Ghosts? Werewolves? Things that go bump in the night?
The overnight sound that’s had a few west county neighbors spooked recently — with others providing explanations on the “Nextdoor” online conversation boards for Felida, West Hazel Dell, West Salmon Creek and Vancouver’s Northwest neighborhood — is actually the sound of foghorns or electronic whistles aboard ships on the Columbia River, striving to remain strangers in the night as they either pass each other by or just stay put in bad visibility.
One neighbor summed it all up — question, answer and controversy — one week ago when writing: “Is anyone else hearing the loud, patterned ‘honking’ noise? Sounds like a ship’s horn. … Drove all over Felida at 2:30 a.m. trying to find the source to no avail.”
“Called and reported” the problem to police, this worrier concluded.
That may seem a little over the top, but several local landlubbers appreciated the alert:
“I’m so glad you posted this,” wrote a mom who’d suspected a battery-operated toy lost beneath a pile of stuffed animals.
“Thank you for posting! We’ve been looking all around the house for an alarm on vibrate — I thought I was going crazy!”
“We have lived in this house, same bedroom for 9 years, and have never been woken up by the fog horns like I was last night. They just wouldn’t stop.”
“This cracks me up! I thought my son’s phone was vibrating all night! I was about to wake him up! I have never been woken up by (foghorns) before, and I have lived here 20 years.”
A handful of other neighborhood posters suggested visiting the U.S. Coast Guard’s Navigation Center at www.navcen.uscg.gov, and scrolling down to Part D, “Sounds and Signals,” and Rule 35, which governs sounding by vessels that are underway, vessels that have stopped and vessels at anchor.
Vessels underway in low visibility must give one “prolonged blast” every two minutes, at least. Stopped vessels must give two such blasts, separated by a quick two-second pause. And if a vessel of any size is anchored, you’ll hear five-second blasts from fore and then from aft.
Plus, an anchored vessel may also blast three times — short, long and short — “to give warning of her position and of the possibility of collision to an approaching vessel.” And, Rule 36 says that a vessel needing to call attention to itself or to a nearby hazard, for whatever reason, can get creative about blasting in a way that can’t be mistaken for anything else.
Sleepless
In other words, foggy nighttimes means there’s a whole lot of blasting going on out there. And, modern electronic whistles sure do carry. Given the onrush of wet weather and morning fog lately, it’s not surprising that neighbors are hearing lots of nighttime river traffic announcing itself lately.
And while some appear startled and sleepless because of it, others find the sound reassuring, even romantic:
“It’s my favorite sound. I keep my bedroom windows open just to hear them. Love it.”
“It’s a seasonal enjoyment for this area. You’ll get used to it!”
“Gee, we should have all got together for a party since we were up, anyway.”
