Headset for radio comms between helm and anchor?

[redhead]

Originally Posted by TrentePieds

You are talking about a distance of 30-odd feet. What is it that you need to communicate that is so complex that it cannot be done by pre-wireless means?
Anchoring? There are standard hand signals that have been in use for a couple of hundred years to initiate and to report each step in the evolution of anchoring. Coming alongside? Ditto. Singling up and slipping? Ditto. Reefing and shaking out sail? Ditto. Striking sail? ditto

MyBeloved and I work essentially in silence because each evolution has been practiced so each element of it, and the sequence in which the elements must be performed, is well known and practiced to the point of being second nature. We do, of course, speak to each other when we are both in the cockpit at the same time and therefore next to each other.

There are times when something goes pear shaped. The signal for "Belay! Secure and stand by!" is the time-honoured sign of the finger drawn across the throat by the person who has the con and who therefore has the right and the duty to make such a decision when s/he deems it necessary.

Messing with radio communications aboard a small boat seems to me to be merely a (dangerous) distraction from performing essential evolutions promptly and proficiently.

TrentePieds

I'm afraid I disagree also. Not everyone has years of experience behind them. Not everyone has the same level of comprehension of signals. Not everyone reacts well under stress. We've been sailing together for 25 years and I still feel more comfortable with verbal exchanges and instructions flowing in both directions. It reduces stress and increases the immediate grasp of the situation, one party to the other. There's no guessing.

Year before last we were anchoring in a small cove, I'm at the helm, husband up on the bow. I see a large shelf that's covered now, but will be an issue at low tide with our deep draft when we swing. Now I'm able to explain a complex situation without shouting, can include as much detail as I need to, and his grasp of the "why's" of it is instantaneous. We move.

My background is in aviation communications and I believe in any device that will improve it.

[Simi 60]

Originally Posted by LongRange

I have seen crew of a few boats around our size (13 m) using headsets for communication between the helm and the person working the anchoring gear at the bow.

Even though that distance is only around ten metres, the combined noise from the windlass, engine, strong wind, and bowthruster can make it difficult to to hear each other.

We have anchored every night for 4 years and on twin deck and 20metres have a long distance between top deck helm and anchor.
Very rarely are words ever spoken or needed.
Toggle switch up and down at helm means I deploy anchor when I choose.

The only hand signal is when the snubber is attached to chain and I can start letting more chain out
And the occasional point to direction of chain when retrieving.

[SailFastTri]

There really is no need to debate this, IMHO. My wife and I have been boating together since the 80's and getting by just fine on hand signals (yes there have been occasional stressful moments).

This year we bought the Sena SP10s and there is SO much more info conveyed, it works even better.

Could we do without? Yes. I can also do without radar, AIS, VHF, GPS, Internet, etc. Information and communication help decisions and can often help avoid mistakes. My wife and I are glad we finally bought this.

Not trying to convince anyone so no need for debate. Stick with hand signals, or smoke signals, if you choose.
Edit - we chose this model because the headset works while wearing a hat. It works clearly for voice but the sound is not "high fidelity" (would not be good for music).

[john61ct]

Ideal maybe to use the tech if you want, but

**also** strive to be capable of functioning just as well without it,

for when (not if) it fails

[Just Cause]

Originally Posted by Frank999

I use Eartec Ultralite wireless headsets and am completely satisfied. They are well-made and have performed flawlessly for me.



See: UltraLITE PG1

I agree these will save your relationship and the butt also

[Sailnav]

Walkie talkies’ push-to-talk feature defeats having two hands at the bow.
Get the full duplex Sena headsets w/foam mike wind covers.
Only caveat: when stowed in their case, it’s easy fpr the slide switch to flip to “on.” So we remove batteries between uses.

[boom23]

Originally Posted by Frank999

I use Eartec Ultralite wireless headsets and am completely satisfied. They are well-made and have performed flawlessly for me.

See: UltraLITE PG1

We have the same ones and they work perfectly. They only cover one ear, leaving the other ear free to listen for anything else that may happen.

[ranger58sb]

Originally Posted by TrentePieds

You are talking about a distance of 30-odd feet. What is it that you need to communicate that is so complex that it cannot be done by pre-wireless means?
Anchoring? There are standard hand signals that have been in use for a couple of hundred years to initiate and to report each step in the evolution of anchoring. Coming alongside? Ditto. Singling up and slipping? Ditto. Reefing and shaking out sail? Ditto. Striking sail? ditto

Yes, hand signals can work well... if crew can see helm and vice versa. In our case, I can see and give clear hand signals to wifey at the helm when we're anchoring.

That goes completely south when we're docking; she usually prefers to be deck crew for that, can't always see me (usually can't) on the bridge depending on where she has to be to handle lines at any given time, and she can't easily hear me especially when our enclosure is up.

The headsets just make everything easier in our case.

YMMV.

-Chris

[RichandHelen]

We bought the Eartec UL2S headsets on EBay from teamhanneman in Fairbanks, AK for $325, brand new. We love them. Delivery by USPS took weeks to the lower 48, however. Not the seller's fault. But suggest you request a different shipper if you want them in a reasonable amount of time.

