Communicating On Deck From Bow To Stern

[DCRRenaissance]

We are looking for choices for communicating on deck easily without yelling, but without spending our life savings. LOL We have a 42 foot Passport. We have been researching different walkie talkies, wireless headsets, etc.

Would appreciate input on specific brand and model that you have experience with that works.

Thanks!

[Liunatic]

If you are talking about communicating for specific operations, such as dropping the anchor, picking up a mooring, etc., a hand signal system costs zero dollars

[carstenb]

we use hand signals. much easier. with a little practice you can communicate almost anything

[JeffBurright]

If you're really looking to save money, here's what you do:

Take 2 funnels and a length of small-diameter PVC as long as your boat. Cap the PVC, attach the funnels to either end of the pipe at right-angles, and affix the PVC along the toe rail or a lifeline. Have you ever seen those "telephone" systems at public playgrounds? It works like that. The nautical version of tin cans and string.

Sorry, I know I'm not helping. But it would totally work.


**Serious answer, possibly not relevant: My wife and I didn't spring for a headset (sometimes wish we had), but in order to increase clarity and civility, we devised a simple system of numerical commands for hauling anchor. The first number you shout is the number of seconds you want the boat to move. The second number is the direction you'd like the bow to face relative to the hands on a clock, with 12 being straight ahead. For example, I call "10 at 2!". My wife calls back "10 at 2!" and puts the boat in forward gear diagonally off to the right. She counts down 10 seconds to herself, puts the boat in neutral, and calls "That's 10!". If I need more in a new direction, I update my request.

Once we're hauled, I shout "We're free!" and she responds "We're free!". It's nice to remind yourself of that fact from time to time.

Everyone has their own system, but this one worked for us because it's pretty hard to get too emotional about shouting numbers (although sometimes we manage to anyway). Plus, I kind of think it's romantic to have a little verbal call-and-response in your life.

[FlightPlan]

We use the marriage saver headsets

[carstenb]

Originally Posted by FlightPlan

We use the marriage saver headsets

OH - you mean earplugs?

[sailorboy1]

Originally Posted by carstenb

OH - you mean earplugs?

Which then doesn't even require hand signals I bet, just finger signals.

[onestepcsy37]

Hand signals. Took us a few weeks to get comfortable with them. Have been using them for ten years plus and can't imagine using anything else. More is less.

[Hudson Force]

After using hand signals for years we bought a simple inexpensive headset pair that was voice activated. It worked well for us, but the voice activation required a moment of delay. This meant that we needed a default intro word to activate so that our first word would not be cut off. We selected "yabba-dabba" and this started every phrase. Of course, we had to close with "over" so that our headset would not block the other's reply.

"yabba-dabba....forward ...over" "yabba-dabba...OK.....over" "yabba-dabba.... neutral... over" yabba dabba.... OK.... over" "yabba-dabba... a little to starboard.... over" "yabba-dabba.... OK .... over" yabba-dabba...that's good ....over" "yabba-dabba...OK...over" "yabba-dabba.... go ahead slow, we're clear...over" "yabba-dabba... OK...over"

Nancie soon came to dislike this and I never needed the OK's as I could see the response in the movement of our boat. Our hand signals work very well. Even in the dark I can have a light on my left hand,- a finger point to port or starboard; up for forward, down for reverse, closed fist for neutral, palm down for slow, and a spin of the hand for, "yabba-dabba...We're free!"

[Stu Jackson]

Hand signals. Up, down, left, right, flat hand = neutral, thumb up anchor up. What's so hard?

Oh, wait, if it doesn't have an app it doesn't exist.

[MarkJ]

Originally Posted by Stu Jackson

Hand signals. Up, down, left, right, flat hand = neutral, thumb up anchor up. What's so hard?

Yup.



Mark

[jaybird1111]

40 foot long x 20 foot wide catamaran, and hand signals work for us. I gesture, wife helms

[zboss]

We use marriage savers. They work very well but require practically new batteries for any kind of range.

We tried hand signals but some things require two hands and we really do not have a good view of the bow from the wheel. Also, its just easier for my wife to say "one boat length, 1/2 boat length", "can you go a LITTLE bit more to the port"... etc. than using hand signals, which we tried but it just didn't work out. Also, they are good for communicating up the mast without yelling.

[goboatingnow]

What's the problem , I yell, she ignores , we hit the dock, I loose it, she says " stick your boat where the sun don't shine " , doesn't everyone just do this , seems common enough in most marinas to me !!!


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[belizesailor]

Originally Posted by Liunatic

If you are talking about communicating for specific operations, such as dropping the anchor, picking up a mooring, etc., a hand signal system costs zero dollars

+1 and the batteries are never dead.