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Old 31-05-2020, 12:00   #241
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Re: Ticket for no whistle in dinghy??

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Originally Posted by Van Der Beek View Post
No one forced you to put your lives in danger in the first place, and if it wasn't for those 'morons' out there you and your crew wouldn't have much of a job.

Not sure not having a whistle in a dinghy would result in you having to put your lives on the line, let alone that stealing the dinghy owners money would prevent it.
Actually many of the rescues we did were unavoidable and the fact that the folks we were assisting had the proper safety equipment made it far safer. You get a finger cut off in a freak accident or a severe burn we're going to medevac you, and the fact that you've got all the right equip to let us know and let us communicate with you makes it rather routine. I did dozens of medevac's off commercial vessels and cruise ships, all very safe. Heck even sinkings are often freak accidents, but if you've got your signaling devices and we can find you relatively quickly we don't have to spend hours on the goggles in the fog fighting crappy weather. And I've done plenty of that searching for people who started out on small boats just a few feet from their big boat or from shore and ended up in a world of hurt with nothing but the shirt on their back to wave. So yeah, we still have a job rescuing folks with all the right equipment, it's just a much safer one.

I flew helo's so obviously wasn't listening for whistles. But I did ride alongs with the small boat guys and especially in San Francisco where the fog is often pretty thick they would stop and listen for noise signals as part of their SOP during a search. If you disagree and want to overturn a 50+ year requirement that's also part of SOLAS then you're free to petition your representatives about it, but giving the guy enforcing it crap while yammering on about "victimless crime" and your "Constitutional rights" isn't appropriate.

Regardless, not carrying the proper equipment isn't "victimless" and again in my experience the fierce individualists only espouse that view until their life is on the line at which point they gladly partake in the social contract. We call that the free rider effect, and no-one's a fan of free riders.
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Old 31-05-2020, 12:09   #242
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Re: Ticket for no whistle in dinghy??

The point was no one's forcing you to put yourself in that position.

Of course most people would accept help in such a situation, regardless of what the individuals particular view was.

During heavy fog sailboats have to sound a long signal, followed by two short ones, once every minute.

Most sailors don't bother. I wouldn't call them morons though, it's simply human nature. Worse yet if they have radar and AIS, many become complacent thinking these systems are bullet proof etc so they become slaves to the tech.

Quote:
Originally Posted by redneckrob
Actually many of the rescues we did were unavoidable and the fact that the folks we were assisting had the proper safety equipment made it far safer.
Yeah not gonna dispute that, always helps when people know what they're doing, including those who need assistance. There are lots of people who shouldn't be out sailing, just as there are lots of people out driving who shouldn't be driving. That's the price we pay for freedom, it allows for 'morons' to participate whether we like it or not.

I can live with it, though I understand it effects you in ways it doesn't effect me.
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Old 31-05-2020, 13:37   #243
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Re: Ticket for no whistle in dinghy??

I wonder what the fine is for rioting, looting and burning the town down
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Old 31-05-2020, 13:55   #244
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Re: Ticket for no whistle in dinghy??

From Redneckrob: "..... giving the guy enforcing it crap while yammering on about "victimless crime" and your "Constitutional rights" isn't appropriate."



Yes, there is definitely two sides to each 'stop'. I actually understand (and to some extent agree) with what Redneckrob says above. Apparently, we can all tell stories about 'bad cops' and 'badly treated citizens', that is probably why so many posts have accumulated on this matter



To clarify my stance: The OP admitted he was wrong to be without a whistle (and so did many people who posted). The problem that frustrates me (and him) is what I see as an excessive 'over-reaction'. Water police can (1) Issue a verbal warning (2) Issue a written warning (3) Write a ticket (4) Make an arrest (5) They can rightfully escalate all the way to: "Gun down a violent offender". They can be respectful or disrespectful, I have experienced both.



Montanan posted the Colregs and we should all abide by them. But, being in a rubber dinghy without a whistle at 5knots does not pose the same hazard as rumbling around in a fog at 30 knots piloting a 60 foot steel yacht with a broken electric horn. Doesn't the magnitude of the offense matter? How about police officers using some judgement?



