Barge passing etiquette

East of the Mississippi River you will usually find the commercial vessels on Chl. 16 West of the River they will be on Chl. 13. In the River I believe they now use Chl. 68.
In your post you referred to them as barges and/or tug. Try hailing them as "tow" as in "west bound tow at mile marker xx". Typically if the wind is blowing an empty tow will want to hold into the wind other than that they will usually meet on the one whistle side. That will all change in the River, they empty or loaded will want to come north bound under the points and down bound in the bends. Unless the River is flowing pretty well and the bend is pretty great then they may flank it south bound taking up most all of the channel and you should try to wait below the point. Algier's Point between Industrial and Harvey lock is one of those spots and is occasionally flanked by large (greater than 25 barges) tows.
Safe travels
dan

ulysses said:

East of the Mississippi River you will usually find the commercial vessels on Chl. 16 West of the River they will be on Chl. 13. In the River I believe they now use Chl. 68.
In your post you referred to them as barges and/or tug. Try hailing them as "tow" as in "west bound tow at mile marker xx". Typically if the wind is blowing an empty tow will want to hold into the wind other than that they will usually meet on the one whistle side. That will all change in the River, they empty or loaded will want to come north bound under the points and down bound in the bends. Unless the River is flowing pretty well and the bend is pretty great then they may flank it south bound taking up most all of the channel and you should try to wait below the point. Algier's Point between Industrial and Harvey lock is one of those spots and is occasionally flanked by large (greater than 25 barges) tows.
Safe travels
dan

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When you say "EAST of the Mississippi" ...are you just talking Gulf and Gulf ICW? Or are you talking the Atlantic coast also?


Along the Atlantic Coast...Ch 13 is frequently monitored...at least from NJ to FL.

No, I am talking of the Gulf Coast ICW East of the Mississippi River only. That is where Cardude is traveling. Locks of which there are none along that route until he gets to New Orleans (Industrial) are found on channel 14. Most commercial vessels west of Mississippi will keep a watch on 16 but the volume is down somewhat. East they will turn the volume up and go to a working channel when hailed. I always assumed this was do to the greater amount of traffic west of the River.
dan

Kelbylinn: Dauphin Is. Golf Course anchorage. I had not heard of that one but it looks pretty good. Do you go South of Dauphin Isl and then back in the Sound at Petit Bois?

When the workboats get to the coast they switch over from 13 to ch. 16. in the Gulf of Mexico.

PS. Cat Island is also a nice spot to anchor, it's a good ways west of you but maybe for another day or someone else, Details on Active Capt.

psneeld said:

When carrying a film crew to film a Weeks tug/barge dumping subway cars off Delaware...asked to cut his bow and the tug capt responded he was so used to little boats cut under his bow...he really just gave up caring what happened...

But he knew me and may have embellished a bit.......maybe not...

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One of my earliest boat memories is being on the St. Johns in FLA and seeing two other pleasure boats pull right in front of a barge being pushed by a tug. They were completely out of sight of the tow when they did this, not that he could have done a danged thing if anything had happened to the boats. A ball cap came off of one of the boat passengers and the barge ran it over.

I was maybe 3-4 years old and wondering what was wrong with those people...

Later,
Dan

Many of the tows I have encountered would just say pass on the one or two. They may say I'll see you on the one. I have always remembered it like this: One whistle my port side. Port one syllable. Two whistles my starboard side. Starboard two syllables. Has worked for me about 40 years.

dannc said:

One of my earliest boat memories is being on the St. Johns in FLA and seeing two other pleasure boats pull right in front of a barge being pushed by a tug. They were completely out of sight of the tow when they did this, not that he could have done a danged thing if anything had happened to the boats. A ball cap came off of one of the boat passengers and the barge ran it over.

I was maybe 3-4 years old and wondering what was wrong with those people...

Later,
Dan

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All year long I hear the pilots in the Delaware Rive call recreational vessels in the Delaware River channel. It varies from nice to all but a full on curse out....and I fully understand.

There is NO reason a vessel drawing less than 10 feet should ever be in the channel. There is plenty of water either side of the channel and I find recreational vessels in it all but the lowest forms of life for intelligence.

I can see why commercial guys having little respect for rec guys and there are certainly enough clueless rec capts to solidify that feeling.

manyboats said:

Passing barges?

We don't pass them .. they pass us. And we get the hell out of the way.

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:lol: Story of my 5.5 to 6 knot life! I often suffer the indignity of being passed by sailboats and yes, barges too!

This is a very informative thread.

Be careful of the ones tending the end of a dredge pipe run.


One forced me up on a mud bank without so much as a call or response to my call.


