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20-02-2015, 18:53
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#16
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Registered User
Join Date: Jan 2012
Location: San Diego
Boat: Pearson 39-2 "Sea Story"
Posts: 1,109
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Re: Ship's bell location
Quote:
Originally Posted by ozskipper
Wow, just reading deeper into this thread.
It appears you yanks have to have a Bell by law. WOW!
Usually, on a small boat, someone screaming is enough to get my attention. Perhaps it a conspiracy between bell makers and the authorities to sell more bells.
(that should get a few conspiracy nuts thinking anyway- they will 'connect' the bells to JFK if they try hard enough)
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We are required to have a noise maker. For most smaller boats, that is a hand held air horn that works off of a compressed air cannister. Someone on this thread said that it is required for >65 feet. I don't pay much attention to regulations for that size.
That being said, we have a bell mounted by our nav table, thanks to a previous owner somewhere along the line. I am not sure how well it can do its job from below, but I think our VHF has the auto-bell function, as well. Maybe I should go play with it, since none of the neighbors are around this evening.
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20-02-2015, 19:21
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#17
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Registered User
Join Date: Jul 2013
Location: Annapolis, MD, USA
Boat: Menger 19' Catboat
Posts: 248
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Re: Ship's bell location
When I sold my old liveaboard 46' cutter and bought my little 19' cruising catboat, I brought the nice cast bronze bell from the old boat along. It looks really nice and has a great, sonorous tone, unlike the cheap thin ones.
It's mounted just inside the companionway so that it can be useful as a fog bell... which is really the intended purpose of a bell on a small boat. It's also great for announcing the beginning of cocktail hour to guests aboard... a purpose for which it gets more use on the Chesapeake.
Given that the catboat lacks standing headroom, there is no worry about it being a head knocker.
It's simple to make a silencer for the clapper out of a bit of ordinary polyurethane foam split pipe insulation with a bit of gaffer's tape around it. Keep it pulled down around the ball of the clapper when you want silence, and simply slide it up onto the shaft when you want to ring the bell.
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21-02-2015, 03:18
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#18
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Moderator Emeritus
Join Date: Nov 2008
Location: Lived aboard & cruised for 45 years,- now on a chair in my walk-in closet.
Boat: Morgan OI 413 1973 - Aythya
Posts: 8,455
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Re: Ship's bell location
Quote:
Originally Posted by ozskipper
...............................
It appears you yanks have to have a Bell by law. WOW!
..............
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The US Coast Guard only requies the bell on vessels over 20 meters and to be used as a signaling device, rapidly rung once a minute, while anchored in fog.
It's been my experience that this bell ringing is done when someone anchors in a coastal or inland passage due to the fog. I have never witnessed skippers within an established anchorage ringing a bell once a minute within a fog!
__________________
Take care and joy, Aythya crew
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21-02-2015, 04:15
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#19
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Registered User
Join Date: Nov 2013
Location: Louisville, KY
Boat: Globe, cutter/ketch,38
Posts: 724
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Re: Ship's bell location
Quote:
Originally Posted by ozskipper
What is the purpose of the Bell?
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Dinner Bell? Soups up! Yah right
__________________
www.sailboatvigah.com Boats don't like being neglected, but then neither do significant others!
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21-02-2015, 05:51
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#20
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Registered User
Join Date: Sep 2010
Posts: 2,909
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Re: Ship's bell location
Quote:
Originally Posted by Hudson Force
The US Coast Guard only requies the bell on vessels over 20 meters and to be used as a signaling device, rapidly rung once a minute, while anchored in fog.
It's been my experience that this bell ringing is done when someone anchors in a coastal or inland passage due to the fog. I have never witnessed skippers within an established anchorage ringing a bell once a minute within a fog!
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We have so little fog down here, in 40 plus years of boating, I have found myself out in fog just twice. Neither time did we ring a bell. The one time we anchored, we just had someone sit and watch the radar the whole time.
In New England, I'm sure it's different. But, our bell is pretty.
__________________
Founding member of the controversial Calypso rock band, Guns & Anchors!
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21-02-2015, 06:40
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#21
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Registered User
Join Date: Mar 2006
Location: Tampa Bay area, USA
Boat: Beneteau First 42
Posts: 3,961
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Re: Ship's bell location
Quote:
Originally Posted by bletso
Dinner Bell? Soups up! Yah right
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Ah... Well... When my daughter was a teenager and brought friends along on some of our cruises, they would sometimes take the dinghy to the beach. We told her that, when she heard a fast ring on the Bell, it was time to come back to the boat for lunch/dinner/whatever. We later replaced the bell with a couple of waterproof family radios but, frankly, the bell worked just as well if not better. Similarly we used a bell when the kids were roaming around in the woods behind our house (and the dogs definitely knew that the Bell meant food!).
__________________
"It is not so much for its beauty that the Sea makes a claim upon men's hearts, as for that subtle something, that quality of air, that emanation from the waves, that so wonderfully renews a weary spirit."
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21-02-2015, 06:43
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#22
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CLOD
Join Date: Jul 2007
Location: being planted in Jacksonville Fl
Boat: none
Posts: 20,366
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Re: Ship's bell location
Quote:
Originally Posted by Subway Sailor
I am wanting to have a functional yet removable ship's bell on my pocket sized 28ft southern cross. Now the problem, where should this be mounted....?
Over the companionway? Off the stern rail? Side of mast? Backstay radar mount?
Would you be so kind to share your pics with me......
Sent from my iPhone using Cruisers Sailing Forum
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Mine is in a forward berth locker
__________________
Don't ask a bunch of unknown forum people if it is OK to do something on YOUR boat. It is your boat, do what you want!
