It's a world in which a person who has never operated a boat in his life can plunk down the money for a 60 foot diesel cruiser and drive away from the dock with no more training than the handwriting skills required to sign the check. So the notion that boaters should be all up to date on the horn regulations and practice them seems a little ludicrous, don't you think?
Particularly in an age of electronic communications. Knowing horn signals seems somewhat tantamount to knowing how to bank a fire properly on a steam locomotive. Interesting but not very useful anymore. Like I said, nobody uses horns around here, recreational or commercial, and it doesn't seem to make one whit of difference.
Having a VHF radio and knowing what and who uses each channel, now that's important I think.
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