[Minggat]

I would be happy to get straight answers to yes or no questions when i’m sitting next to my wife. Might as well wear both headsets myself. Maybe if I did it would send one of those visual signals.

Couldn’t resist.

[rha9]

Get the Eartec. I have used them this season for the first time. Have made situations that were previously a nightmare a piece of cake. The person at the bow can communicate clearly with the helm in a normal voice while focusing their attention on the anchor or the docking approach.

[Jim Cate]

No one has mentioned my favorite usage for headsets: working aloft! Being able to communicate in detail with the deck crew (Ann) whilst dangling 60 feet in the air is extremely useful, both from a safety and a functional point of view.

We normally use hand signals for routine anchoring and mooring pickups, but in some circumstances voice comms would be very useful. Night time exercises or in heavy fog or rain would benefit from better comms, and picking up a mooring in strong wind or current would be MUCH easier if I could give detailed steering instructions... she looses sight of the buoy at a boat length or so, and in cross winds, etc, a lot can happen in that time frame, and my hands are occupied with the boat hook and thus unavailable for signaling. We really should use them more often!

Jim

[daletournier]

These worked well, wish I still had them.

https://www.cruisingsolutions.com/co...arriage-savers

[TrentePieds]

Quote: "That goes completely south when we're docking;"

I can understand that :-) A 42 sports fisherman is a different breedacat from a 40 or 45 foot sail boat. In some ways easier to bring alongside and in some ways more difficult. Seeing the deckhand from the flying bridge can be awkward indeed, which is exactly why the evolution should be practiced until neither visual nor aural communication is necessary under normal circumstances :-) .

Being a sailor I've only parked a largish power boat a few times, but then I found that "making haste slowly" is as sound an approach as it is in a sailboat.

Constant practice is the key to all good boat handling, and so is CONSISTENCY. Therefore, to train for maneuvering in tight quarters, we have a game in TrentePieds: We give helming orders as one would in a "grown-up" motorship, but modified to suit the primitivity of the boat. We have no rudder indicator, so therefore "Starbd a hand!" is an example. It means, obviously, "lay the king spoke in the wheel (marked with a turk's-head on the rim) a hand's breadth to starboard". Similarly "Port a spoke!" As I say, it's a game. The person who "has the con" stands in the companionway and does not touch either helm or "engine telegraph". The helmsman does not presume to do anything except by order. That applies to me too when I'm the helmsman :-)

It suits TP that the "telegraph" has "slow" (idle RPM), "one third" (1,200RPM) and "full" (2,200RPM), this latter being "adjustable" by calling the desired RPM e.g. "Full ahead -Twenty six hundred on the clock". Other boats will require other RPMs to suit their particular handling characteristics.

This game is excellent for training purposes because it demands discipline and imparts predictability. It also sharpens the situational awareness of the people involved. Because the "possible" commands are so few, the system is amenable to reduction to communication by hand signals. It is the "conning officers" task to allow for set and drift in the way s/he frames her/his orders.

Obviously initial training needs to be done is a safe place. We are fortunate in having a vast number of log booms where we are, and they serve as "pontoons" for training purposes. Our home slip is a tad tricky and requires, in order to come port side to (having an RH prop), that in TP, which as her name sez is a 30-footer, we do a "pirouette", a 180º reversal of heading, in a fairway that is 50 feet wide, and "park" in a forty two foot long allowance along the pontoon.

MyBeloved most certainly had her heart in her mouth the first few times she did it, but because the evolution is rigidly defined, and invariable, she learned quickly to do it perfectly satisfactorily. I've no doubt that doing it still makes her anxious, but she's learned to hide that :-)!

TP

[ranger58sb]

Originally Posted by Jim Cate

No one has mentioned my favorite usage for headsets: working aloft! Being able to communicate in detail with the deck crew (Ann) whilst dangling 60 feet in the air is extremely useful, both from a safety and a functional point of view.

Good point. We use them sometimes when she's on the bridge and I'm in the engine room, etc.

Originally Posted by TrentePieds

Quote: "That goes completely south when we're docking;"

I can understand that :-) A 42 sports fisherman is a different breedacat from a 40 or 45 foot sail boat. In some ways easier to bring alongside and in some ways more difficult. Seeing the deckhand from the flying bridge can be awkward indeed, which is exactly why the evolution should be practiced until neither visual nor aural communication is necessary under normal circumstances :-) .

You would think. If dock hands actually always did what they were asked to do, that would make it a piece o' cake. Given that they seem to enjoy ignoring requests, relish putting lines just any ol' place no matter whether we need to spring against one or not...

Well, let's just say we've had our act together for 30 years or so, and it still helps to be able to quietly discuss what our Plan E will be when some horse's ass foils our original Plans A, B, C, and D. It's often easier to dock by ourselves, i.e., without help from shore, but of course some marinas get tense when we finally ask the dockhands to get the hell out of the way.

-Chris