GL: geographic references

[Richard Brenneman]

Coleen,

I agree, most tow boat captains are certainly aware of their position with
respect to mile markers.  The geographical points they commonly refer to are
not randomly selected however.  The names they use (and know like the back
of their hand) come from an official publication referred to as a "light
list".  It is a spiral bound trip tic type (narrow and east to flip) booklet
that sequentially lists the names of all navigation lights.  Absent a copy
of the official light list these names are shown on most charts, just takes
longer to find them.


Rick & Diane / Lady Di  currently in Norfolk, Va



On 9/3/07, Coleen Barger <coleen at calypsopoet.net> wrote:
>
> John LeRoy writes:
> A tow pilot is probably more likely to answer you if you use a
> geographical
> location like "Patsy Slough," or "Devil's Elbow" than a mile marker. They
> know these locations like the backs of their hands, but likely don't run
> while watching the chart as we do.
>
> Just speaking from our own experience (yes, we did the Loop, but we have
> many
> more thousands of miles logged on the rivers)--
>
> I completely agree that this kind of reference can be useful where both
> parties know and are using reference terms in common. On the inland
> rivers,
> the tows often use these landmark (sometimes historic--just read Twain's
> Life
> on the Mississippi) names to announce their positions, and when you run
> those
> rivers a lot, you'll learn those names as well. When you are unfamiliar
> with a
> river, however, you often will not know what term the tows use for a
> particular location, and you may not even see them on your chart (a
> problem
> even more pronounced with electronic charts).
>
> Therefore, you might find yourself in a section of the river in which your
> chart shows several features, e.g., Farmer's Bluff, Brown Cow Bend, and
> Egret
> Towhead (don't look for these on a chart, as I just made them up). Which
> do
> you use? Which do the tows use?
>
> A mile marker reference, in contrast, is clear and unambiguous. In our
> experience on the rivers, we've never found a tow unable to determine
> where we
> were, or which tow we were hailing, when we have referred to the mile
> markers.
> For those of you just entering a particular river for the first time, this
> is
> my recommendation.
>
> Coleen Barger
> Calypso Poet
> http://calypsopoet.net
> _______________________________________________
> 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