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Had a guy in a Florida marina insist my cutterhead was 'singing the wrong song'

He stood there for 20 minutes explaining how the sound of gravel hitting the hull should be a 'C-sharp, not this B-flat nonsense'. Anyone else get weirdly specific advice from bystanders?
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4 Comments
holly_sanchez75
My uncle ran a dredge for 30 years. He always said if you're listening to the pitch, you're already running it wrong.
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black.pat
black.pat1mo ago
Read a sailing blog once where a guy claimed he could diagnose engine issues just by the pitch of the hum from the flywheel. That level of specific, unsolicited advice seems to follow boat owners everywhere. Sounds like you found the acoustic critic of the dredging world.
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the_john
the_john28d ago
Did you buy the guy a drink after that or just nod until he walked away? I've had my share of dockside experts over the years and it always amazes me how confident some folks can be about things they clearly don't understand. There's something about boats that brings out the unsolicited advice in people, like they think every captain is just waiting for their pearls of wisdom. I figure most of them mean well, but the ones who get real technical about stuff like pitch and tone usually heard it from a friend of a friend and are just repeating it. Sounds like you handled it better than I would have.
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claire_walker
Ha! @the_john I just smiled and walked away. Works every time.
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