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21-02-2015, 07:20
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#23
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Registered User
Join Date: Sep 2011
Location: Good question
Boat: Rafiki 37
Posts: 14,146
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Re: Ship's bell location
Quote:
Originally Posted by svHyLyte
We carry an 8" ships bell (similar to the below) that mounts in a slide-in bracket. We have two of the brackets, one on the bulkhead in the Salon for storage and a second on the binnacle for use. In the event of heavy fog we move the bell to the cockpit where it can be rung at intervals as required by Regulations. (One of the advantages to certain VHF Radios that include loud-hailers is the automatic fog Bell function included with some that takes over the bell ringing function.) While some may doubt the effectiveness of such bells, we have found they can be heard for a surprisingly long distance.
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Exactly our arrangement and use. Ours is a certified fog bell (in case we're ever accosted by authorities wanting to know where our fog horn is). It stays down below until it gets foggy, then it comes out and sits in its cockpit bracket. It is amazingly effective, and is far less jarring on the helms person's nerves as we sound it every two minutes. And yes, we travel through a lot of fog up here.
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21-02-2015, 10:33
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#24
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Registered User
Join Date: Jan 2011
Location: Now based on Florida's West coast
Boat: Pearson 34-II
Posts: 2,543
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Re: Ship's bell location
As other respondents have mentioned above, a bracket in the cockpit within easy reach of the helmsman is very practical/useful for those who frequently sail in fog. The advantage over the air horn is obvious and the bell may be stored safely below to avoid clanging when not in use. It need not only be useful to larger vessels and its sound carries extremely well in the atmosphere.
__________________
"And those who were seen dancing were thought to be insane by those who could not hear the music."
Friedrich Nietzsche, Thus Spake Zarathrustra
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21-02-2015, 15:22
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#25
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Moderator Emeritus
Join Date: Nov 2008
Location: Lived aboard & cruised for 45 years,- now on a chair in my walk-in closet.
Boat: Morgan OI 413 1973 - Aythya
Posts: 8,455
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Re: Ship's bell location
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.
__________________
Take care and joy, Aythya crew
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21-02-2015, 15:57
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#26
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Registered User
Join Date: Jan 2015
Location: Mallorca
Boat: Dragon
Posts: 82
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Re: Ship's bell location
Ever since my face rang the bell it's been kept about 20 NM North of Corsica...
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21-02-2015, 17:02
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#27
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Registered User
Join Date: Apr 2008
Location: Punta Gorda, Fl
Boat: Endeavourcat Sailcat 44
Posts: 3,173
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Re: Ship's bell location
My bell is stored in a locker and would take an hour to dig out. In the US Bells are still required under the inland rules for boats over 12 meters(39 ft). My Radio and loud hailer take care of my actual bell requirements. The PO bought the bell and left it on the boat. In my experience neither the bell or the fog horn is of much actual use and are relics of the age of sail. In new England the lobster boats with their dry stacks couldn't hear either one if you stuck it in their ear. In the south 300 HP roaring outboards running in the fog at 30 knots don't do any better. Another sailboat might have a chance of hearing you, but the really life threatening boats don't stand a chance. I've had a power boat miss me by twenty feet in thick fog off of St. Augustine doing well over 30 with his twin 300 hp outboards and despite a blast from my 123 decibel dual horns he never looked at my boat. I'm fairly sure he never saw or heard me.
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21-02-2015, 18:24
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#28
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Registered User
Join Date: Jan 2011
Location: Caribbean live aboard
Boat: Camper & Nicholson58 Ketch - ROXY Traverse City, Michigan No.668283
Posts: 6,356
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Re: Ship's bell location
Ours was bought just days before the CG eliminated the requirement. I have a quick shackle to let us store it below or mount it on the boom gallows on deck. It is not a problem regarding chance ringing. The only danger is banging your head on it below. In use, its at the binnacle so the pilot can operate it. It lives safely below. Our dock mate has his really nice big one mounted on a central Dorade box on deck with a line from the clapper to the cockpit, fire-truck style.
I kind-of like the portable plan.
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21-02-2015, 19:21
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#29
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Marine Service Provider
Join Date: Jul 2014
Posts: 6,103
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Re: Ship's bell location
I have read all of the above replies.
My view:
1. Sound signals work in fog, IF someone on the other boat is listening for them. I have sailed in very dense fog offshore at night and sounds can carry surprisingly "clearly" in the thickest of fog.
Obviously a boat under sail is quieter than a boat motoring. But, the thing about a bell or horn is that it is a distinctive sound that on a boat should be recognized by knowledgeable crew as a warning signal. If one hears a bell, it is easy to know that it means "Attention, I am here."
2. I would have three sound signal devices on board:
A. Bell that can be rung from the cockpit (anchor watch during fog). Stow below when not needed in fog. Would not ring it "inside" or down below deck, as the point is for OTHER people to hear it on OTHER boats.
B. Fog Horn (manual and reliable, looks like a trumpet, dependable as long as one can breathe)
C. Air Horn (canned air, loud as possible, used only in emergency). The thing about these "canned air horns" is that they are VERY loud and I imagine a crew would NOT use them frequently when anchored in fog, because that blast would drive the crew crazy.
For calling people to dinner, I will be using a traditional ranch triangle.
Amazon.com: Texsport Triangle Dinner Bell: Sports & Outdoors
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21-02-2015, 19:32
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#30
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Registered User
Join Date: Aug 2013
Location: Back in Montt.
Boat: Westerly Sealord
Posts: 8,181
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Re: Ship's bell location
Why not just have a dog....?
Major benefit ...scares the stuffing out of fog bound sailors 'unsure of their position'....
I had one once , Harry the Sailor Prince, who would go ape whenever he heard a motor...never got a chance to see how he went in fog.... he didn't like seagulls either.
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