I understand that "only a few cops are bad". What bothers me is that so many water cops know that one of their number is ill suited for the job. They have seen their him/her be officious, obnoxious, condescending, even threatening. They know he writes too many tickets for trivial crap. They think it is creepy that their colleague enjoys abusing authority and they privately tell each other "...he is bad news" (and one occasion they told me). BUT THEY WON"T REPORT IT! THE SUPERVISOR KNOWS, BUT DOES NOT ACT! No amount of 'better training' will fix that. There has to be a sea change in attitude towards miscreants with a badge by the other officers. Combine the preceding with revenue hungry governments and police supervisors that reward overly aggressive ticketing and you get a toxic mix of angry citizens bracing themselves to combat unfairness during a stop.


My neighbor sold his boat after being pulled over three times in one month for 'safety checks' by separate authorities, Sheriff, FWC, and County. When you don't trust the cops to have your best interests at heart all these stops are tense and confrontational. My neighbor said: "they call this recreational boating"?.


If you disagree with my previous post about 'stops with no probable cause' that's OK. I console myself that the following people would probably agree with me: George Washington, Andrew Jackson, Frederick Douglass, David Crockett, Abraham Lincoln, Teddy Roosevelt, Ronald Reagan, maybe a few others.
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Old 31-05-2020, 14:41   #245
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Re: Ticket for no whistle in dinghy??

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Originally Posted by Chotu View Post
Ok, ready to get yelled at by the peanut gallery, but:

Has anyone ever been stopped by local water cops and given a ticket for not having a WHISTLE in their dinghy?? What the heck is this world coming to?

I have multiple life jackets, a VHF radio, cell phone, outboard kill switch clipped to my belt, lights, you name it.

Got a ticket for this yesterday
It's all about where you decide to anchor etc.

You can do it in a congested area that is heavily patrolled or you can be off the grid a bit where you are the only boat.

It sounds like you need to be near others
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Old 31-05-2020, 14:44   #246
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Re: Ticket for no whistle in dinghy??

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Originally Posted by RobD527 View Post
I wonder what the fine is for rioting, looting and burning the town down
The fine?

That's about folks upset with the continued over use of force on unarmed civilians of color.

Sounds like you have been watching too much "state" TV
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Old 31-05-2020, 15:03   #247
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Re: Ticket for no whistle in dinghy??

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Originally Posted by MicHughV View Post
I havta to go with a64 pilot. One time I was out fishing on my dink in the ICW, when I accidentally cut my foot and was bleeding like crazy.
To get back to the marina, where the mother boat was, I had to go thru' a no wake zone, but bleeding profusely, I kept the hammer down....such as that I could in my little dink, being careful to stick close to shoreline, where my 6" high wake would not disturb anyone.

Out of nowhere, a FWC boat powered by a gazillion engines comes zipping up behind me, blue lights flashing, almost swamping me. My bleeding foot is draped over the side of the dink, for all the world to see as I explain why I was " speeding"...probably doing less than 10 mph....but he don't care....he follows me back to my boat in the marina, at no wake speed now, waits for me to put a bandage around my foot and writes me a ticket.

It was quite the sight....me in my little rubber dink, bleeding foot over the side, followed by this monster FWC boat, blue lights flashing.....people at the marina were wondering what the hell this was all this about.

I've got a few more stories like that, but....what's the point. The FWC guy had stopped a guy speeding in a dink in a no wake zone and that was all that mattered to him. He was doing his job, probably the only thing he did that day....
You were slow, you should have screamed thank god you are here, help me I am losing blood and don't think I can make it to help on my own , probably would have confused the simpleton completely.
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Old 31-05-2020, 16:13   #248
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Re: Ticket for no whistle in dinghy??

i havent read all 11 pages of this thread so apologies in advance if this is redundant...

i learned in boy scouts to always carry a whistle when in the woods as theyre great for signalling and rescue. and sure enough a whistle has saved my ass on at least three occasions. once skiing out-of-bounds in canada, once when my kayak drifted away from me while snorkeling with whales and once becalmed in fog in mexico. all three situations would have ended quite differently if not for the whistle thats always around my neck whenever i venture out. so rule or not im always packing one.

my .02
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Old 02-06-2020, 01:36   #249
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Re: Ticket for no whistle in dinghy??

