Ocean Navigator: Newsletter #1


The Airwave Club


Welcome to the first of a series of newsletters focused on keeping in
touch when you're out to sea. Every two weeks, I'll be sending along
some rants, raves, ramblings and hopefully some good advice, too -- all
relating to marine communications. With some things staying perennially
unchanged (ship to shore radio hasn't changed much since the days of
Titanic) and other things changing almost overnight (Iridium goes live --
Iridium goes bankrupt -- Iridium goes live again), rest assured you can
look to this newsletter to keep you abreast of the latest, greatest and
most exciting developments in the field of marine communications.

And now, for the premier edition, follow me on a rumination about
radiowaves -- we'll start this series with the basics -- on a winter day
in Maine:

It just started snowing here in Portland Harbor. I'm watching the snow
fall from inside my cozy, heated office overlooking the water. It's
midwinter and the cover on my boat suggests that sailing is both a
distant memory and an eagerly anticipated event. Although I'm not sailing
now, it being winter, I can still monitor the chatter of commercial
traffic going by outside my office on Casco Bay.

A favorite pasttime of mine when I was living aboard in New York
Harbor was listening to the VHF at night. Most of the recreational
boaters were back at the dock or in the bar, and the harbor was being
plyed by several professional mariners. Each of them was required to
check in with the Coast Guard's Vessel Traffic Services (VTS), then
operating on Governors Island. At various predetermined points, they
would announce their position and destination to be logged by the VTS
operator. At first the transmissions were cryptic and hard to understand
-- "Marie Lykes coming up on the twenty-six and bound for the
ventilators and the North River." Over time though, I came to
realize that one of the Lykes' tugboats was approaching red buoy 26 in
the main ship channel and would be passing the Holland Tunnel ventilators
(the limit of the VTS area) and would then be going up the Hudson (or
North) River. After a while, I started to recognize the skippers' voices
and their vessels.

This was my way of staying in Nautical Lingo The Club, even at the
dock. Understanding the lingo made me feel good and made me feel safer
when I was out on the water. When I saw a barge in the distance, I knew
where it was going and where it was likely to turn. I was able to give
the barge (and myself) a wide safety margin and stay out of its way.

Open communication over the airwaves offers a tremendous amount of
security by the simple practice of allowing eavesdropping. Similar
benefits can be seen (or heard) in aviation -- pilots announce their
intention to land at unmanned airports and then listen for any concerned
traffic. As the world continues to covet personal security and privacy,
many people are using cellular and satellite phones from their boats.
While these certainly have their place (and I'm an avid supporter of
them), they'll never replace the open airwave communication offered by a
VHF or SSB radio. They simply add to it.

But what will happen to the world of VHF eavesdropping when DSC (digital
selective calling) really takes hold? Well, the short answer is, "not
much." Securite calls will still be announced, and all voice conversations
will still be eavesdroppable on the same old channels. The only thing
that will (or should) change is that there should be less folks on the
air asking, "Floating Assets? Floating Assets? Come in. Joe, are you
out there? Joe? Joe! You out there?" Under the new DSC scheme, just
dial up the MMSI (mobile maritime service identity) number for Floating
Assets and Joe's radio will "ring" much like a phone. In order to talk
to Joe though, you'll both be talking on one of the regular old radio
channels, and we'll all be able to listen to your discussion with Joe
about which bar to head to that evening.

The snow is really coming down quite heavily now. There's probably a
half-inch already on the ground. The possibility of an evening sail seems
even farther now. Time to turn on the radio and listen to other mariners
more hearty than I. "Theresa Marie -- outbound for sea by way of
Willard Rock and West Cod Ledge.

Dan Piltch - inbound for work by way of the coffee maker and my
laptop.

- Daniel Piltch
dpiltch@MarineComputer.com

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