U. S Access Board
1331 F Street Suite 1000
Attn Passenger Vessel Guidelines Washington, DC 20001
Susan Stanke
[address]
Mercer,WI 54547 [phone/ email address]
November 6.2006
RE Passenger Vessel Guidelines
Dear Sir or Madam;
I wish to make the following comments. I wish to share my experiences being a paying passenger on a excursion boat operated by the Apostle Islands Cruise Service in Bayfield, WI. . While on the boat you do have the noise of the diesel engines as well as the wind on the lake. The captain does give a narration during the tour using the microphone in the pilothouse. As an oral hard of hearing person I was not able to hear and understand all of the captain's narration despite wearing my hearing aids I was not able to hear and understand all of the captains narration. Passengers are not allowed in the pilothouse so if I wanted to send a message to the captain I would have to use a crew member to deliver it. No assistive listening devices were available. I remember asking for a written copy of the narration however I was told that they were not available. I ask you to require that assistive listening devices be made available on sightseeing cruises as well as on larger vessels.
Sincerely yours,
Susan Stanke