I put out a securite' outlining his belligerence and when he belittled a following cruiser about a mile behind me...I called the cruiser and reminded him of the Colregs and the complete disregard for safety the tug guy displayed and not to worry.


I hope a thousand other boaters enjoyed the conversation and the USCG recorded it all.

It is not a race and there is no indignity involved, well maybe with a sailboat but was it really sailing or under power?

Steve said:

When the workboats get to the coast they switch over from 13 to ch. 16. in the Gulf of Mexico.

PS. Cat Island is also a nice spot to anchor, it's a good ways west of you but maybe for another day or someone else, Details on Active Capt.

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Well my anchoring plans were bad evidently. Wind switched directly from the west so Petit Bois had rollers coming through. So I went ALL the way back to Dauphin Island and it pretty much sucks as well. That'll teach me to not look at the wind forecast!

Not the best setup for ole rolly boat but it's gonna have to do.

I'm drinking rum. F'it.

Moonstruck said:

Many of the tows I have encountered would just say pass on the one or two. They may say I'll see you on the one. I have always remembered it like this: One whistle my port side. Port one syllable. Two whistles my starboard side. Starboard two syllables. Has worked for me about 40 years.

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Sorry Don. Busted!! One whistle= Stbd side .


1983 Present 42 Sundeck
Twin Lehman 135's

....

I'm so confused with the whistles and reds and greens.

Can't we just say port or starboard?

Or maybe, driver's side and passenger's side.

?

Forkliftt said:

Sorry Don. Busted!! One whistle= Stbd side .


1983 Present 42 Sundeck
Twin Lehman 135's

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Be careful...one whistle inland rules is leaving you to my port...international is I AM turning right (to starboard)...

I think Don was correct in his statement.


http://navcen.uscg.gov/?pageName=navRulesContent#rule34

Inland rules
one short blast to mean "I intend to leave you on my port side";
<li style="margin-left: 40px;"> two short blasts to mean " I intend to leave you on my starboard side";<li style="margin-left: 40px;"> three short blasts to mean "I am operating astern propulsion".


International rules...


(i) one short blast to mean "I am altering my course to starboard";

Don was correct under either rule. I don't think he was implying a turn...it was I will see you port to port. His port (one syllable) side to the others port side. One whistle.

Forkliftt said:

Sorry Don. Busted!! One whistle= Stbd side .


1983 Present 42 Sundeck
Twin Lehman 135's

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Not sure what you are saying here. I understood what he said and seemed correct to me.

But one whistle you ALWAYS take the aforementioned boat on YOUR port....whether you are overtaking or passing in opposite directions.

Two whistle you ALWAYS take the aforementioned boat on YOUR starboard.

IT IS THAT SIMPLE!!!

This is also an important way to remember it because it is not at all uncommon to come upon an intersection and you meeting a boat that is perpendicular to your course. What do you do then if he says "see you on the one" and y'all are on a collision course??? Let's say he is going right to left. Do you go in front of him or behind him??? All you have to remember is you leave him on YOUR port...you go behind him(in this scenario). If you get too caught up in all of these other explanations, my scenario would likely confuse most of you. My point being you are not always traveling parallel to each other and this method always works regardless of how you are oriented with the other boat. But all you have to do is...one whistle...leave him on YOUR port. Two whistle...leave him on YOUR starboard!!! That simple.

The tows in the GICWW will almost always use this verbiage and they use the channels/freqs already stated. I will add that they switch back to CH.16 West. of Bolivar Roads(Houston Ship Channel).

My above scenario would be very common in the Bolivar Roads area where you have Houston Ship Channel traffic intersecting with ICW traffic. I cannot imagine an area that has more commercial traffic in this country. The Port of Galveston, Houston, and Texas City all converge at this one point with the ICW...just had a collision a few days ago. There have been a lot in the last few years.

cardude01 said:

I'm so confused with the whistles and reds and greens.

Can't we just say port or starboard?

Or maybe, driver's side and passenger's side.

?

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See my explanation. It is really that simple. There is no need to make it any more complicated than that.

In the real world...learn the whistle signals and how they apply. Whether by horn or radio...that the way it should be done and most often is unless one of the boats doesn't understand.


Red/greens, port/starboard....well the description of the whistle signal is clear and simple...learn what works...everything else is just explaining the simple to those that don't understand the simple/basics......

This does bring up a story...

