Stop Shouting At Me! Does This Sound Familiar?

It should, because every boat that is crewed by 2 or more people has heard it.

Its not that the skippers are wanting to shout, it’s because concise and well understood communications are pertinent to the safety of the crew and vessel itself. Timing and execution of necessary maneuvers are always important to their success. Every skipper knows that job #1 is to take responsibility for these.

Due to winds and currents causing ever changing docking, anchoring and mooring buoy situations, the shouting of an unrehearsed crew becomes entertainment for onlookers and all others within earshot. Some attempt to overcome this well known problem with the use of hand held radios or cell phones. This just adds to the list of things to coordinate as crew with lines or bow hooks in hand, fumble for the talk button on the radio or wait their turn to answer the skipper when he/she is orchestrating the crew.

This problem is easily solved by what I consider a “must have piece of boating equipment.” The Eartec TD 900 wireless communications system is the finest captain to crew radio set I have ever had the pleasure of using. It is crystal clear without any static from anywhere on board. This system is not push to talk and not voice activated, instead both captain and crew can talk simultaneously (because of its full duplex technology) as if they were in the same room having a conversation.

This system has relieved much anxiety for my wife and I as we are in constant communications and always aware of what the other is thinking and doing, without any shouting. This allows us both to concentrate on our responsibilities and task at hand. It also allows me to talk her through her plan of action which creates training through repetition.

The radio itself is a lightweight unit with a belt clip. Since my wife works the decks and lines, we found that putting hers in a small cloth bag with an over shoulder strap keeps her unit secure while moving about. The lightweight headset is plugged into the radio and keeps one ear free for other sounds. A quick radio check has us both off to work with the task at hand, looking like we actually know what we are doing.

The unit costs under $300.00 and comes with a molded storage case; two radios (master and remote), two headsets and two recharging plug in transformers. More can be learned about these units from Eartec at: www.eartec.com

It is worth every penny and will add to your boating safety and pleasure. If you are into other two person activities such as rock climbing, bicycling, horseback riding etc… Bonus!