Marker Light Out

[Donsan]

The marker light in front of our house on the St Johns went out a few days ago. One of the neighbors noticed and called the USCG and reported the light on St Johns Marker 28 was out. He was asked what the coordinates of the marker are. Duh. Obviously, the neighbor was less than thrilled with being asked the coordinates of the marker and as of this morning the light is still out.

Granted the St Johns isn't the ICW down by Miami but we do get both commercial and recreational traffic and sometimes early in the evening or early in the morning when it is dark. Worse, fishing boats come flying up and down the river at 40-50MPH sometimes in the dark.

Since the St Johns is an inland waterway, are the markers the responsibility of the USCG or the Army Corp of Engineers or even the St Johns Water Management District? Who should we be reporting the light outage to?

 

[psneeld]

The USCG I belive reports light list outages, so they woulx take the info, who actually fixes it, cant be sure but probably the USCG.

Check how many ATON discrepancies exist in the Florida area right now......

Then guess why "that" marker may not be fixed for quite awhile......

 

[Donsan]

Thanks!

It was a little bit of a challenge since I was not familiar with the Light Lists and the "Catcha" phrases were almost unreadable to my old eyes but it got reported (again).

 

[aboatman]

You say your neighbor called about the light but did you call as well?

Call them. Have your other neighbors call them. Ask when it will be fixed (you won't get a good answer but ask anyway). Ask them who is in charge of fixing them. Call them again in a week or so. Keep calling.

In my experience reporting a safety issue to the USCG results in them broadcasting it on the radio for a few days.

 

[psneeld]

If it is already on the light list as being extinguished....

It gets put on a prioritized work list and at that point additional calls are detrimental....and also usually makes the morning broadcast as a LNM.

If you want it put higher, call your congressman.

At that point you have really screwed up the system, created a bunch of make work, and it may still only get fixed on its current schedule.

 

[Donsan]

I am perfectly happy working within the system but if Mr Aboatman feels it is necessary to make multiple calls, he is welcome to be my guest.

 

[psneeld]

this might be like calling a detective working 5 murder cases, and along with 30 other buglary and robbery cases multiple times asking about your stolen bicycle.

once you file the report and do a followup call down the line to see if it is still active....chances are multiple calls are a waste of everyones time.

not all followups are a waste, but in my boating life let alone USCG career, never knew ATON guys to take their responsibility lightly.

 

[aboatman]

I am perfectly happy working within the system but if Mr Aboatman feels it is necessary to make multiple calls, he is welcome to be my guest.

You are the one posting and complaining about the light, not me. I live far from this light and personally, I don't give a crapola if it gets fixed or not.

I was under the impression from your post that you wanted it fixed ASAP. I was just giving you honest suggestions on how to accomplish your implied goal, not inviting a smartassed reply.

 

[Donsan]

You are the one posting and complaining about the light, not me. I live far from this light and personally, I don't give a crapola if it gets fixed or not.

I was under the impression from your post that you wanted it fixed ASAP. I was just giving you honest suggestions on how to accomplish your implied goal, not inviting a smartassed reply.

Well, it wasn't a complaint on my part but my neighbor did complain about the way he was treated by the USCG person who took his call. I wanted to verify who was responsible for maintaining markers on the inland waterways and what the correct procedure was to report it. Chill out fella.

 

[Donsan]

Yesterday, a USCG crew stopped at the marker to check out the light. Guess it wasn't a quick fix as the light is still out this AM. Would think it would be something simple like a bulb or a battery but certainly the solar charger or day/night sensor could have also seen the ghost. Kind of wondering if the light went out when Irma hit and we just didn't notice for a few months.

 

[FF]

"Worse, fishing boats come flying up and down the river at 40-50MPH sometimes in the dark."

That's why boat insurance is expensive.

 

[RT Firefly]

Greetings,
Mr. D. "... bulb or a battery but certainly the solar charger or day/night sensor.." Could also be the servo generator is seized up or the engineer is out of pellets...

 

[Donsan]

Could also be the servo generator is seized up or the engineer is out of pellets...

RTF - You are an incredible engineering talent! What else have you patented?

 

[RT Firefly]

Greetings,
Mr. D. You give me far too much credit. The "servo generator" pictured above is a government unit and is standard equipment installed in most if not all critical infrastructure. It was developed to replace the original, quasi-unreliable mechanism (shown here) that was re-purposed and is now being used to process your tax returns.

 

[aboatman]

Yesterday, a USCG crew stopped at the marker to check out the light. Guess it wasn't a quick fix as the light is still out this AM. Would think it would be something simple like a bulb or a battery but certainly the solar charger or day/night sensor could have also seen the ghost. Kind of wondering if the light went out when Irma hit and we just didn't notice for a few months.

That sounds like a government operation because if a private company sent someone out to repair the light, they would have made sure they had the parts and skills to repair it in one trip.

 

[Donsan]

That sounds like a government operation because if a private company sent someone out to repair the light, they would have made sure they had the parts and skills to repair it in one trip.

Don't know. It could have been a routine river patrol boat that was asked to check out the light during a patrol and report back what on what issues they found. The boat didn't look very well equipped to do marker repair.

 

[psneeld]

That sounds like a government operation because if a private company sent someone out to repair the light, they would have made sure they had the parts and skills to repair it in one trip.

utter bull....

the USCG tried pilot programs using civillian contractors to do ATON work and it failed miserably.

Not only did it cost more, the number of outages and duration went up.

