Fly bridge?

[Marin]

Your post deserved the response it got.

It deserved the response it got in the eyes of each of the responders. Which is what I find so fascinating about this forum. Someone could get an A+ on a masters degree dissertation about this place.

As for judging things by what we see, every night on TV I see pictures of black males who have been charged with crimes. Based on what I see, I might assume that all black males are criminals. Is that the conclusion you would draw?

All? Of course not. But based on the crime statistics, a high and disproportionate number? Yes.

Can I conclude that because we see a lot of bozos driving their boats from their flying bridges that anyone who drives from the flying bridge is a bozo? Of course not, if for no other reason that my sample of direct observations is a miniscule number compared to the total number of boaters with boats that have flying bridges. But are our observations sufficient to give us an image of a flying bridge driver? Absolutely, in the same way that your TV example gives an image that all black males are criminal.

 

[RT Firefly]

Greetings,
Please allow me to wade in. Driving from the flybridge allows me to, at a long distance, (hopefully) to "spot" crab floats and in a 360 degree view, up and coming other vessels.
I really enjoy, on a pleasant day, piloting from up above.

 

[mahal]

Greetings,
Please allow me to wade in. Driving from the flybridge allows me to, at a long distance, (hopefully) to "spot" crab floats and in a 360 degree view, up and coming other vessels.
I really enjoy, on a pleasant day, piloting from up above.

Are you admitting that you're a bozo? And are you going to tell us next that you have a boat with "wannabe windows"?

 

[Marin]

You can't read RTF's posts and even for a second imagine he's a bozo no matter where he drives his boat from. Is he the exception to the rule? The world wonders......

(And I'm betting the only person who will know the significance of that last phrase without looking it up is Mark.)

 

[rwidman]

Greetings,
Please allow me to wade in. Driving from the flybridge allows me to, at a long distance, (hopefully) to "spot" crab floats and in a 360 degree view, up and coming other vessels.
I really enjoy, on a pleasant day, piloting from up above.

A friend who owns a Sea Ray sport cruiser and I were talking last weekend about boating and the dubject of running at night came up. I told him that on rare occasions we might leave the marina before daylight because or the current flow. He asked me how I could see crab trap floats in the dark when he had such trouble spotting them. I pointed out to him that I was not looking through a windshield and that I had a higher vantage point. He understood.

 

[markpierce]

(And I'm betting the only person who will know the significance of that last phrase without looking it up is Mark.)

My "wannabe-a-tugboat" forward-leaning pilothouse windows:

 

[RT Firefly]

Greetings,
Mr. Mahal. I do not buy in to the general consensus expressed by some observers here that only "bozos" pilot from the FB any more than the thinking that all people of color are criminals, all immigrants are welfare bums or all women are poor drivers.
Our PH does not have the space for a seated piloting position and although I CAN pilot from the watch berth, I am most comfortable in clement weather and during long stretches on the FB. That being said, I have many hours at the lower station with my slippered feet up, the AC/heat on and Barry White on the 8 track.
Mr. Marin. Thanks for your vote of confidence.

 

[Marin]

My "wannabe-a-tugboat" forward-leaning pilothouse windows:

"The world wonders" is a famous quote from a message sent during WWII that had a significant impact on the career of Admiral Bull Halsey. I figured your interest in and knowledge of military history would cause you to know the context of that message.

PS---It's got nothing to do with wannabe windows although Halsey may have had them on his flagship.

 

[Blue Heron]

The world wonders .... Wasn't meant by Nimitz as received by Halsey. It didn't stop nor impede Halsey's career in any manner. Nimitz went so far as to say he meant no chiding in his question.

 

[Blue Heron]

a misread message. By the by Halsey got 5 stars.

 

[Marin]

"The world wonders" was not even part of Nimitz' question about the whereabouts of the fleet which was not where it was supposed to be. "The world wonders" was a pad inserted by the person who coded and sent the message as a way of confusing the meaning if it was intercepted. The decoder on Halsey's flagship was supposed to remove these pads before handing out the message but he didn't in this case. While the phrase itself did not affect Halsey's reputation and career, his abandonment of Leyte did which is what prompted Nimitz' query.

