Bell ???

[Gerald]

Equipment requirements for my boat include such things as life jackets, horn, radio, flares, bell and many more items. My document is for open ocean. For a coastal cruising document a bell is not required. The required bell is about the size of a good size cow bell. Is a bell an international requirement and what is the idea behind its use?
Gerald

[Bruce Hooke]

International Navigational Rules:

In or near an area of restricted visibility, whether by day or night the signals prescribed in this Rule shall be used as follows:

...

(g/f) A vessel at anchor shall at intervals of not more than 1 minute ring the bell rapidly for ten seconds. In a vessel 100 meters or more in length the bell shall be sounded in the forepart of the vessel and immediately after the ringing of the bell the gong shall be sounded rapidly for about 5 seconds in the after part of the vessel. A vessel at anchor may in addition sound three blasts in succession, namely one short, one long and one short blast, to give warning of her position and of the possibility of collision to an approaching vessel.

(h/g) A vessel aground shall give the bell signal and if required the gong signal prescribed in paragraph [(g) / (f)] of this Rule and shall, in addition, give three separate and distinct strokes on the bell immediately before and after the rapid ringing of the bell. A vessel aground may in addition sound an appropriate whistle signal.

(i/h) A vessel of less than 12 meters in length shall not be obliged to give the above mentioned signals but, if she does not, shall make some other efficient sound signal at intervals of not more than 2 minutes.

(j/i) A pilotage vessel when engaged on pilotage duty may in addition to the signals prescribed in paragraph (a), (b) or [(g) / (f)] of this Rule sound an identity signal consisting of four short blasts.

(j) The following vessels shall not be required to sound signals as prescribed in paragraph (f) of this Rule when anchored in a special anchorage area designated by the Secretary:

(ii) a vessel of less than 20 meters in length; and

(iii) a barge canal boat, scow, or other nondescript craft.

From: http://www.navcen.uscg.gov/mwv/navrules/Rules/Rule35.htm

That said, I have yet to come across a cruising sailboat that, when at anchor for a typical night (or hanging on the moaring at the home port), leaves someone on deck to ring the bell every minute. I'd guess that his mates would heave such a person overboard after the first 20 minutes and if they did not people on nearby boats would come over and do the job! :D However, a bell is a good thing to have in case you are forced to anchor in a high-traffic area where boats underway would not expect to find a boat at anchor.

[Gerald]

Thank you Bruce. So if sailing alone you would have many restless nights! A few seconds sleep ........ ring the bell ....... The radar reflector makes sense but the bell?? The 15' - 25' fishing boats that I would be most concerned about couldn't hear the bell if under power. Most of them run an exhaust pipe straight into the air with no muffler. To meet the requirement, yesterday I invested $20 in a nice cast brass bell. Will be nice to have aboard if only used for waking up an occasional crew member,
Gerald

[Bruce Hooke]

If nothing else a nice bell looks very salty! For the ultimate in saltyness you can have the name of the boat engraged into the bell or better yet have a bell cast with the name on it.

At least here in the US you do not have to keep the bell mounted, you just have to have it available. So, if it would be awkward to mount it you can keep it stowed somewhere below.

I agree that a radar reflecter is much more important in terms of real safety, as is simply not anchoring in shipping channels! The bell rule has to be one of the most universally violated rules on the list.

[Alan D. Hyde]

IIRC, the bell must have an eight inch minimum mouth.

Alan

[Gerald]

There is always a bad news guy! Maybe Rambo my big goat just inherited a bell with a 6" mouth. However, I am going to try and sneak thru with the 6" and if he makes me buy another .......... I will. Then again my boat is only 10 meters so maybe that 8" rule applies to 12 meter boats and larger???
Thanks
Gerald

[N. Scheuer]

We have a nice brass bell in TRUE NORTH. Unfortunately (acording to others here) it is only about four inches in diameter. No problem, it is mostly just for the Grandkids, anyway.

Moby Nick

[Gerald]

As I read the rules again and tilt my head slightly the other way it looks like according to rule 33 that for my 10 meter boat the bell is not even required? Am I missing something?
Gerald
Rule 33

(a) A vessel of 12 meters or more in length shall be provided with a whistle and a bell and a vessel of 100 meters or more in length shall, in addition be provided with a gong, the tone and sound of which cannot be confused with that of the bell. The whistle, bell and gong shall comply with the specifications in Annex III to these Regulations. The bell or gong or both may be replaced by other equipment having the same respective sound characteristics, provided that manual sounding of the prescribed signals shall always be possible.

(b) A vessel of less than 12 meters in length shall not be obliged to carry the sound signaling appliances prescribed in paragraph (a) of this Rule but if she does not, she shall be provided with some other means of making an efficient signal.

[Andrew Craig-Bennett]

Correct, Gerald. You don't need a bell.

Ships all have bells that are rung automatically at the prescribed intervals by an electric gadget; the size of the vessel means it does not annoy anyone. Nobody uses a bell on a yacht; a traditional solution should you suddenly need to sound a bell is to hand the frying pan off the boom and bash it with a spoon!

[Ian Wright]

Originally posted by Andrew Craig-Bennett:

Nobody uses a bell on a yacht; Ahem,,,,,,,, not quite nobody Andrew.
Granted I use mine mainly to announce drinks or dinner when anchoring in company, so much nicer than shouting, and it's a school hand bell not a 'ship's' bell , but it is a bell and I do use it.

IanW smile.gif

[Andrew Craig-Bennett]

Plutocrat!

I saw a school hand bell for sale in an antique shop for Pds 150! ;)

[Ian Wright]

Originally posted by Andrew Craig-Bennett:
Plutocrat!

I saw a school hand bell for sale in an antique shop for Pds 150! ;) Good grief! Those Woodbridge shops know how to charge,,,,,,
Mine was £12 from Valiant Sails but if you can find a buyer over £100 I'll split the profit with you!
smile.gif

IanW

[Mrleft8]

Do you suppose "jingle bells" would qualify?

[Ian Wright]

Originally posted by Mrleft8:
Do you suppose "jingle bells" would qualify?Only if you plan on dashing through the snow, on an ice yacht perhaps?

IanW