I know personally as the ATON unit that worked with me was one in the pilot programs.

There are lots of things in government done well or better than civillian counterparts....or the civilliianization costs way more .... sure numbers have to be adjusted for benefits, retirement, etc...but then other numbers are lost in a complex system requiring manpower for emergencies and sea service. ... so its never clear..

Plus in this case, often a simple check is done by a utility boat crew, and if it isnt a bulb, etc... an ATON unit is scheduled.

You know how many civillian contractors show up without or incorrect parts they ordered? Ask any boat owner.....

Yeah, the government.....blah...blah...blah.

 

[RT Firefly]

Greetings,
Mr.ps. I have witnessed government contracting out/privatization first hand and whole heartedly agree with your observations. Usually touted as a cost saving measure by some bean counter or government hack in a futile effort to downsize government. It sounds REALLY good on paper and is popular with the voters but in all but a few instances, that I'm aware of, it is a flop. Nobody ever asks the front line troops their opinion yet they are the one's that suffer the public's wrath.

Another cost cutting fiasco is reducing funding to departments that are already struggling to "do more with less". Ends up being "doing more with nothing". Been there, done that myself and couldn't afford the T-shirt.

 

[psneeld]

you know what you have to pay some spineless contractor to go out and replace/repair a first order light in a gale?

then lookup what some poor 3rd class petty officer makes...... and over his/her lifetime serving...

Hey I think the government can do better, but I know I am disapoointed with corporate America just as much.

post generic slams and I will remind you every time about defense contractors, the banking industry, the medical insurance industry, big pharm and the opioid epidemic, etc, etc.... incompetent AND greedy....

 

[aboatman]

utter bull.... ....................

Come on, let us know how you really feel.

 

[psneeld]

I cant..... I still want posting priveledges...

I have known government workers to put many of my civilian coworkers to shame..

2 of my old bosses hire old broken down Coasties like me because we put our younger, more highly trained coworkers to shame....

Why?

Pride...we arent mercenaries...we do the job no matter what it takes, we take money out of our own pockets to resolve issues, we do what we do because it needs to be done...

Something many of my civilian coworkers cant comprehend.

Thankfully, many can and thats what keeps us rolling along.... but snide comments about the government without specifics in my mind is what keeps this country divided and spineless.

Now if you want what I really think, I will give up my posting rights and let you and any others know how I really feel.

 

[aboatman]

It wasn't meant as a government vs. civilian contractor rant. I worked for the government. When I had a service call, I tried my best to take everything I might need on the call and kept my truck well stocked. I was allowed to do that because I was known to get the job done. Also, I would rather be fixing things than driving around.

Many co-workers (and some bosses) were not like that. They would send someone out to look at a simple job, then send someone out to do the job.

It would seem that if a navigation light is not working, the list of parts to make it work again would be pretty small. It's hard to imagine not being able to fix it in one trip.

But, go ahead and tell everyone how you feel.

 

[psneeld]

Horsepuckey, you took a cheapshot at our men in uniform and I called you on it.

Live with it.

You should know then both businesses and govt agencies are set up different.

A LOT of us got the job done, not just you....

A cheap shot I dont appreciate....and those that respect our guys in uniform.

Keep trying to defend an indefensible position and it will only get worse.

 

[RT Firefly]

 

[aboatman]

Horsepuckey, you took a cheapshot at our men in uniform and I called you on it.

Live with it.

You should know then both businesses and govt agencies are set up different.

A LOT of us got the job done, not just you....

A cheap shot I dont appreciate....and those that respect our guys in uniform.

Keep trying to defend an indefensible position and it will only get worse.

Now that's "utter bull...."

 

[Shrew]

Getting back on the OP's point. I can see some of the challenges.

-> ATONS are really only used by mariners. Mariners 'typically' understand and use coordinates.

-> The Coast Guard is a 'Marine-based' organization, who also understand and use coordinates.

-> Landlubber neighbor decides to be a good Samaritan and get involved with things nautical in nature and calls the Coast Guard.

-> Landlubber isn't aware that in the 310 miles of the St. Johns river the numbering system will change. It's not as simple as (It starts at 1 and ends at 675). I can locate a Red #16 miles south of Red #28 which is closer to the mouth. (Red #4 starts at the mouth). I know we've all seen two 'Red #2' just miles from one another.

-> CG wants to verify location and requests coordinates. At which point the neighbor is confused. I'm sure it begins to become frustrating to both parties at this point.

-> Who knows who the neighbor actually called. CG station, or office in Washington? I strongly suspect whomever it was was, might possibly have not the correct party for that type of report being given.


AS far as 'Who works harder?" It's the person getting it done. There are both lazy and hardworking people in every industry, both public and private sector.

 

[aboatman]

......... AS far as 'Who works harder?" It's the person getting it done. There are both lazy and hardworking people in every industry, both public and private sector.

That's the truth and the bottom line.

 

[psneeld]

That sounds like a government operation because if a private company sent someone out to repair the light, they would have made sure they had the parts and skills to repair it in one trip.

sounds pretty one sided to me...

no backtracking while I can point it out.

maybe a sincere apology to all the hard working govt employees will get me off the step....

 

[aboatman]

Fat chance.

You misread my post and are now trying to make into something it wasn't. I'm done.

 

[psneeld]

Good, I didnt misread anything...post 15 is clear as a bell.

And an apology costs nothing... figures.....

I dont care but those Coasties that swung by the light didnt deserve it