 

[Art]

And Art, given the choice of being up on a flying bridge and looking down on the Orcas or being at water level when they come up next to you three or four feet away and look you in the eye, I'll take the water-level experience every time.

OK - Marin... Besides all the banter and information (correct or incorrect / good or bad) as well as one ups man ship this forum often enables, I have learned that your feelings/findings/recommendations and general-BS are on parallel with mine and others (well perhaps yours is a tad more - LOL). That said: I give you a touché on the statement above... Although I'd still rather watch from the bridge... my glasses/eyes work well... yours??

Happy Boating Daze! Art

 

[Marin]

My eyes work great. I just prefer participating in things instead of watching them from afar. Or in this case, above.

You ever been right next to a big maie orca in the wild? I mean right next to it, like three or four feet with his dorsal fin towering up next to you and him looking you in the eye. Or pods of Pacific Whitesides swarming around your boat so close you can lean over and touch them to see what they feel like. We've been lucky enough to experience these things, both in our Arima and in the floatplane, here and in SE Alaska. I know kayakers who have, too. Amazing experiences and you don't have them by being fifteen, twenty feet in the air looking down.

 

[markpierce]

I figured your interest in and knowledge of military history would cause you to know the context of that message.

Marin, I mistakenly thought you were referring to Mahal's second sentence.

Doesn't the phrase "the world wonders" refers to the dilemma of the American Philippine invasion force, defended by small escort carriers and escort ships, when attacked by a powerful Japanese fleet while Halsey had left protecting the force to chase the diversionary Japanese aircraft carriers?

 

[Marin]

In a way, yes. When Admiral Kincaid began desperately asking for the whereabouts of Halsey's carrier and battleship force which had gone off in pursuit of the Japanese decoy carrier force leaving the US invasion fleet at Leyte uncovered, Nimitz finally sent his famous signal to Halsey asking his whereabouts. The signal ended with the phrase "the world wonders" but that was not part of Nimitz's query as I explained above.

The battle of Leyte Gulf is the single largest naval battle in history and Halsey wasn't there with his carriers and Iowa-class battleships. As a result the Japanese, including one of the two largest battleships in the world, the Yamato, came within a whisker of destroying the invasion fleet. They were turned around by three destroyers, the Hoel, the Johnston, and the Heermann, and the little destroyer escort, the Samuel Roberts.

This battle and the Hoel (which was sunk by the Japanese ships) have a role in the book I'm currently writing so I've researched it pretty thoroughly.

 

[boatpoker]

Betya Kincaid called it by its proper name "flying bridge"

 

[psneeld]

Being the technical guy that I am...the difference in height of eye between sitting on the flying bridge and standing at my lower station is exactly 5 feet....and I bet it's similar for many boats...

The rest of the argument is all about likes and dislikes...boating can be enjoyed or accomplished safely from either one....though there are some boats that backing into a slip from a lower station would be painful...

 

[Andy G]

Mark, you may need to keep close to your windows, and Marin to eyeball your Orca too.While RT he snuggles up with Barry all arguing over the view.

What you all don't seem realise is a flybridge is needed too, for where else can a trawler captain keep an eye on his mutinous crew?( My sincere apologies for anyone with poetic appreciation)

 

[Peter B]

Sorry guys, but I think Marin is actually right to some extent here, as I have also observed a similar phenomenon. Of course there are many good operators who drive from up above, but having done so on occasion myself when in a tight spot, thinking it would give me better visibility of my surroundings, I also admit I felt disconnected from the boat. It is almost a surreal feeling driving from so high, that even though you have good visibility, one's sense of the closeness of those around you is somehow altered/distorted a bit. In one case, forced to move anchor at night, I nearly clobbered another boat with the outboard on the dinghy, because from up there I misjudged how much the stern would swing when I did a tight turn. It is also a bit more tricky estimating your speed compared to other fixtures or vessels from on high. So the point Marin makes is perhaps a bit more 'scientific' than at first appears I think. I suspect that is why so many who scream past, semi-planing or planing, too close to other boats seem so oblivious to the effect it has on others. It just seems soooo smooth...how could it not be smooth to everyone else?...and they are so above it all, they almost feel like they are not physically part of the space they are traveling through. Just a thought...?

