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26 NON-REVERSE COURSES. ~ Editor Marine Review :--Just finished reading article entitled "East and West Courses," by "The Man on the Bridge," in MarinE Review May 2. While he has advanced many excellent sugges- tions, I do not agree with all that he says. What he says.in regard to up- bound vessels using the outside course instead of downbound boats on Lake Huron is a mistake. It would make no difference whatever if it were not for the dangereus shoals lying to the east- ward of the mouth of Detour passage. These shoals can be better left than made; that is, boats coming out of De- ~ tour have the opportunity of giving them the right berth,. whereas boats entering . this passage after running.a course of 50 or 60 miles can not be so sure of it, espe- cially in thick weather. Fetching Detour passage is the anxious course on Lake Huron, and in thick weather it is more safe to fetch westerly of Detour than easterly on account of these shoals; in other words, it is more safe to approach Detour from the westward than from the eastward, especially when close in. The statement that boats leaving De- tour by taking the outside course would be afraid of keeping away on account of the dangerous shoals to the eastward of Detour passage, would want to steer out pretty well and would be sure to meet boats coming up Lake Huron, is incorrect. _ . ' His suggestion that' boats coming out of Detour steer out for 10 miles on Fry- ing Pan and Pipe Island ranges, and then shape a course that would take them 3 or 4 miles off Presque Isle, would be an excellent idea for boats bound up Lake .Huron. For instance, from 5 miles off Presque Isle (the present course) steer a course that will fetch, say to a point 10 miles east of Spectacle reef light and fog signal, thence a course to Detour passage. This would insure a safe course to Detour, Spectacle reef lighthouse be- ing a good point of departure. This would be making Detour passage from - the west'ard, which is the safest way. Boats going into Detour would naturally hug Detour gas buoy while boats coming out could haul out on their course as soon as the gas buoy was passed. "The Man on. the Bridge' lays too much stress on the right-hand course, parting of wheel ropes and backing to port. This is all right in narrow chan- nels, such as at the entrance to the riv- ers, etc., but for the open lake it would count for little, for one is as liable to pass boats to starboard as to port. "The Man on the Bridge" says that 12 miles off Thunder Bay island and Sand Beach is too far to hear the whistles, and suggests 10 miles so that boats pur- Suing both the inside and outside courses TAE. MARINE REVIEW can have a chance to hear the whistles at those points. While this is all right it is not essential. Fog whistles are all right for making the turns, but they can- not be depended upon at 10 miles any more than at 12 miles. How often it occurs that fog whistles cannot be heard at the usual distance off. If the con- ditions are favorable for hearing a whis- tle 10 miles it ought to be heard at 12 miles. The whistles at Thunder Bay island and Sand Beach are not necessary for boats following this downbound course. If the proper courses by com- pass are shaped and steered together with an efficient log checked by a time course and the number of revolutions of the screw propeller to the measured mile, the course can be made good without paying the least attention' to these whis- tles. JI do not mean by this that these whistles do not 'serve the purpose intend- ed for them. They are efficient for boats following the usual course along the shore where it becomes necessary to alter the course abreast of each such light or fog signal. Too much dependence is placed on fog signals and not enough courses. It is a good deal on this ac- count that the latter is so much neglect- ed. There is no excuse whatever for boats not making good courses on Lake Huron, either up or down, after a master' has hadachance to use the rangesin the Soo and Detroit rivers, so that there would be no necessity for boats following the outside course to haul in to hear the whistles in thick weather. In the laying down of these courses all the dangers of navigation must be carefully taken into consideration, and not simply that of collision. If courses are followed that lead to dangerous points, stranding is invited, therefore, the prevention of collision is sacrificed for stranding. Which is. the more impor- tant? If we can accomplish the main object without sacrificing anything in relation to the safety of the course, all well and good, but the course is of para- mount importance at all times. The fact that a fog whistle cannot be heard on a course is not necessarily an indication that the vessel is not making good her course, especially when the course has been shaped with a degree of knowledge of such matters. "The Man on the Bridge" hugs White- fish point too close and figures his dis- tances off the point too fine for practical purposes. A mile and two miles is too fine. Three and six miles is more like it. Thisallows for a small. error in the course either way, due to bad steering, leeway, etc. One and two miles brings his courses too close together toward. the ends of the courses, which are the dangerous points because it is there that attention to boats turn to shape their next course. For upbound boats to pass two miles off Whitefish point and downbound boats one mile, would run these courses almost in one for a considerable. distance from » Whitefish point, while the object of these courses is to get boats separated as much as possible. "The Man on the Bridge' says that: upbound boats should take the outside course on Lake Superior instead of the inside course, as has already been rec- ommended. This is good logic if we only take into account the crossing of courses. Its purpose is simply to avoid the dangers of collision at a sacrifice of course. The chief objection to the out- side course for upbound boats is this : It requires finer manipulation on the part of the master to make the inside courses, since he has to make his turn- ing points closer and is not so far off the land. He dare not get in too close for fear of stranding and out too far for fear of collision by meeting downbound boats in the advent of downbound boats using an outside course. The Soo river ranges always afford a ready and reli- able means of insuring the making of good courses up Lake Superior when azimuths and other means are not avail- able as is always the case in cloudy and foul weather. On the other hand these means afe not available for boats leav- ing the west end of Lake Superior for the Soo, but since the downbound course leads well outside and consists of but two courses there is not the chance of stranding as there would be if the usual courses were pursued. Caribou Island light and fog signal afford an excellent check to make Whitefish point correctly after running nearly the entire length of Lake Superior. In summing this mat- ter up I have taken into consideration the operation of the compass under every condition. Where compasses in boats are not subject to change in the case of change of draught, such as from light to loaded or partly loaded, it would make but little difference which course was followed, but in boats where there is an effect, and this is a fact with near- ly all of our modern carriers, this is a most important matter and must not be lost sight of for a moment.. It is for this reason that I favor the outside course for vessels bound down. If it were not for this, Devil's Island, at the other end of the route, affords a check for mak- ing Duluth. The course from Devil's island to Du- luth could be improved upon by shaping a course that would fetch about midway between Duluth and Superior. This is the proper way of running this course under any circumstances, and especially for a thick weather course. You have two fog signals to depend upon instead