OK, show your age. - who remembers these??

[Ned L]

Who remembers when ...

..a "Boater" was truly nothing but a type of straw hat, a person experienced around a boat was a "boatman", and to call someone a "Boater" was an absolute sign of a 'newby'.

.. 'Nuns' were red and 'cans' were black?

Who remembers what "2182" and "2670" were?

and who has ever used the "marine operator"?

or what "TD's " were?

or how to plot your position with an RDF?

Any others?

Just curious.

 

[JoLin]

Re: OK, show your age. - who remembers these??

I missed on '2670'. I don't know that one.

Marine Operator? Only rich folk had radiotelephones on boats.

Sorry, but my Power Squadron buddies and I still refer to markers as cans and nuns (but in fairness, not always).

Good stuff

 

[OllieC]

Re: OK, show your age. - who remembers these??

My boating test also made mention of Nun buoy's. It's never going to die!

 

[AGUS]

Re: OK, show your age. - who remembers these??

OK, so I'm too young! Will some old guy teach me? Come on DAD

 

[Don S]

Re: OK, show your age. - who remembers these??

Don't hear much about TD's now that Loran is gone. But it helped me navigate up the Pacific coast the first trip from SF Bay to Puget sound. DR course plotted on a Loran chart every 1/2 hour at night. Had AP and Radar, but man it's boring when no one else is awake at 2AM 20 miles off shore with a 16 mile radar.

 

[Ned L]

Re: OK, show your age. - who remembers these??

Yes, they are still 'nuns' & 'cans'. But cans are green today. Do you remember when they were black?

 

[JimS123]

Re: OK, show your age. - who remembers these??

Yeah, I remember all of that.

I also remember back in the day that Dad said don't buy a plastic boat because they rotted inside and fell apart (we had wooden boats back then and they didn't rot).

I also remember Grandpa saying how he was happy to take care of Dad's boat while he was serving on another "boat" in the South Pacific.

I also remeber when we made no wake even though we never heard of a no-wake zone because they weren't posted - you just used common sense and had concern for your neighbor.

Most of all is what I DONT remember....

* accidents on the waterways
* collisions due to drunken drivers (Dad and Grandpa always had a beer but not a whole case)
* speeding boats on poker runs that would run down a fishing boat (the "gofasts of the day were mahogany runabouts with V-8's but they went down the middle and didn't bother the fishermen)
* nobody got towed because they were well maintained and if you broke a shear pin on a floating stick you rowed home and didn't bother somebody else
* boaters (actually "boatmen") learned from their fathers. They didn't just have a bunch of cash and go buy a boat without having a clue what to do.
* the internet where anybody could ask a question and then go out and follow bad advice. Back in the day we went to the library and read a book and then did what the author recommended. Or, we went to a marina and took the advice of an old salt.

Technology is ever improving, but common sense has gone by the wayside. The good ole days are long gone.

 

[airshot]

Re: OK, show your age. - who remembers these??

JimS123.....how right you are, yes I am showing my age as I remember those things as though it was yesterday. I cannot believe the lack of common sense that one finds nowadays...

Airshot

 

[Home Cookin']

Re: OK, show your age. - who remembers these??

Red nun, green can. Easy to remember now that O'Connor beer has those two varieties on its list!

My best boating skills were acquired by learning to sail (and maintain) a small wooden sailboat when I was about 10. Learned the knots, dynamics, rules and proper terms. Although I also did a lot of boating with my dad, he was from the mountains and it wasn't in his blood; my mother's family included legendary sailors, and they and lots of my friends' dads would build their own boats, from hydroplanes with a screaming 15 to the famous Moth sailboat.
Not only are the old skills important to know, especially when things go wrong, there is great value in the discipline of learning it and learning it right. I see way too many people operating boats who can't even operate a cleat correctly.

 

[crabby captain john]

Re: OK, show your age. - who remembers these??

Correct, many lack common sense and don't forget some are too stupid to read or comprehend simple words like 'no wake zone'.

 

[tazrig]

Re: OK, show your age. - who remembers these??

Who remembers when ...

.. 'Nuns' were red and 'cans' were black?

Who remembers what "2182" and "2670" were?

and who has ever used the "marine operator"?

or what "TD's " were?

or how to plot your position with an RDF?

Just curious.

Remember the Nuns and Can colors.

Don't remember that one although they sound like loran "grids"

Yup called them on my VHF and they would connect me to a call that 10,000 other people would listen to. :lol:

Vividly remember using the "time delays" to chart with

Never used a Radio Direction Finder but remember them.

Marine Operator? Only rich folk had radiotelephones on boats.

Good stuff

I just used my VHF and always called collect.

JimS123.....how right you are, yes I am showing my age as I remember those things as though it was yesterday. I cannot believe the lack of common sense that one finds nowadays...

Airshot

I know it's scary out there today. So many people with boats waaaaaaaaaay beyond their capabilities and skill level, never mind not having any common sense.

 

[Ned L]

Re: OK, show your age. - who remembers these??

"2182" was the Coast Guard calling & distress channel (same as today's '16'), and "2670" was similar to today's '22' for Coast Guard communication, advisories, etc. Those were the AM ship to shore marine radio channels, before today's "VHF".
With the old 'AM' ship to shore frequencies there were only about 10 or so channels available, and being "AM" it was not a 'line of sight' radio transmission (ie the 10 - 15 mile range of today). We had a 150 watt ship to shore radio aboard our boat, and when calling for a radio check from Sandy Hook N.J. we would routinely receive a reply back from C.G. Group Atlantic City (about 100 miles away). So imagine all of the marine radio traffic compressed into 10 channels, all with a 50 - 150 mile range (with no 'squelch') and the whole system was becoming pretty useless from the jamming and clutter.
I see I am dating myself ever more here by refering to them as "ship to shore" radios rather than "marine" radios. Oh well.

and YES, people did seem to have a much better level of skill and knowledge, and took pride in it!

