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He may have won the battle, but I hope he doesn't lose the war that costs him or others their lives.
To me, boating is like driving, a privilege and not a right. But in either case it requires you to act responsibly. I can't imagine trying to operate a boat without hearing what's going on around you, not just for the safety aspects like hearing the radio and warnings and other boats, but normal operational things like engine noises, boat systems, etc.
He's probably a fine captain in terms of operating his vessel. But as captain he is also responsible to get his boat and passengers back home safely. So to head out with an all-deaf crew is irresponsible in my opinion. That alone increases the risk of the trip. Any responsible captain takes prudent steps to minimize the risk. In this case, it could be as simple as including one hearing crew member.
My grandfather always told me the best way to stay out of trouble was to never get into it in the first place. Hope we don't see this guy's name in future Darwin awards.
Good for Mr. Turner.
He's been boating for 27 years without an incident, not a bad record. I'm not deaf but I would imagine in order to compensate for his deafness he would be operating at a heightened state of awareness relying on sight and feel(changes in the vibration and the motions of the boat can tell an experienced skipper alot).
I do have a concern about the ability to use a VHF radio, to send out a message for medical assistance for instance. He should have someone on board who is able to use a VHF radio. Hmmmm....I wonder if he could E-mail or text message the CG. Anyway he should have some means to communicate with the world for the sake of his passengers.
I think this whole thing is a result of an overzealous CG. The guy has been boating safely for 27 years. That is probably longer than the CG crew have been out of diapers.
You are not required to have VHF on a boat. I really can't hear mine when I run above a fast idle.
I'm glad the CG relized they were wrong and changed the policy accordingly. I'd rather be out on the water with a 1 good deaf boater than a dozen idiots.
I am chronically hard of hearing. Even before this issue came to the fore front I always made sure I had someone on board that could hear. I have to run the icw for a ways to get to the gulf and worried about a barge running over me from behind. Thought about radar for that very reason. I would be for requiring any all deaf crew to have radar.
I have a set of earphones for my radio. I can hear reasonably well with the ear phones on and the motor stopped, which is what those that have good hearing tell me they experience also.
Guess I'll have to get radar to make sure I stay within the parameters of safety.
What is this the wind blows hard the engine roars people need to keep a good lookout the sounds around your boat are hard to pick up & I have great hearing. GO back to basics when to avoid a collision drive to survive.
Please give it a rest. No reasonable person would make the leap that you have made.
Why don't you use some of the senses that I presume you have been blessed with and sample the world around you? People with all sorts of physical limitations are out there doing everyday things in our society without asking for any special consideration or causing problems for others. They, better than anybody else, understand their limitations and very conscientious about not exceeding them in consideration of others safety, as well as their own. They have learned to raise their level of awareness by developing their other senses to a level which exceeds that of most other ‘normal’ people. By contrast, many of us ‘normal’ folks seem to function in a diminished capacity, believing that we are fully in control because we posses our hearing.
I can only deduce from your attitude about this whole issue that you may not be aware that people with physical and mental disabilities have been integrated into our society in a number of different ways. It may actually surprise you to know that deaf people can legally fly planes. Did you know that paraplegic and quadriplegic people can be certified scuba divers? I know of people who have done these things. I have never heard of any accidents resulting from their disabilities, or for any reason, for that matter. In fact, insurance company statistics show that the number of claims made by deaf drivers is about half that of the hearing population. I would suspect that would be true in the boating community as well.
I have the pleasure of working with deaf people every single day. It’s amazing to see how well they have adapted their other senses to overcome their lack of hearing. I can only speak for myself on this issue, but I would gladly spend a day on the water with a deaf captain at the helm than with many other hearing people with whom I have been on the water.
I have to wonder how the people who strongly disagree with the hearing impared boater feel about people with other imparments and boating. One of the most common imparments on the water in my area is alcohol. I'm not saying I've never had a few beers while out fishing for the day, but I do think that even a few drinks is much worse on the water than not being able to hear. If I could draw I would draw a cartoon with a few guys fishing on a boat with beers in their hands and a caption "We got to be careful out here, there's deaf boaters around these parts."
I believe that people with physical imparments have much better perception in other senses. But what would he do if fog set in? I think I(and many others) might be in just as much trouble as the deaf guy if the visability went to zero.
Am I completely off base?
Chris L.
By the way if anyone has the skills I'd love to see that cartoon.
OK guys and gals, it looks like we are doing a bit too much generalizing. Would I want this guy to be out there in Norfolk harbor in the fog? Probably not. Could he be a safe or maybe even safer as most boaters in an uncongested area on a clear day? I would think so. When one loses one of the six senses, the others tend to take over. Can it give him his hearing back in the fog? No. Is his sight generally keener than ours? Probably so.
My point is that if hearing is a must, this guy shouldn't, and probably knows better than to be out there by himself. When hearing isn't a must (some of you have said you can't hear anything over the outboard noise anyway) could he be as safe or safer than the average boater?
Now to the impairment thing. Whats too damned funny is someone who is on blood pressure medication, Valium, Xanax, etc., points fingers about someone else having a beer while underway. They feel that since the doctor prescibed it it doesn't impaire their
abilities. What about stupid people? Are our abilities to operate a boat less than smarter people? Should there be an IQ requirement? Probably would make more sense.
Follow-up deaf boater 
