Getting Someones Attention From Fly Bridge

Our boat came with a nice Charles C Phone intercom and we used it a lot. However the interface to a cell phone was clunky and got clunkier as I messed with it. We transitioned to a Panasonic cordless phone system which worked out great. Two cell phones can pair to it on their own "channels" (so you can use either or see which one is ringing). Leave the cell phones nice and safe next to the base station. Each station can be custom labeled and the intercom function is simple and slick. Speaker phone function at each handset. This way you can reach people at a variety of different stations on the boat, and the handsets being cordless is great for trips to the engine room, utility/generator room, etc. A four station system was under a hundred bucks at Costco and easy to expand from there. When we moved back on land full time this was one of the first things I bought for the new house. Great piece of gear and so much more useful than any other solution. Here is an example of the one we got, and a list of the others.

http://www.costco.com/Panasonic-DEC...gital-Answering-System.product.100115378.html

Panasonic Bluetooth Powered Link-to-Cell

Dougcole said:

I've found that five or six good solid thumps of my foot on the deck brings them running. Usually kind of freaking and saying "what happened, did we hit something?"

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Works for me too.

My boat obviously does not have this problem; but having been practically raised on a Defever 44, I can share with you how my parents handled the matter. First, I can count on one hand the number of times my father operated "At Last" from the inside helm--the flybridge was used 99.999% of the time. We had an intercom system that worked very well. Phones were located outside the engine room, salon, aft stateroom, and flybridge. Most of the time, however, Dad simply used his heel to send me a signal. His code system was simple:

1) Four or five rapid heel stomps in succession: secure any loose items... some idiot in a large Sea-Ray or Hatteras is approaching and refuses to slow pass.

2) Three slow but firm heel taps: Bring me a Dr. Pepper or Mr. Pibb (could also be "take the helm because I need to use the head")

Seriously, this isn't rocket science and doesn't need to be complicated. FRS radios are probably one of the better options.

I knock on the floor.

we too use engine rpm change as a signal to come to the bridge. We have headset radios but usually only use them for docking

In the Navy we had these
File:Voice tube.jpg - Wikimedia Commons

I don't have a flying bridge, but I would probably send a text message.

Frc

frgeorgeh said:

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Honeymoon over! You and RT are now in the same boat! Love it!

We use the the intercom feature on the SH VHF radio.

I normally just send the butler down with a message.

Andy G said:

I normally just send the butler down with a message.

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Best answer yet! Calling Mr. French!

Andy G said:

I normally just send the butler down with a message.

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We had to ring Australia for it but least we finally found one civilized boater.

Oliver throws a deck shoe at the first person he sees to get their attention. He has plenty of deck shoes. Picks 'em up at boat shows at a deep discount.

hmason said:

Oliver throws a deck shoe at the first person he sees to get their attention. He has plenty of deck shoes. Picks 'em up at boat shows at a deep discount.

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Actually, I put Otto on the wheel and I go get them myself (whilst wearing my deck shoes)...

Lmao

N4712 said:

Actually, I put Otto on the wheel and I go get them myself (whilst wearing my deck shoes)...
View attachment 39956

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You have a blow up doll that is male? Er, do I want to know more?

janice142 said:

You have a blow up doll that is male? Er, do I want to know more?

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LOL!!! Ever seen the movie airplane? If not, then that explains why you don't get it.

Good one Oliver.
Here is a photo of my bridge. Note the speaking tube for communicating with those below.

So, no one sends the dog with a message clenched in its teeth, or a pigeon with a message taped to its leg?

Gotta learn to send messages using leg motions.

I meant this:

Throttling back to idle, even momentarily, means "get in touch with the helmsman right away" on our boat. It can be in person or via phone intercom. It's immediate and works if one of us is in the noisy engine room where our intercom is basically useless.

When the old hailer/intercom that came with the boat burned up (literally) we replaced it with a Standard Horizon LH5. This was back in 2000 or thereabouts and the LH5 has since been superceded by better systems. The current SH unit is the 3000.

But a hailer/intercom is a useful device. The value of the intercom is obvious but the hailer can be useful, too. We've only used the actual hailer aspect a couple of times to talk to another boat. But it has several horn and bell functions, one of which is a timed foghorn signal. Our boat has very loud air horns that are manually controlled. If it's foggy we boat in the fog and sometimes we can get pretty busy in and around the narrow passes we go through, particularly the ones used by the ferries.

The hailer's "horn" is not all that loud, but we use it as a timer. When the hailer horn goes off we push the button for the air horns. Saves us from having to keep track of the horn timing.

Also the intercom, which uses the horn/speaker on the underside of the flying bridge lip as one of the intercom stations, is a helpful means of listening for other boat horns. Inside the boat it's pretty noisy with two engines under the floor.

BTW, I have an ad in the wanted section on this very subject.

Looking for the old standard horizon CHS03 intercom telephone handset for the LH5 hailer. Going old school on my Californian 42'

PM me if you have one to get rid of.

Mark,

You have the look of pure contentment and relaxation on your face! Good for you!

Marin said:

... The hailer's "horn" is not all that loud, but we use it as a timer. When the hailer horn goes off we push the button for the air horns. Saves us from having to keep track of the horn timing. ...

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That could be confusing. Other boaters might think there are two boats or that you're not moving.

kartracer said:

While running this weekend I am on the fly bridge and others in cabin. How do get there attention when needed? Bell, Radio, Etc.

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Quite a bit of wizardry going on in this thread. My solution:

Set the Autopilot and go below to get my own beer...:lol:

markpierce said:

That could be confusing. Other boaters might think there are two boats or that you're not moving.

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Given that most power boaters can't hear horns anyway when they're inside their boats unless they're being blown right next to them, the whole horn thing seems pretty academic except for the ferries and commercial ships which have really big horns you can hear for miles. But when we're in fog, we never hear other boat's horns unless we go outside on deck, or, in our case, turn up our intercom from the hailer horn. Two engines hammering away under the floor do a pretty effective job of covering up most external sounds except the big ship horns when the ships are relatively close to us.

So I doubt anyone would even hear our hailer beep, although they might hear our big air horns. All we care about, assuming anyone hears horns at all in their boat, is that they hear something coming from where we are. Nobody mistakes a two-tone horn for two boats, so I doubt anyone is going to be confused by a three-tone horn.

Frankly if nobody blew horns in the fog I don't think it would make a lick of difference to us. We have a good radar and we're real good at getting the most out of it, plus there is VTS for those times when we are crossing shipping lanes and stuff. We blow our horn only to be in compliance with the Colregs. We are well aware that probably nobody outside of a sailboat crew will ever hear them.