THE FAR REACH NOW HAS AIS

[John Stone]

As some Cape Dorians are aware the Far Reach has very few systems--no electric interior lights, no electric running lights, no fixed mount VHF or SSB, no radar or refrigerator, no inboard diesel engine, etc. I did install a 30 watt flex solar panel prior to our passage to the BVI in December. It has proven to be a wonderful addition. It keeps the phones and iPad charged. It runs a couple of clip on 12 volt fans the few times we have used them and it powers a small hand held 12v vacuum. It's takes a compelling reason to convince me to add complexity to the Far Reach.

With a couple of single-handed passages looming on the near horizon I have put a great deal of thought into watch standing. AIS seemed like it would be a smart addition to the Far Reach. I researched all kinds of units reading reviews till my eyes glazed over. A new friend showed me how he operates an AIS over his iPad, so I read about those--very neat. But it requires the iPad to be operating, adding to current draw and also adding another electronic device to the operation of the AIS. I needed a simple reliable unit with a very low current draw. I looked into the Standard Horizon VHF with an integrated AIS receiver. It seems like a nice system, But it can't transmit and still draws too much power for my small 100ah AGM battery. I finally decided on a Vesper Watchmate 850 Class B transceiver after reading a very positive review in Practical Sailor as well as on a couple of sailing forums. It's a stand-alone unit. It has an internal GPS so I did not need to purchase and install a separate GPS antenna. For the required VHF antenna I installed a 4' Shakespeare fiberglass antenna mounted on a SS ratchet adapter secured to the aft starboard stanchion.

I also applied for and received an FCC issued shipboard radio license and MMSI number in only three days using their on-line application! Many thanks to my brother Brad for researching and submitting the correct forms to make that happen.

It took a while to figure out how to run the wiring to make it invisible yet accessible. I also had to determine where to mount the display unit where it would be convenient yet unobtrusive. I decided to install it under the bridge-deck where I can manipulate the controls while comfortably sitting on the watch seat next to the chart table.

This past week, while anchored in Elephant Bay, St Thomas, USVI, I installed the system. It is a pretty simple to operate unit. The power draw in receive only mode is about .3 ah. I believe it uses about 1.5ah in the transmit mode.

I am interested to see how it works on passage.

[Jim Walsh]

Excellent addition. It's always good to have multiple backups to fix your position. AIS is the first thing I glanced at and the last thing I glanced at when at sea. When night has fallen, the seas have built up, the spray flying limiting your already limited visibility, the unit will pay for itself then and there.

[John Stone]

Jim, you were one of the influences that that got me to consider installing AIS.

[Paul D.]

I appreciate putting real through before adding any system or new electronics. I can see probably adding AIS shortly as I deal a bit with fog and have chosen not to add RADAR. Considering AIS, it seems to me to be a good idea to have an AIS receiver/trans that can wirelessly/bluetooth connect with an iPad chart system. Then you can get the whole satellite picture - assuming everyone around you uses AIS.

I'd be curious to hear people's thoughts on this method.

[John Stone]

Paul
Obviously AIS does not replace radar. I'm sure others with more experience using radar are better qualified to talk about its benefits and limitations. But, I didn't/don't want radar so, for me, AIS is an aid for watch-keeping while single-handing sailing. I think AIS can give you a false sense of security if you are not careful. If I was assured of a second person on the boat while offshore I would not even have AIS. But, that would be my choice and not someone else's.

I purposely avoided the layered picture on a single screen. For me, I think it's just too much info/clutter and it's too easy to miss something important or to get too focused on a screen when you need to have you head up and your eyes on the horizon. I don't use a chart plotter--I plot on a paper chart. I don't think you need a chart plotter when you are a 100 miles offshore much less a 1000 miles offshore. Plus, if your screen or your GPS goes down you lose everything relying on those components.

My thought and my own philosophy is to avoid uneccessary complication. As L. Francis Herreshoff so astutely observed, "Simplicity is the surest guarantee of happiness afloat."

[tjr818]

...My thought and my own philosophy is to avoid uneccessary complication. As L. Francis Herreshoff so astutely observed, "Simplicity is the surest guarantee of happiness afloat."

As John Vigor quoted on Friday:
Today’s Thought
Blissful are the simple, for they shall have much peace.
—Thomas Ā Kempis, De Imitatione Christ

[Paul D.]

Like you I still use paper charts and actually plot on them often. I also use a small GPS because it works. I agree on the whole temptation of complexity thing. Like organizations can suffer from mission creep, we sailors have technology creep going on in our lives so thoroughly.

There is a certain joy to a tiller, oil lamp and a cedar bucket!



OK so I had the LED lights on to get enough light for the photo!

[Steve Laume]

"OK so I had the LED lights on to get enough light for the photo!"

Taken with a digital camera and posted through a computer and the inter-net.

Everything has it's place. Modern navigation and identification systems are excellent. It is dependence on a single source that will get you into trouble. That would include a visual watch, especially when single handing, Steve.

