THE FAR REACH NOW HAS AIS

[Martinhilldpo]

Hi Jenn and Terry

If I had radar I would still be adding a class B AIS transceiver, the additional cost is a fraction of that of a radar set.

Neither is perfect. Radar takes a certain amount of skill and practice to operate effectively. It is excellent for picking up large vessels, however there are a great many small fibre glass craft bombing about at 20 knots in poor visibility with no radar reflectors. Sadly you cannot fix stupid. With practice Radar is an excellent navigation and collision avoidance aid. An AIS receiver will alert you to the location and CPA of any AIS transmitters within VHF range. However it will do nothing to indicate vessels without transmitters.

Traditionally a GOOD radar reflector has been the first line of defense. In calm conditions this may show up well on other ships radars if properly mounted. However even the best of radar reflectors will disapear from an X or S band radar screen in rough seas at short range or moderate rain.

A class B AIS transponder will show up on the other vessls radar screen in conditions when a radar reflector would not. There is a caveat to this. Most vessels now overlay their AIS targets on the radar and or ECDIS but some still do not. There is a very broad spectrum of professionalism in the commercial shipping industry.

In my opinion and for sure some on this forum will disagree, if you want to be seen by other vessels in fog, rain or rough seas, a class B AIS trasceiver and a good quality radar reflector together are the best bang for your buck. WIth both you can greatly increase the chances of being seen for less than the cost of a decent life raft.

I intend to install an ICOM MA500 transceiver costing about $900. This costs a little more than some others but it has the advantage of being fully stand alone with an integral display, i.e. it does not have to be interfaced with a plotter or GPS. Simple is usually better. It can be hooked up to an external display and radio if you so desire. It has its own integral GPS which can be used as a back up if necessary. Transmit and receive range will depend on the height of your antenna. For the cost of an automatic antenna splitter (about $200) you can use your existing VHF antenna.

Regarding paper charts, as an old school navigator I like them although I am learning to love the electronics. I have a small GPS plotter on my boat but always carry paper charts as a back up in unfamiliar waters. I also have navionics on my cell phone and i pad which I like but would not want to rely on in a pinch. Back ups to my back up. On the vessel which I work on I have travelled the world many times over without paper charts. However, in order to do so we have 2 x fully independent Electronic Chart Display and Information System (ECDIS), each supplied from different power supplies and with independent UPS, GPS and gyro.

On my pleasure boat I personally would feel quite uncomfortable entering unfamiliar ports or confined waters without paper charts. I have seen electronics fail at critical moments far too many times. I absolutely agree with your decision to carry them.

Anyway the long and the short of if is that if you are considering an AIS receiver as a collision alert, I would go the extra mile and get a transceiver unit so that they can see you too. See and be seen.

Sail safe wherever you are, wishing you all the best.

[Martinhilldpo]

One time, I was helping a friend take his big power boat down to the Chesapeake from up near Washington, D.C. Beautiful clear day but had the radar on. We are approaching a big bend in the river and with a bridge so the channel is narrowed. About that time I see two blips on the screen coming up the river on the other side of the bend. And, they are moving at an incredible rate of speed. I alert the owner and he slows so as not to intersect right under the bridge. Turns out to be two Army helicopters flying very low![/quote]

Once back in the late 70's as a young apprentice I was on watch on a PSNC general cargo ship going down the West coast of South America in thick fog and flat calm. Seeing a very clear radar target approaching close on the port bow steady bearing, I promptly ordered hard to Starboard and called the Captain who arrived on the bridge just in time to observe a flock of pelicans overtake our port side.

What a wise and kind man was Captain Sachs. He laughed with me not at me.

[Keith]

On the thread of learning to use radar. When I bought mine 2 yrs ago the sales guy at West Marine (a former commercial captain) told me to drop anchor in Lewis bay and spend some time watching the ferries, commercial fishing boats, and pleasure boats of all sizes and shapes. Next do the same while under way. I thanks him every time I see him. If I hadn't followed his suggestion I would never have gained the knowledge, experience and piece of mind with this valuable instrument. I also fly a reflector in foggy conditions and you all have me thinking seriously about AIS.

Keith

[Martinhilldpo]

Keith that is excellent advice. Practice makes perfect.

[fmueller]

I made a comment in an earlier thread that the radar I have (B&G "4G Broadband") projects its image on my B&G plotter- and you can choose to have the radar scan overlay the chart. Blips that have no corresponding buoy or other object on the underlying map are usually a boat. My plotter is also on a data network (NEMA 2000) with my VHF and displays AIS info as well which the VHF receives.

That being said ... for me (mostly just a solo day sailor), for safety sake, I had a new jib cut last winter partly to have a somewhat smaller sail (115%), but also, I had the foot cut quite high, including a 9" pendant at the tack. The 135% that came with my boat, while still a very good sail, was a real deck sweeper- and that nearly got me run over more times than I want to say in the three summers I had Jerezana in Boston harbor.

Just seeing boat traffic in broad daylight is priority #1.