We were in Port Aransas Texas near Corpus Christi. We had just arrived with a fleet of four boats. There is one straggler that was behind us a few hours. It turns out he was having troubles and was anchored about 1.5 hours away. It was 8pm and the sun was setting. But we took this on as a challenge. We loaded up Brent's boat(Albin 43 sundeck) and began our three hour tour to go help our stranded mate. On the way out we talked to a tow for basic purposes but then he started asking questions about what we were doing. You will find at odd hours of the night and/or areas that are off the beaten path, these tow drivers get lonely and they just want to talk. And that is all this guy was doing. Super friendly fella just chatting. We will call the name of the boat the "Mary Anne" since I do not remember it. Well we continued on and found our stranded mate. Turns out by the time we got there, he had everything squared away and he was just gonna remained anchored there for the night. I think he was perfectly happy being there with his little female friend. Anyway, so the journey back begins. Since it is now way past dark we have one guy on the helm...another guy on the radar(first gen NavNet)and radio...and another working the spotlight. Of course we were doing manly **** being the custodians of safety for our women and the only other weaker(or smarter) male aboard. Well as we are cruising the Lydia Anne Channel back to the PA municipal marina(locals will pronounce "Lydia Anne" as one word...Lydi'anne...and it is the prettiest coastal piece of water in Texas IMO) we sea a tow oriented somewhat sideways to our course. Not a big deal as the Lydi'anne Channle is fairly wide and deep. So we call him on the radio. It turns out it is the same guy as we talked to on the way out...the "Marry Anne". Our radar and radio operator give him a call. We are convinced that a pass on the two would be the best course of action. Or at least that was what we were getting out of the radar guy. So we call to coordinate and asked for a two whistle. And he says slowly with a Texas draw, "You may want to reconsider...my bow is up on the beach. And unless you have an amphibious vessel, I do not think that will work"!!!...dammit!!! It is not uncommon for tows to push there bows up onto land for the night...that is their way of stopping for the day...since they can't exactly anchor.

It is funny how your eyes can play tricks on you at night. And I guess our radar operator wasn't seeing the complete picture!!! I was on the spotlight and did not what to blast light at the tow....they are not very fond of that...and neither am I when someone does it to me. They are extremely careful not to light you up with theirs...so don't light them up with yours!!!

Got it. Thanks.

Forkliftt said:

Sorry Don. Busted!! One whistle= Stbd side .


1983 Present 42 Sundeck
Twin Lehman 135's

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Steve, I was referring to my port or starboard. One whistle alter to starboard for a port to port meeting.

Baker, good explanation in post #48. One needs to know one's whistles because that is the default way of signaling your intentions when for whatever reason VHF coms are not working. Lights because that is what you will see, and maybe all you will see at night.
And whether it is verbal or via your horn, you are listening for confirmation just as importantly. If you get 5 shorts back at you, stop the boat and reset. Then try two.
The earlier you can get all this initiated, the better. This is why, to me at least, AIS is at its very most useful on the GICW and the river system. If you don't have it and you are on such a waterway, don't be shy about announcing your position, course and speed on a very regular basis, especially in advance of turns.

Moonstruck said:

Steve, I was referring to my port or starboard. One whistle alter to starboard for a port to port meeting.

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So many people screw this up in overtaking situations especially. It's all about what side of the overtaking boat is passing the boat being passed.

Unless the barge is going really slow , staying in its wake assures a good water depth.

In Georgia the barges call it "Pushin Mud" , and it does leave an easy wake to follow.

caltexflanc said:

Red is port. Green is starboard. It refers to your sidelights. Tows use it a lot, as well as "one the 1 or on the 2" Glad you made it OK!

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Glad I wasn't the only one......... Perhaps a more thorough understanding of Colregs would help. Red to red means one whistle. You 'move to your starboard side of the channel'. It does not mean to turn left and pass on their starboard side.

Baker in post #48 gave the best overall understanding of the rules. Note it does not indicate any necessary turns and applies to overtaking and meeting on any angle. It is all about YOUR port or starboard sides and you do not have to go outside and look at your sidelights.
On another note, yest once you make it across the Houston Ship Channel at Bolivar Roads the hailing channel then goes back to channel 16.
One trick in meeting long tows in what may appear a narrow channel is once you determine the proper side to meet that tow then move to the appropriate side of the channel while watching the side of the tow. Once you can see all the way down the side of the tow then steer back to just past the stern of the boat pushing the barges. That puts you steering back towards the center line of the channel and you can never hit the tow or other boat.

Giggitoni said:

Are Canadian lights reversed from USA lights? I noticed in Europe the "red right return" thingy is reversed to "green right return". Same in Canada?

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About 90% of the world uses a light system that's opposite of us. Why we have to be the odd man out, I have no idea.

ulysses said:

It is not a race and there is no indignity involved, well maybe with a sailboat but was it really sailing or under power?

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The boats I usually pass are docked, moving in reverse, anchored, or are marked "PA" on the charts.