[John Stone]

Steve, I disagree. I don't think it has to do with what has its place or what even works. It has to do with how one defines pleasure and what delivers that degree of pleasure. I enjoy swinging the lead for a sounding line, yet depth finders are incredibly reliable and draw very little power. And what brings you pleasure today may be inconvenient and aggravating tomorrow. Might one day I want to install an inboard diesel and a jib furler? Maybe. And most people would consider them absolutely essential. But, at the moment, I enjoy the Far Reach just the way she is. Would I want my home ashore to be as simple as the Far Reach? Of course not.

The real question sailors need to ask themselves is what are they looking to get from sailing and then make their own decisions about how they want to equip and sail their boat vice letting someone else prescribe for them how it must be equipped, rigged, and sailed.

[Tom Keevil]

I agree with John's post about doing what provides pleasure for you. We don't use a chart plotter because we get a great deal of satisfaction from finding our way with paper charts. A chart plotter would make our sailing less challenging, and thus less rewarding. On the other hand, when making a long crossing we always have a waypoint in our handheld GPS that we can turn to if the tension starts to overcome the pleasure by a bit too much.

We have made landfalls in fog without using radar, and that provides a lot of satisfaction, but not so much fun - especially when there are ships and other boats about. So when visibility goes to zero we have no hesitation in turning on the radar, and enjoy the challenge of interpreting the target returns and creating an image of reality that solves our problems. The radar allows us to figure out ship movements and safely avoid them. AIS would make that easier, but wouldn't be as much fun, and of course it provides no information about crazy sport fishermen blasting through the fog at 25 knots.

If we were making a living on our boat, we would certainly have a chart plotter and an AIS among many other things, but we're doing it for pleasure, generally with no schedule to meet, and we do it in a manner so that we enjoy it and do it safely. Everyone's idea of pleasure and safety will vary, so we will all equip our boats differently.

[gates_cliff]

I have a good friend who is a retired nuclear engineer, electronics wizard and far brighter than I could ever imagine being, plus he and his wife sailed the Caribbean for about 10 years, and he's had some fascinating/harrowing experiences.

One of his best or worst (depends on if it's his or her telling the story), he laughs about it now, was he installed his own radar before they took off on their grand adventure. Originally leaving from Chicago. First day out they get socked in with thick fog on Lake Michigan. So, he says to his wife, nothing to worry about, I'll stay below and monitor the radar and for her to take the helm. So they are cautiously picking up buoys on the radar and steering by them. Unfortunately where there was supposed to be a bouy it turned out was also a big lake freighter. Out of the thick fog all of a sudden was 5 or more ear shattering blasts. His wife had the presence of mind to throw the helm over to get them out of the shipping lane. They weren't on a collision course but much too close for comfort. His wife still doesn't find it amusing and it's been over 20 years.

The radar worked great, interpreting the signals, not so much.

[Tom Keevil]

There is no doubt that a few hours spent using your radar on a beautiful clear day will pay huge returns when the fog rolls in. When you really get stumped, it is so nice to take a look around in the sunshine, and see what the situation really is - very educational.

[gates_cliff]

Great point Tom. I don't have radar on my boat and only have experience using it on others boats.

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!

[Martinhilldpo]

A view from the commercial bridge 100 feet above you.

AIS is not perfect, neither is any radar reflector, however an AIS transceiver and a good quality radar reflector will both greatly increase your chances of being seen in poor visibility and rough seas.

I will have a class B AIS transceiver on my newly purchased 25D very soon. I would not go out in rough weather without it.

[jen1722terry]

This is an interesting thread, as we've been considering adding AIS for a few years.

We are strictly coastal sailors and rarely run at night.

We couldn't see using AIS as our primary collision alert in the foggy coastal waters of Maine, New Brunswick and Nova Scotia, preferring radar. Many recreational and even some lobster boats (which can buzz along at 30 knots or better at times) don't use AIS either. Radar not only gives us ships and buoys, but also good land contours, which are quite useful in Maine. If we were off-shore sailors, we would use AIS to sleep with less fear of being run down.

In terms of keeping things simple, we like the radar display on our older, Raymarine RC-70-Plus plotter, as I can keep an eye on my speed and depth, while going back and forth from the chart to the radar scan. We also carry paper charts and use them to double check positions in tricky waters and to record notes about things we see along the way.

One thing we notice is to be very careful with the radar in our first few days of cruising each spring. Interpreting the hits, distances and relative courses is a bit of a skill that needs to be relearned a bit each season, at least for us.

We met a couple last summer who stopped in our harbor up in Nova Scotia on their 55-foot steel schooner. They were Aussies and were circling the globe on an extended, 3-year trip. We invited them up to our local residents' association potluck supper that evening, where I happened to ask them how many paper charts they carried for such a voyage. Their answer was "none, mate." Strange, but I suppose more folks now cruise paperless with backups for their key electronics.

Cheers!

Jenn and Terry