 

[dwhatty]

What you all don't seem realise is a flybridge is needed too, for where else can a trawler captain keep an eye on his mutinous crew?( My sincere apologies for anyone with poetic appreciation)

Nautical terminology: What you are looking down at is called the "Tuna Deck" (short hand for the "Pink Tuna Deck" where all the tuna turn pink from basking in the sun).

 

[Art]

Nautical terminology: What you are looking down at is called the "Tuna Deck" (short hand for the "Pink Tuna Deck" where all the tuna turn pink from basking in the sun).

dwh - You getting "X" ratted again? That IS a pretty crew!

 

[dwhatty]

Mark, you may need to keep close to your windows, and Marin to eyeball your Orca too.While RT he snuggles up with Barry all arguing over the view.

What you all don't seem realise is a flybridge is needed too, for where else can a trawler captain keep an eye on his mutinous crew?( My sincere apologies for anyone with poetic appreciation)

dwh - You getting "X" ratted again? That IS a pretty crew!

The term was coined by my wife and her friends. And, yes, that is a pretty crew.

 

[markpierce]

...though there are some boats that backing into a slip from a lower station would be painful...

This tug pushing the fuel barge with its stern has a stern helmsman's position where the man is standing immediately astern the twin stacks. Betcha is maneuvering backward into a berth would be easier.

 

[Marin]

There is another major advantage to driving a cruiser from the lower helm that has not been pointed out yet. And that is that the higher off the water you are the slower the boat appears to be going. While a speed of eight knots is pathetic and it should be made illegal to manufacture boats that are so ridiculously slow, down near water level at the lower helm the boat provides at least an illusion of making forward progress. Go up to the flying bridge and the damn thing appears to be backing up.

So there is a major psychological advantage to driving for down below. I have talked to GB owners who say that when they drive from the flying bridge they become so depressed at their boat's apparent stationary position in the water that their thoughts start turning to suicide.

 

[BaltimoreLurker]

If I'm in a hurry to get somewhere I'll drive or fly. I'm on the boat to be on the water, not to rush to some destination.

Just sayin'.

 

[Rusty]

I'll take slow anyday. I am not on the boat to be in a hurry.

Those Orca's don't swim up to a boat going 20 knots.

 

[wingspar]

Today I've learned that I'm a bad boater. I have on occation piloted my boat from the fly bridge. I do like the better visabilty when entering and docking in an unfamilure marina or navigating through waters heavily infested with crab pots.

I feel so ashamed.

Dave

 

[markpierce]

Betya Kincaid called it by its proper name "flying bridge"

flying bridge

 
noun 1. Also called flybridge, fly bridge, monkey bridge. Nautical . a small, often open deck or platform above the pilothouse or main cabin, having duplicate controls and navigational equipment.

 

[rwidman]

There is another major advantage to driving a cruiser from the lower helm that has not been pointed out yet. And that is that the higher off the water you are the slower the boat appears to be going. While a speed of eight knots is pathetic and it should be made illegal to manufacture boats that are so ridiculously slow, down near water level at the lower helm the boat provides at least an illusion of making forward progress. Go up to the flying bridge and the damn thing appears to be backing up.

So there is a major psychological advantage to driving for down below. I have talked to GB owners who say that when they drive from the flying bridge they become so depressed at their boat's apparent stationary position in the water that their thoughts start turning to suicide.

Marin, you're really digging here and I don't think you're going to find anything to convince us that your preference is right and everyone else is wrong.

How about "To each his(her) own." ? Can you go along with that?

 

[rwidman]

If I'm in a hurry to get somewhere I'll drive or fly. I'm on the boat to be on the water, not to rush to some destination.

I have said that very thing many times.