GL: Fw: Illinois River

[Ted Stehle]

John:

I made the trip from Cincinnati to Holland MI in June and every tow I hailed 
answered, and most said thanks for the call. In all of my trips up and down 
the river system I have never had difficulty contacting them.

There are times when I am in a wide section of a river or lake channel that 
I do not hail as there is abundant room for passing and maybe that is what 
you experienced.

Make certain you refer to them as tows or if not pushing a load, towboats. 
They are not tugs.

Ted Stehle
Cruising & News Editor
Waterway Guide
www.waterwayguide.com
tstehle at waterwayguide.com

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "John Esch" <johnesch at ix.netcom.com>
To: "Bill and Birute" <bilbir at voyager.net>; <great-loop at lists.samurai.com>
Sent: Saturday, September 01, 2007 11:27 PM
Subject: GL: Fw: Illinois River


>>>>The tugs/tows, we found, would not respond on either channel 13
>>>>or 16 unless they felt there was a good reason to respond.  In other
>>>>words,
>>>>as you approached them you had to figure out which side pass on or to be
>>>>passed on.  If there was a problem with your decision, the tug might
>>>>respond
>>>>to repeated VHF hails and say your decision was OK with them.  Some
>>>>tugs/tows never responded at all to any hail.  This is not quite what I
>>>>had
>>>>read or been told about these tugs/tows and was somewhat frustrating.
>>>>And <<
>>>>no, I am not a chatterbox on the VHF.<<
>>
>> A while back someone, I believe Coleen Barger, told me that tows record
>> all VHF transmissions.  Since then, if I can't get a return call I 
>> clearly
>> state my intentions (ie Pleasure craft will pass Southbound Tow "John 
>> Boy"
>> on the 1.  If I don't know the tows name I state I am passing the
>> Southbound tow at MM xxx and after passing I thank the captain by name 
>> (ie
>> Thanks Southbound Tow "John Boy" at MMxxx and Y'All have a nice day.
>>
>> Usually somewhwere along the way I may get a response like "Oh, you are
>> talking to me.  So, there may be something in this recording business.
>> Or, it may just be an urban myth. Whatever it is it makes me feel better.
>>
>> Have a great time on the Rivers and watch the current and debris.
>>
>> John & Cyndi Esch
>> "Backward Loopers"
>> Fet-Esch,a 48' Chung Hwa Seamaster
>> Currently lying North Point Marina, Winthrop Harbor, IL
>> on Beautiful Lake Michigan/Wisconsin border
>> www.Fet-Esch.com
> _______________________________________________
> http://lists.samurai.com/mailman/listinfo/great-loop
>
> To modify your Great-Loop subscription options (change email address,
> unsubscribe, etc.) go to: 
> http://lists.samurai.com/mailman/options/great-loop