NYCkayaker Kayak safety meeting with NY Waterway

[Dan Starer]

My guess is if you were close to a docked ferry (which violates Coast Guard
security regs.), by the side of the boat, and the doors to the wheelhouse
were open, and someone was in there, they might hear you.  But the
wheelhouse is high off the water and I wouldn't count on it.  Also, ferry
captains wouldn't expect to hear a blown whistle coming from the water, so
they might ignore it.

Dan


On Mon, Jun 16, 2008 at 1:54 PM, Geoff K. <geoffk99 at gmail.com> wrote:

> Thanks for the response. I was really thinking more along the lines of
> docked ferries, but I wrote my note to be a little more general. Do you
> think whistle blows from a kayak to a docked ferry would be audible? Ferries
> on the move are easier for a paddler to manage in most cases (generally just
> give it a wide berth), but when passing astern of a docked ferry, this is
> when I feel most vulnerable around them. If a whistle shot would be helpful
> to alert captains to a paddler's presence, I'm all for doing so. However, if
> it's simply not practical, that important to know, as well.
>
> -- Geoff
>
>
> Dan Starer wrote:
>
>> Having been in the wheelhouse of a NY Waterway ferry last week, and having
>> cruised around the the lower part of the Hudson, I can verify there is no
>> way a ferry captain could hear a whistle blown by a kayakers.  I doubt if
>> even a small air horn that kayakers might carry would be audible to a ferry
>> moving at full speed.
>>
>> Dan
>>
>