GL: Fw: Fw: Whistle signals.

[Ken Bloomfield]

 John,
 I can't speak for the merchant marine academy, as I am not familiar with
 their curriculum, but since I write my "6-pack" commercial exam on Sat. I 
am
 studying like hell.  Here is the link to the Coast Guard rules regarding
 this matter, please have a look at it:

 http://www.navcen.uscg.gov/mwv/navrules/rules/Rule34.htm

 This way, it is not just me stating that this is the case, but rather you
 can read it for yourself.  I am not "making this up".

 One clarification I would like to make is that the first guy to signal is
 not "telling the other vessel to" do anything.  The signal is to state what
 you intend to do.  As regards the subsequent agreement, this differs 
between
 international and inland, and you can easily and clearly see this from the
 Coast Guard site. (essentially inland requires confirmation and
 international does not).  Again, not me -- read the Coast Guard rules.

 You have a bit misstated what I intended. What I was trying to say is as
 follows:
 1.  It should be you as the overtaking vessel to propose the pass, thus the
 first whistle.

 2.  NORMALLY, you should overtake on his port side, and you would indicate
 that you were going to do so by sounding 2 whistles.  However, if it was
 clearly not the logical/safe side to do so, but overtaking him on the right
 was, then you would sound one whistle.  (This latter is what I was 
referring
 to, since you posed the action for a one whistle action).

 3.  To agree, or not agree is up to the towboat captain.  In international,
 if he disagrees due to his opinion that it would be dangerous he should
 sound the danger signal, in inland if he agrees he would respond with the
 same whistle you proposed. (With the caveat that in international there are
 special signals for the "narrow channel" scenarios, see the same page link 
I
 have sent).

 As regards critiquing the PDF you sent me, it is wrong for the simple 
reason
 that it is incomplete.  First of all, in an overtaking situation the
 overtaking vessel should be the one to propose the type of pass he intends,
 but more importantly even if that were done, if you answered that you 
agreed
 that you would make a one whistle pass and then did so keeping him on your
 starboard side, you would have just gone agains the rules.  It looks to me
 like whoever made that PDF only thought about a meeting (bow to bow)
 situation and not the overtaking pass.

 If you don't agree with this, I don't know what more I can say.

 Ken.