Marriage saver headsets

[Idle]

Hi,
I was given a pair of hands free headsets as a gift. The intention is to communicate without shouting to each other. The product name is " marriage saver headsets" from Cruising Solutions Co.
It is on AM band so there is either a radio broadcast or a humming noise which makes hearing impossible.
It looks like gone away $ s for good intention.
Has anyone have any experience with these?

[gonesail]

i sent mine back for a refund. they did not work.

[Dale Hedtke]

There are other brands available. They are a REALLY good idea, but they will deprive those in your anchorage of some of the fun of watching others anchor....

Make sure you get a system that allows for "duplex" communications and does not require you to push a "talk" button. Duplex allows you both to talk simultaneously, like normal conversation BTW.

Also, develop a simple set of hand signals (not involving the "Johnnie Cash Finger") to communicate for the times that the headsets either aren't being used or somehow fail.

[AnsleyS]

If you really want to impress those anchored nearby as you anchor, sit down with you spouse and come up with a set of hand signals that you both can use to communicate. Signals from the helm such as "drop it now", "I am backing down", "do you have a bite?" and signals from the bow such as "go back", "go forward", "go port", " go astern", "stop", "I love you", and "you are an *******" are useful in anchoring situations. All you need is to watch your partner ALL the time while performing that process.

My admiral and I have been anchoring together for over thirty years with out vocally entertaining anyone.

[keepondancin]

We have had a pair for several years. Don't use them for anchoring, hand signals work very well, but use them when going up the mast. A lot better than shouting, you can actually have a discussion while aloft and the other is at the panel when changing bulbs or trouble shooting. They do have a hum, but for the price, they are very useful.

[sailorboy1]

Originally Posted by AnsleyS

sit down with you spouse and come up with a set of hand signals that you both can use to communicate. .................... "you are an *******" are useful in anchoring situations..

Please post a video showing this one as I think it gets mixed up with a different one a lot.

[Canibul]

We bought some. Can't use them on the boat, too much interference and noise. I have found them useful to find electrical issues, I guess. If I walk to our inside helm wearing one it sounds like white noise on about three old television sets.

They work good around the house, but then, we don't need them around the house. These were a waste of money.

[noelex 77]

We have tried a few techniques. Hand signals are a good back up, but cannot convey the full communication between the helmsman and the person at the bow.

"Can you see the swimmer in the water behind the blue boat"
"The weed looks less over towards the north"
"We are 70m from the rock on the port side"
"12m"
" The boat ahead has two anchors out"
Etc

The most reliable communication has been a HH VHF bolted to the back of the anchor winch controls. This is an ideal use for an old HH VHF with defective batteries (power can be supplied by winch control cable)
You do need some common sense to not clutter up VHF airwaves, but on low power, and a working channel, in the sort of remote areas we prefer to cruise I do not think it is a major issue.

[1000 islands]

We met a couple that used them on their SeaRay 550 for everything from anchoring to ordering lunch.

They seemed to be a fabulous tool while going through locks, so we decided to look into them.

The set they had were from Eartec and cost over $300, but I found a set that are a bit different looking and bulkier but cost less than $100.

I will see how they work this coming season, that is if it ever stops snowing.

[robert sailor]

Pretty hard to beat good old fashion hand signals. Boats are so full of devices these days its almost crazy. We putt around the anchorage until I find a place I want to drop the hook and then my wife takes the helm and with a few simple hand signals its all done, just not that much to it.

[Navicula]

[QUOTE=AnsleyS;1494578]If you really want to impress those anchored nearby as you anchor, sit down with you spouse and come up with a set of hand signals that you both can use to communicate. Signals from the helm such as "drop it now", "I am backing down", "do you have a bite?" and signals from the bow such as "go back", "go forward", "go port", " go astern", "stop", "I love you", and "you are an *******" are useful in anchoring situations. All you need is to watch your partner ALL the time while performing that process.

My wife has the ...your an *******....hand sign down pretty good,(she uses it at home and in the car...pretty much always directed to me) I cant recall ever seeing the...I love you one....,
however we also do the hand signals...we also have a rule, who ever is on the bow is the boss and makes all the choices..port, starboard etc...they must be aware of the 360 degrees......it works for us

[Robin3]

We have some, bought the proper duplex ones about $300 when we lived on a trawler mobo, very good as they allow for some bad language yet to be kept 'private'. Before we had e the proper job ones we had a pair of duplex headsets sold as kids walkie-talkies, simply adapted to fit our adult sized heads, they did occasionally pick up music from somewhere but still worked OK, used mostly when looking for a vacant visitor berth in a marina, especially if arriving late at night and not wanting to wake the world with shouts with the crew up front looking and shouting back to the cockpit. didn't use them for anchoring but did find them helpful when picking up a visitor buoy especially with a current running. (Excellent too for situations requiring lots of crew/helm synchronisation like picking up fore/aft mooring buoys. The kids toy ones look a bit naff worn by adults but heck they allowed us to laugh at the watchers instead of the other way round

[noelex 77]

The communication problem is especially an issue in areas where the charts are poor, or non existent.

It is often advisable to have someone on the bow as the visibility (especially underwater) is better. For example trying to drop the anchor in a small non weedy area.

The helmsman has the data from the depth sounder and radar and is in charge of the helm and throttle.

There are a lot of other toys available these days such as laser raingefinders.

Detailed communication between the helm and bow is not essential, but it does help. With modern technology allowing a conversation between people on different continents voice communication to someone 30 feet away should be easy.

[Mike OReilly]

Another vote for hand signals. We actually used headsets for a few years early on, but without really planning it, we moved into using hand signals. Now we use the communicators for land travel, and I like the up-the-mast work idea, but for routine anchoring and bow watch work activities (both are important), it's completely by hand-signal for us.

Our approach is to have the person on the bow in charge once we get in close, not the helm. The helm takes orders from the person at the bow, so if there are course corrections to do (swimmer in the water, weeds, too close to obstructions, etc.) it is ordered by the bow person, not the helm. Forward, reverse, port, starboard, speed (faster, slower), depth reporting, dropping, holding, anchor broken, anchor on board... and of course the "what the %#&*@ are you doing" look, are all well practiced for us .

Don't get me wrong. If they work for you, then great. Do what's best for you and your crew. In our case, after using them for a few years, we just found them less efficient and more of a nuisance most of the time.

[noelex 77]

Whatever system you use make sure it works in worst conditions.

Situations where you cannot see someone at the bow are not common but unfortunately this is when communication is most needed.

Standing at the bow is impossible in bad wind/wave conditions. Sitting down at the bow makes it difficult for the helmsman to see hand signals even if there is adequate visibility.