenb** · 24-02-2015, 10:46

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hudson Force

All's well with using a bell to call crew to dinner or dogs and cats to their food dish, but I see posts above that speak of a bell or fog horn used while under sail in restricted visibility. This is not correct! Whistle signals are used by vessels underway and bells are used for those at anchor. Admittidly, most people are presenting information about their location and risk on the VHF, but the sound signals present a different message. Those ringing a bell are anchored and those with the whistle (fog horn) are underway.

Indeed - but apparently few here are aware of that

rognvald · 24-02-2015, 13:36

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hudson Force

Are you sending the message that you are anchored when you are actually underway? I'm all for producing an effective sound, but not a deceptive sound. 'seems like such a practice could cause you to lose any claim of rights in the event of a collision.

Hud,
Which would fail first: your desire to blow the whistle ad nauseam or the air in the horn? I will make a confession . . . if approaching a foggy harbor within a couple miles, I will use my air horn. However, when sailing in long stretches of fog, for hours on end, I will use tinkerbell. You are correct about the possible ramifications, but I would like to believe that any court or adjudication would consider that a reasonable attempt was made to alert other vessels in regards to my position--whether at anchor or under sail especially since a bell is no longer required for recreational vessels. And, if the approaching captain had radar or maintained a consistent DR track, he could easily see the movement of the vessel on his screen or justifiably surmise that one is rarely anchored in 100 plus feet of water. I would seriously doubt that many knew the rule in regards to ship's bells. As a side note, we have never had radar on any of our vessels for the last 25 plus years and have consistently sailed in fog more than most. It is an excellent exercise to build confidence on the water and a skill which I believe should be mastered by all sailors. However, you bring up a point that is worth consideration. Good luck and good sailing.

barnakiel · 24-02-2015, 18:17

I would ask at local museum.

b.

**Hudson Force** · 24-02-2015, 19:08

Quote:

Originally Posted by rognvald

......................
..................... I would like to believe that any court or adjudication would consider that a reasonable attempt was made to alert other vessels in regards to my position--whether at anchor or under sail especially since a bell is no longer required for recreational vessels. ..................
..................

You make some good points, but courts often stray far from what we'd like to believe and a bell is still required for my recreational vessel. I do have radar, but if I heard a bell I would asume that vessel is not underway and will remain at the position where I heard it last.

This causes me to consider all the function wasted for that dinghy inflating foot pump that spends so much unused time in my cockpit locker. I bet it wouldn't take much of an acoustical engineer to attach that pump to a horn. I could spend all day taking a step upon that pump once a minute with a piece of dinghy filling air hose attached to a horn in a fixed position.

I always like dual function for a tool that sits idle for most of the time on my boat! Thanks for the inspiration. I envision many of these being adapted at no cost and for great purpose!

**carstenb** · 25-02-2015, 01:08

I'm with Hudson. If I hear a bell - the boat with the bell is either at anchor or if in very deep water - then not moving.

If blowing a horn (ours is lung powered) bothers you - buy an electric one like those on power boats, then you just have to push the button. Or better yet - get asomeone to rig a smal timer so youjust turnit on and thereafter the horn goes every 30 seconds or so

wingless · 03-03-2015, 13:28

One of the advantages of a bell, horn or whistle is that the sound will reflect off objects, like boat or like land, back to the boat making the sound, a poor man's radar that always works.

On my boat I installed both a whistle and an air horn. Both sound great.

It is not an option to ignore these sound devices.

wingless · 03-03-2015, 14:23

Quote:

Originally Posted by wingless

On my boat I installed both a whistle and an air horn. Both sound great.

BTW, the whistle is easy to mount, especially on a sailboat, especially as compared to an air horn.

One advantage of the whistle is that it is omni-directional.

The smaller 115 whistle is very easy to mount, does not use much air and has a pleasing sound that carries long distances.

Neeltje · 04-03-2015, 04:35

A friend of my gave me a beautiful 8" bronze bell 2 years ago as a boat warming present, and ever since, I've been walking around the cockpit bell in hand trying to find a place to hang it...

In the mean time, I found this really funky manual fog horn in an antique store about six months ago. It's about as old as the boat, and looks like an obese brass bicycle pump with a trumpet. It's about 2 feet tall, 8" in diameter, and the space-saving side-mounted trumpet swivels down when not in use. Push down on the handle, and the thing bellows like the Queen Mary for about 2 seconds. Pull up on it, and you get a half-second blast. It's not anywhere near as loud or aggravating as an air horn, but I tried it once from the other side of the Saint Johns River (about a mile) and my wife could here it clear as a bell, even from inside the house.

Jacques

Subway Sailor · 04-03-2015, 04:57

Quote:

Originally Posted by Neeltje

A friend of my gave me a beautiful 8" bronze bell 2 years ago as a boat warming present, and ever since, I've been walking around the cockpit bell in hand trying to find a place to hang it...

In the mean time, I found this really funky manual fog horn in an antique store about six months ago. It's about as old as the boat, and looks like an obese brass bicycle pump with a trumpet. It's about 2 feet tall, 8" in diameter, and the space-saving side-mounted trumpet swivels down when not in use. Push down on the handle, and the thing bellows like the Queen Mary for about 2 seconds. Pull up on it, and you get a half-second blast. It's not anywhere near as loud or aggravating as an air horn, but I tried it once from the other side of the Saint Johns River (about a mile) and my wife could here it clear as a bell, even from inside the house.

Jacques

You have a picture of that?

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