[John Stone]

I've been watching this thread for a couple of days since it suddenly reemerge after a couple months of hibernation. I made the original post last spring to discuss AIS and how it fits into the philosophy of keeping a boat simple. It's been interesting to see the drift to radar. It's not that I am against radar. If you like systems and more complexity that's fine. Some sailors like to tinker and turn knobs and watch dials and screens. Who am I to say that's not right. But I would not want anyone that pulls up this thread ten years from now looking for info on AIS to think you also have to have radar on your boat. It's a choice. I've sailed in fog without it and never felt like I should have had it. . Sailed through shipping lanes at night without it. Tense yes. But didn't need it. It's a tool. Get it if you want it. But for future readers . . . those unsure about what you need to coastal sail or make passages offshore--you don't need it or AIS. And you can still be safe if you build your skills, make good decisions, and apply sound seasmanship principals that have helped small boat skippers sail safely for generations.

My mantra has been and remains "less is more." Developing ones wits (and feeling comfort with what they tell you) and fundamental sailing skills are the essence of safe sailing. Noticing the small things and feeding them into your operational risk management process is smart and very rewarding. Less reliance on technology is rewarding and fun . . . at least it is for me. Again, it's not a diatribe against technology. If you want it, get it. Choices.

Having said that, there are several excellent insightful comments here about radar. Maybe it's time for a new thread on radar?

[fmueller]

John,

I did not mean to hijack your thread ... apologies if I did.

In another thread I explained that my radar was a gift to me from my Pa when I got my little craft, who found radar on his boat (years ago) quite useful as he spent considerable time in Maine waters. Embarrassingly, I'll admit that in the 4 years I have owned my boat, I've not actually usefully used radar once in any critical way !

For coastal/harbor sailing in mostly good weather, and daylight, my hi cut jib is a real and tangible safety feature IMO ... especially considering I am usually solo. That's the "tool" I've invested in. Your AIS install makes perfect sense for what you do on your lovely boat.

cheers

Fred

[John Stone]

Fred
No worries. Everyone has to decide where their comfort level is for the kind of sailing they expect to do. I think of it as fear management. We all experience it. For those who start sailing after adolescents it might be something as simple as taking the boat away from the dock. Or tacking and gybing--whatever. Later it might be night sailing or running a channel with fast currents. Then, high winds or an ocean crossing. For many people, the more experience you gain the less stress or fear you feel. Sometimes you need a little technology to overcome that fear that starts to eat at you and subsequently takes the fun out of it. Some people never get over the fear. I don't think that's bad. Sometimes it has to do with how our individual brains work.

For me, getting run down while I sleep causes fear. It makes me feel powerless. No amount of training or skill development will help me if I am asleep. Even though I know it's a big ocean and the chance of collision very small. Also crossing wide shipping lanes is stressful if you have to sleep. With one other person on the boat I don't even think about it. But by myself, I feel that fear in the back of my mind. So, AIS helped me manage it even though I know it's a little bit of false security. And if it were 30 years ago not having AIS would not stop me. I'd risk it and deal with it. Technology is a funny thing. It can be a real trap. It's like your kids not looking at the beautify around them when you're driving across some magnificent landscape because they have their head down looking at an electronic device.

I could write a tome about the pleasure I get from simple sailing--like looking at a paper chart, running my fingers across the paper, exploring with my eyes the places I'd like to visit, plotting lines on it, reducing a sextant shot to an accurate lat/long and marking it on a plotting sheet and then making an "X" on my passage chart, or heaving a sounding line, etc. Maybe we should start a thread about simple sailing pleasures. I worry lots of people just starting out sailing will miss those kinds of pleasures with the plethora of technology on many of today's boats. On the other hand, I'm all for people sailing however they want.

All that rambling though does not negate the fact that the decision to add AIS was, for me, difficult. So far I am glad it did install it. Not to long ago, Gayle and I talked about the pros and cons of installing an inboard diesel engine. It was an interesting conversation. In the end, it was her voice that said no even though she feels stress without the engine. As we sat in the Far Reach talking about it and staring at the huge space under the companionway and cockpit footwell with the bare walnut sole running aft into the dark void she said, "No, I like how the Far Reach is so simple and I like all that space and it would be a shame to spoil it with an engine that we have managed so far to do without." So for now, no inboard.

I get great joy out of sailing a simple boat. I enjoy some stress, it makes the sailing more rewarding to me. Like I am doing something difficult that is rewarding because my always developing skills allow me to do it safely. It feels timeless. I like that feeling.

Now, how about adding a couple of LED lights?

[Tom Keevil]

We do all of our sailing with paper charts because it's challenging, fun and satisfying. This past summer we loaded the Navionics app onto our phone, and it has been a useful learning tool. As we are approaching a challenging bit of piloting (of which there are many in this area), we'll start the app to record our track, then put the phone away. After we have successfully transited the problem spot, we get out the phone and look to see how our actual track corresponded with what we were trying to do. If it is not an exact match, the question is why not? Very educational.

As for radar and GPS, we don't use them often, but there are occasions when we have to commit to heading into a pile of rocks, and if we're looking at the wrong rocks we will most likely lose the boat. Checking the GPS at that point qualifies as good seamanship.

It is also true that on occasion we use the radar or GPS because it's easy, and we don't need any stress in our lives at that moment. Whatever works to keep us safe and entertained.