The bow of my ship go? Y'all be careful out there this morning if your fishing. I'm on the MS river just south of lake Ferguson.
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The bow of my ship go? Y'all be careful out there this morning if your fishing. I'm on the MS river just south of lake Ferguson.
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Good thing to have reliable electronics for navigation. I will never forget a few years back working on a bridge over the Quachita river in Monroe, LA we were working nights core drilling holes for new guardrails. All of a sudden about 2am the sky lit up. There was a barge coming under the bridge and turned his lights on (guessing for safety). They got about 100 yards past the bridge and shut the lights back off and continued on their way in total pitch black darkness. I was amazed by this, I just assumed before then at night they ran with the lights on all the time. Nope, they rely on the GPS and map charts for navigation.
Indeed, that is true. We have some powerful search lights, I can light up a bank ten miles away. But they destroy your night vision for a time being and can blind other vessels in the area(or even cars driving on the bank). So we use them only in tight quarters. We rely most heavily on radars for navigation and guidance and chart plotters and gps units for reference to help understand the radar picture. Swing meters, header lines, predictor lines also help. When dealing with large vessels, a lot of what you think you see out the window is an optical illusion, especially in low light or limited visibility conditions. Surprisingly, we operate the same way in the daytime too.
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That's awesome info, and yes this barge (no where the size of your vessel) had some bulbs on it.. Lol. You guys ever run aground or get into some hairy situations by fault of radar, gps, etc?
Well, we always blame them when we do. Gps and chart plotters will always put you some where you're didn't intend on being if you use them solely to navigate plus the accuracy is debatable based on how many and which satellites they are picking up. They just don't update quick enough and sandbars like to move around. Radars have their faults too, blind spots, ghost contacts, I've seen mayflies swarm so bad that they blot out a radar screen. It's the ability to look at all the information available and make your decision that triumphs. Good old fashion river knowledge and the ability to read a river is the best tactic. PS fiberglass bass boats are like stealth fighters, they show up about as big as a fat mallard.
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We do have a few toys at our disposal.
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Looks like y'all have about as many electronics as BRM will have on his new ranger demo boat :biggrin
That fog can get thick on the river. Was duck hunting on the river in a 14' flat bottom near Rosedale back when I was in my 20s, when a fog rolled and I couldn't see 300'. I was a little uneasy back when I wasn't afraid of anything. I was scared one of you guys in a big boat was going to run over me.
Oh man, I can imagine the uneasiness. I sit up hear in the fog worried, God forbid, that I might do something like that. We do take every precaution to make sure that doesn't happen though. Believe it or not, that 14' flat boat has a much larger radar signature than a 20+' bass boat.Quote:
Originally Posted by deltarat
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Is that because of the tin boat verses fiberglass???
That's a big factor in it but it also has to do with the design and amount of free board. Most bass boats these days have rounded hulls above the waterline which deflect the microwaves versus reflecting them back to the unit. Those flat metal sides reflect back a strong signature. Now when loaded down to the waterline, those small skiffs are rather stealthy too. A lot of times when I track moving fishing boats, it's actually their wake that shows up the strongest. Canoes show up very well whereas Kayaks, you will hardly ever see them on the screen.Quote:
Originally Posted by Rees Guide
The vast majority of commercial boats do a real good job of relaying the positions as we come across fishing boats and pleasure crafts.
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I'm Positive he has me beat by a mile. LolQuote:
Originally Posted by Snubbys
This was back in the early 70s so I am sure the electronics were not as good back then. To make it even worse my brother in law was towing his brothers boat that had blown the motor- both fiberglass. I was the scout running ahead to see if all clear. I know, not my brightest moment, but back then I figured I could have gone under a barge and come out the back and swam to shore....lol. When I was 25 I said I probably wouldn't live to 30. Some of the things I did it was surprising that I did, much less make it to 66.
The 4th of July this year there was a kid on the river north of Whittington that was running out in front of barges to scare the girls that were in the boat. Luckily the law saw him and pulled him over.
Man I'm glad they got him off the water. We see that stuff happen more often than you would believe. Fisherman are rarely an issue unless someone decides to anchor in the middle of the channel. Jet skis and ski boats seem to have a death wish. We had a boat on bay springs drop a skier lest than 200' in front of us a few months ago. My captain was on the bridge and told me when I went full astern that it wouldn't make a difference. Luckily they got him out of the water at the last moment but it took me almost another 1000' feet to stop past where he was. And I was only making a few miles an hour. Southbound loaded on the MS River, it's a good mile to stop.... If she lets you at all. In my experience, those that go into the big river inadvertently, don't come out. She doesn't like to give up her dead. Our sister ship had the body of a jumper from the upper Baton Rouge bridge go under a barge unknown to them, they found it when they broke the tow.........in St. Louis!
That being said, I was once bullet proof too! Lol [emoji1]
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That being said, I was once bullet proof too! Lol http://emoji.tapatalk-cdn.com/emoji1.pngI know what you mean. The big red S on my chest has turned to light pink over the years.
If you want to make friends with a tow boat pilot shine your spot light on the wheel house When he hits you with his light you will never shine a spotlight on the wheel house again. LmaoQuote:
Originally Posted by Snubbys
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I have a spot light on here that will give you a sunburn!
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