GL: Talking to tows

[David H Sorenson]

Thanks for the instructions on radio protocol on the rivers. This is the
best info I have ever read on the matter which includes numerous articles
in magazines and newsletters.

David Sorenson
Duluth, MN
 
On Sun, 2 Sep 2007 21:35:03 -0500 "Coleen Barger"
<coleen at calypsopoet.net> writes:
> Although it wasn't me who said that the tows record all VHF 
> transmissions (and
> I don't know if that's true or not), I do agree with John Esch that 
> it's smart
> to announce your intentions, as his examples showed, when you have 
> attempted
> to contact a tow (or anyone) to arrange a pass and you have received 
> no
> response.
> 
> It's been the experience of the Calypso Poet crew that the places 
> where tows
> tend not to answer our hails are places where there isn't a lot of
> recreational traffic. The Cal-Sag is certainly one of those areas; 
> the lower
> Mississippi River is another (although we had excellent levels of 
> response
> when we went down the Lower Miss in August this year).
> 
> Gary thinks it helps for a female voice to do the radio calling. I 
> don't know
> if that is true, but I do usually get the tow captains to talk back 
> to me.
> There are some key aspects to getting a response, however:
> 
> 1. Do not call the tow a barge. The barges do not have VHF radios on 
> them.
> 
> 2. If you cannot see the tow's name before you call it (common for 
> an oncoming
> pass situation), describe it by location to the best degree possible 
> when you
> hail. E.g., "Northbound tow at Mile 220" or "Southbound tow 
> departing from
> Pickwick Lock".
> 
> 3. The second part of your hail is your own identification. Here it 
> is pretty
> useless to use your boat's name. Rather than say "Calypso Poet," I 
> prefer to
> describe myself by vessel type and location. E.g., "This is the 
> southbound
> pleasurecraft at Mile 221," or "This is the northbound motoryacht 
> waiting to
> enter the lock."
> 
> I have often heard boat operators call a tow without this kind of
> identification, and the tows typically remain silent, as they don't 
> know where
> you are, which boat you are (if there are two or more in the area), 
> which tow
> you are trying to hail, or whether you are anywhere close to them.
> 
> 4. On wide open stretches, do not call the tow when you are still a 
> couple of
> miles away. Even though you can see the tow (it's big), the captain 
> may not be
> able to see you yet. Your boat will appear very, very tiny from that 
> distance.
> 
> 5. On narrow rivers (like the Tenn-Tom below Columbus, Mississippi), 
> it's a
> good idea to periodically announce your location, particularly if 
> you are
> headed into a blind hairpin turn. E.g., "Southbound pleasurecraft at 
> mile 185,
> any interested traffic." I can't tell you how many times I have 
> gotten a
> response from an as-yet unseen, but very close, tow coming toward us 
> who has
> asked us to hold back until the tow could make the tight bend. 
> Better to slow
> down and wait than to meet the tow in a narrow bend and find 
> yourself forced
> to cross the shoaly water on the inside of the bend (that is a good 
> way to go
> aground).
> 
> 6. In any passing situation, do call the tow in plenty of time for 
> you to be
> able to move to the side of the channel that the tow captain 
> designates.
> 
> **One other item for those of you getting into the rivers: A tow who 
> is going
> downstream will typically refer to himself as "southbound" no matter 
> what the
> compass says. And a tow heading upstream against the current will 
> refer to the
> vessel as "northbound." This is all fine and good when your rivers 
> are running
> pretty much north and south (like the Illinois or the Mississippi). 
> When you
> get on the Tennessee River from the Ohio, however, you will be 
> headed upstream
> (i.e., "northbound") even though your compass will be showing 180 
> degrees or
> something not far from that. To avoid confusion, you may want to 
> refer to your
> own vessel as the one headed "upstream" or "downstream," depending 
> on which
> way you are headed.
> 
> Coleen Barger
> Calypso Poet
> http://calypsopoet.net
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