Radar Saved My Azz Yesterday

[weavis]

Originally Posted by motion30

What is a cables length ??

A cable length or cable's length is a nautical unit of measure equal to one tenth of a nautical mile or 100 fathoms, or sometimes 120 fathoms.

(Wikipedia.. How did we ever manage before)

[Dockhead]

Originally Posted by motion30

What is a cables length ??

Answer: Far too close to be to a tanker!

At 20 knots, a ship covers a cable in 18 seconds.

[weavis]

Originally Posted by Dockhead

Answer: Far too close to be to a tanker!

[MarkJ]

Originally Posted by motion30

What is a cables length ??

200 meters thats 1/10th of a nm.

[Rhapsody-NS27]

Electronic upgrade is on my refit to do list. Good to see it all worked out for you.

[Astrid]

1/10th nautical mile or approximately 100 fathoms.

[Tayana42]

In Southern California there can be fog in any season and heaven shipping in and out of LA and Long Beach harbors and all along the coast. Some people still sail without radar but I've sure been glad to have it in many occasions.


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[El Pinguino]

I don't think I have ever seen a fathom used to measure length in that way.....you wouldn't say 'we are 200 fathoms of the land'.. length of rope yes ( traditionaly 120 fathoms in a coil) but distance?

A *** big *** tanker coming out of the Medina?...sounds like a whopper to me...

[Dockhead]

Originally Posted by El Pinguino

I don't think I have ever seen a fathom used to measure length in that way.....you wouldn't say 'we are 200 fathoms of the land'.. length of rope yes ( traditionaly 120 fathoms in a coil) but distance?

A *** big *** tanker coming out of the Medina?...sounds like a whopper to me...

We think of the Solent as a playground for sailing, but a vast amount of petroleum is handled in the Solent ports -- the Solent is surely one of the biggest petroleum handling centers in the world. Cowes is a significant commercial port and handles tankers. Here is just one of the oil terminals in Cowes:

Oil Terminal in East Cowes : Liverpool Bulk Liquids Ltd

Handles oil cargoes up to 25,000 tonnes according to the website. That's 180,000 barrels -- a fair size tanker full.


For what, I have no idea, since the IOW is an island, but you often see tankers coming in and out of the Medina. Not supertankers, obviously, but big bloody ships, as seen from your cockpit. I never made visual contact with the tanker I tangled with, but AIS told me it was something like 200 meters long.


As to fathoms: traditionally used for depth, and length of cordage. Never for distance. Not that long ago charts in the UK showed depth in fathoms, and there are sailors around here who still think in fathoms. It's a lovely measure, if you think about it, like something used in ancient times -- the distance between your outstretched fingers. But fathoms were before my time. For my generation of sailors, depth is meters. Distance meters, cables, and miles. Commercial mariners have some other measures we don't use -- e.g., a "shot" or "shackle" of chain or anchor cable. That's 15 fathoms or roughly 30 meters.

[weavis]

Originally Posted by Dockhead

........ That's 15 fathoms or roughly 30 meters.

sound like a 100 feet to me..............

[Rhapsody-NS27]

Originally Posted by weavis

sound like a 100 feet to me..............

If I remember right, 1 fathom is 6 ft so 15 fathoms is 90 ft.

[El Pinguino]

Originally Posted by Dockhead

Cowes is a significant commercial port and handles tankers. Here is just one of the oil terminals in Cowes:

Oil Terminal in East Cowes : Liverpool Bulk Liquids Ltd

Handles oil cargoes up to 25,000 tonnes according to the website. That's 180,000 barrels -- a fair size tanker full.


For what, I have no idea, since the IOW is an island, but you often see tankers coming in and out of the Medina. Not supertankers, obviously, but big bloody ships, as seen from your cockpit. I never made visual contact with the tanker I tangled with, but AIS told me it was something like 200 meters long.

I stand corrected... it just shows how many moons it is since I've been there.
I believe Whites(?) used to build warships there.

[weavis]

Originally Posted by Rhapsody-NS27

If I remember right, 1 fathom is 6 ft so 15 fathoms is 90 ft.

Originally Posted by Dockhead
........ That's 15 fathoms or roughly 30 meters.
sound like a 100 feet to me.............. __________________
I guess you missed the humour. Never mind........

[muttskie]

A cable is 608 feet for us colonists. : )
Pretty dang close. Bravo Dockhead for some proper skippering.

[weavis]

Originally Posted by Dockhead

For my generation of sailors, depth is meters. Distance meters, cables, and miles. Commercial mariners have some other measures we don't use -- e.g., a "shot" or "shackle" of chain or anchor cable. That's 15 fathoms or roughly 30 meters.

And this is wherein all the problems lie. Dockheads 'generation' uses metres. Well, Im not sure of what generation Mr Dockead is in but my generation, and Im in my 50s used feet and inches... we used pounds and ounces and we used pounds shilling and pence.. (admittedly only until the 70s but the 60s were my learning period)... sue me.

Sailing is the one sport/pastime/lifestyle where we can freely mix all the different words and nod wisely as any Barnacle Bill reels off all the phrases, and yet although we know the words, we dont always know the exact measurements......

30 metres (meters) to me is as close to 100 feet as dammit. A 10 metre vessel to me is 33 foot give or take. I am not able to visual a metre without seeing it in feet.
When I work out body weight for medication quantities, I have to mentally convert into pounds and ounces to get a real feel for what Im doing.

So when Mr dockhead said the vessel was a couple of cables away, my mind immediately said "wow...... too close man!" without knowing the exact measurement.......... and caring even less...... having to spin the wheel hard over and quickly is too close. The EXACT measurement was irrelevent..

but whatever he said...... it was only a couple of feet away from disaster

Us old salts.. (farts, luddites.. etc.. insert favourite word here)