 

[tazrig]

Re: OK, show your age. - who remembers these??

"2182" was the Coast Guard calling & distress channel (same as today's '16'), and "2670" was similar to today's '22' for Coast Guard communication, advisories, etc. Those were the AM ship to shore marine radio channels, before today's "VHF".
With the old 'AM' ship to shore frequencies there were only about 10 or so channels available, and being "AM" it was not a 'line of sight' radio transmission (ie the 10 - 15 mile range of today). We had a 150 watt ship to shore radio aboard our boat, and when calling for a radio check from Sandy Hook N.J. we would routinely receive a reply back from C.G. Group Atlantic City (about 100 miles away). So imagine all of the marine radio traffic compressed into 10 channels, all with a 50 - 150 mile range (with no 'squelch') and the whole system was becoming pretty useless from the jamming and clutter.
I see I am dating myself ever more here by refering to them as "ship to shore" radios rather than "marine" radios. Oh well.

and YES, people did seem to have a much better level of skill and knowledge, and took pride in it!

Thanks for the clarification on the channels and for making me feel like a "kid" again. :happy: I bet people knew enough back in the day not to tie up "2182" with worthless chatter too.

 

[dingbat]

Re: OK, show your age. - who remembers these??

Do you remember when they were black?

Nope...black was an inland (State) thing. Our waterways used the international standards

Who remembers when ...

..a "Boater" was truly nothing but a type of straw hat, a person experienced around a boat was a "boatman", and to call someone a "Boater" was an absolute sign of a 'newby'.

Boatman isn't in the vocabulary. Boater(s), ?turons?, and weekenders? where one and the same. Persons experienced around boats where captains, mates, and deckhands :lol:

 

[Comogene]

Re: OK, show your age. - who remembers these??

Yup, had fun with both SSB and DSB. Used Radio Shack and Ray Jeff VHFs with channel chips and loved listening to the marine operator calls. Didn't start to using TDs until LORAN-C but have seen single position As and Bs. Anybody want my interpolator?
Still have my ADF but not sure if there are any beacons still in existence. Learning how to find the "null' was much like balancing twin engines without a synchronizer.

Navigating was a bit simpler then, simply ran the "fathom" lines.

 

[blackhawk180]

Re: OK, show your age. - who remembers these??

Great blast from the past thread. If we'd had a GPS option back then, the LORAN would have been tossed overboard immediately! And radio transmissions! I remember "skip" where we could listen to fishermen in the gulf of Mexico while fishing off the coast of Washington like they were 5 miles away. Great memories.
Navigating with LORAN, not so much.

 

[Ned L]

Re: OK, show your age. - who remembers these??

I believe the C.G. Shut down the last of the radio beacons some years ago. RDF's & ADF's are now just collector's items, though you can still pick up LOP's off of commercial broadcast stations & could plot a position if you can get a couple of commercial stations and find their antennas on a chart.

"Boatman" was the correct term, and is what was used in print for many decades.

Black cans were federal (USCG) maintained, not a state thing.

 

[Mule Laker]

Re: OK, show your age. - who remembers these??

Yeah, I remember all of that.

I also remember back in the day that Dad said don't buy a plastic boat because they rotted inside and fell apart (we had wooden boats back then and they didn't rot).

I also remember Grandpa saying how he was happy to take care of Dad's boat while he was serving on another "boat" in the South Pacific.

I also remeber when we made no wake even though we never heard of a no-wake zone because they weren't posted - you just used common sense and had concern for your neighbor.

Most of all is what I DONT remember....

* accidents on the waterways
* collisions due to drunken drivers (Dad and Grandpa always had a beer but not a whole case)
* speeding boats on poker runs that would run down a fishing boat (the "gofasts of the day were mahogany runabouts with V-8's but they went down the middle and didn't bother the fishermen)
* nobody got towed because they were well maintained and if you broke a shear pin on a floating stick you rowed home and didn't bother somebody else
* boaters (actually "boatmen") learned from their fathers. They didn't just have a bunch of cash and go buy a boat without having a clue what to do.
* the internet where anybody could ask a question and then go out and follow bad advice. Back in the day we went to the library and read a book and then did what the author recommended. Or, we went to a marina and took the advice of an old salt.

Technology is ever improving, but common sense has gone by the wayside. The good ole days are long gone.

Great post!

 

[Ned L]

Re: OK, show your age. - who remembers these??

Agreed, Great post there!

..

And when boats were winter stored at a boatyard where they had a "marine railway".

If you needed new dock lines you bought the line cut off a reel and put your own eye splices in ( you didn't buy them pre-packaged in a plastic bag at some mega-store.

 

[JimS123]

Re: OK, show your age. - who remembers these??

And when boats were winter stored at a boatyard where they had a "marine railway".

If you needed new dock lines you bought the line cut off a reel and put your own eye splices in ( you didn't buy them pre-packaged in a plastic bag at some mega-store.

* And you covered them in canvas because Grandpa said that a plastic tarp would cause mildew and make the boat rot and the upholstery would be ruined. The cover had to breathe.
* And you always used canvas for summer covers as well, for the same rerasons, and Dad did all the sewing himself - never needed a "Custom" cover because Dad made them custom.
* And you never used those crummy SS or nickle plated snaps because they always corroded (even the ones today do). Turn buttons or lashuing hooks were the only parts suitable for a marine application.
* And you always named the boat after a special lady.
* And you always flew a US flag.
* And you never smoked on the boat (even though "everybody" smoked back in the day.
* And the kids all wore life jackets, even though they could swim and even though there was no law in the day