I learned that most drownings (in the UK) are not when sailing, but when using the dinghy. Our harbour subsidises a yacht taxi service to discourage use of dinghies. I couldn't find the UK statistics, but found this from the US Coast Guard:

https://www.liveabout.com/important-...ailors-2915525

Struck by this 'Only 26% of the sailors who died were actually sailing at the time'. so that accords with what I'd learned. Most drownings are in dock, or at anchor. The rules are only there to encourage a safety mindset.

Stay safe!
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Old 02-06-2020, 05:03   #250
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Re: Ticket for no whistle in dinghy??

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Originally Posted by DavidMRea View Post
I learned that most drownings (in the UK) are not when sailing, but when using the dinghy. Our harbour subsidises a yacht taxi service to discourage use of dinghies. I couldn't find the UK statistics, but found this from the US Coast Guard:

https://www.liveabout.com/important-...ailors-2915525

Struck by this 'Only 26% of the sailors who died were actually sailing at the time'. so that accords with what I'd learned. Most drownings are in dock, or at anchor. The rules are only there to encourage a safety mindset.

Stay safe!
Yah , I was in Lymington a few months ago

I need to go out to a boat on a mooring

Harbour ferry required wearing a life jacket to board the very
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Old 02-06-2020, 05:49   #251
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Re: Ticket for no whistle in dinghy??

According to the USCG stats, more deaths have occured (years 2005-2018) in "Open motorboats" than almost all other categories combined. I guess the typical dinghy would be part of this group.

https://bard.knightpoint.systems/Pub...e/Report1.aspx

In this overall reporting the single most significant cause of death is related to alcohol consumption. They name many accident causes in the database, none of which are identified as a "lack of whistle," although it might be combined in a broader category "Navigation Rules Violation" or "Operator Inexperience."
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Old 02-06-2020, 06:04   #252
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Re: Ticket for no whistle in dinghy??

Hi All, CaptVR here again.
I commented a couple days ago, can't believe this thread is still going. Like I said earlier, I think your foolish if you don't have a light and whistle on all your PFD's.
Putting that aside, I was out looking for slip-rings for a fishing kayak and thought I would look at whistles that were sold for boating applications.
BassPro, West Mar., 2 tackle stores and Wally world boating section. All sold some type of bright orange whistle for boating use. Not one had an approval number for ABYC, USCG of meeting their requirements. So much for the right frequency.
Now when stopped, if you are asked if you have a whistle, you show them yours, who is to say if it's a legal whistle.
At any rate, I thought it humorous that not one of these sound signaling devices (whistles) had a compliance number on the device.
Remember all, whistles and lights on your PFD's could one day, save your own life....
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Old 04-06-2020, 19:14   #253
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Re: Ticket for no whistle in dinghy??

We carry a scuba bag with lights, registration, dinghy anchor, etc and a small horn which should do the trick shouldn’t it?
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Old 05-06-2020, 08:04   #254
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Re: Ticket for no whistle in dinghy??

James,

Good stuff....you might want to add in life jackets, and a bailer to clear sea, or rain water out of the dink. We generally just cut a big scoop out of a empty gallon sized plastic fresh water container.

Our first sailing trip in the BVI, anchored bahamian moor in Little Harbor, Jost Van Dyke, we had a strong rain the previous night / early morning.

We arose to fix breakfast on board, and saw our hard hulled dink from the Moorings was filled with fresh rain water. So we first took fresh water wash downs in the dink. ( no soap ). The water was nearly up to the gunnels. That bailer came in handy.

Also after sailing passages, and towing the dinghy astern ocean water will tend to spray into the dink, and though it is not to the degree that the rain water was, still we need to bail and clean out the dinghy.

And as tempermental that dink outboard motors are, a good set of oars and oar locks of some kind are also a good plan.

These tips are not for enforcement personnel, but like all emergency gear, to make your life easier should Murphy rise up and make things go wrong.
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