GL: geographic references

[Michael Linden]

RIGHT ON RICK!!!
Mike and Jeanne
"Jeanne Marie"
some where on the Illinois rivere
On Sep 3, 2007, at 9:40 AM, Richard Brenneman wrote:

> 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
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