You can hear Norfolk, Virginia, on the VHF long before you get there. Even a day out, you hear plenty of regular announcements by warships saying how far to stay away from them. It’s enough to envision a small smattering of imposing, slate-gray military boats with security details onboard. Maybe even a couple of helicopters.Flash foward a couple days to when we entered Norfolk. Now, well within the range of other less-powerful VHFs, I heard a working fisherman politely ask a submarine to please slow down because otherwise their lines would part. I heard a Coast Guard cutter declare that should someone come within a certain distance of them as they move through the main channel, they were authorized to use deadly force. Oh, and then there’s the hovercraft. All I saw was spray and then as it came closer, I could see a super-fast vessel at the center of the maelstrom. I really, really want a ride on one of those now.
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Geoff Kerr says:
Picture the bridge of that warship, full of a half dozen newly minted junior officers, heads full of standing orders prohibiting them from doing anything imaginative or mellow. I recall having to enforce a two-mile safety zone around my ship, and having to have at hand the course, speed and CPA (closest point of approach) of every other vessel in sight. The poor child with the radio in his/her hand can feel the presence of the CO in his throne, compelling aggressive radio contact. It made for a great video game like experience, but we were as glad to get out of places like Norfolk as you were. And to think that my time driving a Coast Guard ship was pre-Homeland Security days…oh pity the mindset these days!
Great anecdote Anne, Thanks for sharing…”Ned Ludd” out!