MacGregorSailors.com

kevperro · Post by **kevperro** » Mon Apr 30, 2007 3:02 pm

I just bought a Chartplotter that is "AIS ready". I guess that is a cute marketing term saying that it will work if you spend more money on extra hardware.

Anyone actually made the leap to buy AIS hardware? It looks really cool and like a great safety feature but there doesn't seem to be any real hardware easily available yet.

Shane · Post by **Shane** » Mon Apr 30, 2007 5:31 pm

I'm looking at it as an add on maybe next year. As I understand it, if the AIS unit & your plotter are both NMEA 2000, they should integrate fine. There has been alot of dialogue in some of the www.panbo.com articles of late. You might want to check things out there.

eric3a · Post by **eric3a** » Mon Apr 30, 2007 5:55 pm

Frank C · Post by **Frank C** » Mon Apr 30, 2007 6:09 pm

As examples, both the Santa Barbara channel and the PNW waters have lots of massive, fast-moving traffic. In both cruising areas, if you refuse to go in light fog, you'll never be able to sail. And light fog can turn moderate without warning ... making it d@mned scary to be crossing a pair of mile-wide lanes.

In the SB channel we could hear them long before we could see them. Remember one time being overtaken by a wake that was totally unexpected ... and those wakes can be dangerous if you're within a mile or so. But regardless of wakes, I'd like to see them on my screen.

Not sure if the PNW ferries carry that transponder, but I'd be even more nervous of them than the container ships and tankers. I think they out number the ships by a bunch.

Assuming that AIS receiver plots to the GPS map, it would be at the top of my list too, Shane.
BTW ... Great link!

pokerrick1 · Post by **pokerrick1** » Mon Apr 30, 2007 6:42 pm

eric3a wrote: Otherwise save the money, stay away from the commercial ships and enjoy the peace of sailing less frequented areas.
Eric

I'm with Eric this time (rare), I stay out of the lanes, especially at night or in the fog.

Rick

Duane Dunn, Allegro · Post by **Duane Dunn, Allegro** » Mon Apr 30, 2007 8:17 pm

Here's a good site to get a feel for what you would get with a AIS receiver.

http://members.shaw.ca/a-lester/overview.html

All Washington State Ferries carry AIS transponders and with the blind corners up here it can be useful to know what's around the bend ahead of time. (Right now I don't see near as many ships and ferries as I have before. The AIS traffic is overlaid on Google Earth so you will need that installed to view this.)

There are more links to other parts of the US and the world here,

http://liveaisworld.yachtmarine.com/LIVEAISWORLD.html

Just for fun here is another cool google earth link that overlays vector marine charts.

http://destinsharks.com/category/google-earth-maps/

If you have Microsoft Virtual Earth 3d check out this mix of 3D aerial photos, map data, and a chart overlay that only fills the water areas.

http://www.zoomatron.com/Charts/TestChart.aspx

Once loaded choose hybrid and 3d.

Shane · Post by **Shane** » Mon Apr 30, 2007 8:35 pm

One other link I forgot to mention in my earlier post....

Not only do I sail a mac, I compute on one as well

there is a mac (computer) site that focuses on mac o/s maritime software that has also had some good discussion on their bbs. There are a couple of s/w plotters (GPSnavX and MacENC) that already read AIS and will also interface w/Google earth. Once again, mac only, but you might want to look at the AIS topics.

http://www.macsailing.net/bbs/

Regards,
Shane

eric3a · Post by **eric3a** » Mon Apr 30, 2007 8:55 pm

Shane · Post by **Shane** » Mon Apr 30, 2007 9:01 pm

eric3a wrote:Cool links!

The only "scary" thing about ferries though is that they cut it way closer than other ships.

IIRC, there were a few posts last fall that tells me you speak from personal experience

Regards,
Shane

Night Sailor · Post by **Night Sailor** » Mon Apr 30, 2007 9:20 pm

My rule number one is be sure to give ferries a wide berth. They have a route, and they have a schedule to adhere to ridgidly. My only close on the water experience was while sailing a 65' sloop in Elliot Bay, WA. Not knowing the exact intended route of the ferry, I kept the boat closehauled as much as possible, to get out of a ferry's way, and then he made a turn to head right for me as if I weren't there. Those seconds before my boat could bear off on a broad reach were scary. I couldn't guess how close he passed astern, but I could swear if I ever say those rail passengers again, I would recognize them.

Post by **kmclemore** » Mon Apr 30, 2007 9:24 pm

Night Sailor wrote:I couldn't guess how close he passed astern, but I could swear if I ever say those rail passengers again, I would recognize them.

Yeah, you were probably so close you could tell'em by the smell of their aftershave!

eric3a · Post by **eric3a** » Mon Apr 30, 2007 9:44 pm

kevperro · Post by **kevperro** » Tue May 01, 2007 8:45 am

The ferries are numerous up here. I think on average they have a much better look-out and they can maneuver much better than a container ship. Also, the ferry routes are well known. I've seen a sailboat try to race across the bow of the ferry. The guy wasn't too smart and the ferry captain let him know about it. I'm not sure if the guy had a radio but you couldn't miss the 15-20 second blast from the ferry's horn.

We have lots of container ships coming through. I wouldn't sail in the shipping lanes but crossing them is sometimes necessary. I would think radar would be more valuable though because it gives you a picture of ALL ships, not just AIS transmitting ones.

Shane · Post by **Shane** » Tue May 01, 2007 10:58 am

kevperro wrote: I would think radar would be more valuable though because it gives you a picture of ALL ships, not just AIS transmitting ones.

Agreed, and they are 2 different animals and in no way can AIS replace radar (or vice versa). However, at $200 vs $1500 (?) radar add-on, an AIS receiver can fill in some of the void.

Regards,
Shane

kevperro · Post by **kevperro** » Tue May 01, 2007 6:09 pm

Shane wrote:
kevperro wrote: I would think radar would be more valuable though because it gives you a picture of ALL ships, not just AIS transmitting ones.
Agreed, and they are 2 different animals and in no way can AIS replace radar (or vice versa). However, at $200 vs $1500 (?) radar add-on, an AIS receiver can fill in some of the void.

Yes... your right there is a big price delta. I don't see $200 solutions though. Am I missing something or is that just the projected cost?