Not using your AIS

[markpierce]

I've noted that some boaters don't always use their AIS when underway. So, why have it and not use it? Is it perceived as an invasion of privacy?

 

[refugio]

Mine wasn't transmitting after 5 years and I didn't know it!


Keith

 

[BandB]

I've noted that some boaters don't always use their AIS when underway. So, why have it and not use it? Is it perceived as an invasion of privacy?

Yes, it is by many.

 

[Liberty2015]

I know here in Sydney Australia , some vessels don't turn them on for just putting around, not much point really, and yes they do it just to have some privacy, as you are aware you can have your phone alerted every time a nominated vessel is on the move

I know personally I really only use it when at Sea and it is very useful when in shipping lanes and particularly at night to avoid an unwanted collision or anxious moments.

I don't have an issue with having them switched off at times, bit like your radar , only really need it at certain times when required.

Cheers Chris D Liberty

 

[Tidahapah]

Mine is on all the time, but I must admit I am not afraid of people knowing where I am or where I am going.
I have nothing to hide.

 

[Insequent]

Mine is on all the time, but I must admit I am not afraid of people knowing where I am or where I am going.
I have nothing to hide.

Ditto.

Mine is on my electronics breaker, so is only off at the dock. At anchor I can turn off everything else and leave AIS on, or turn the lot off and use the iPad for anchor drag alert.

Running in the Brisbane River AIS is quite useful as the CityCat ferries are often at 20kn and they need to cross from one side of the river to the other a number of times in order to dock at all the passenger terminals. So they can come up behind you quite quickly. I like to know where they are so I don't cramp 'sea room' for them at the terminals but at the same time keep close to shore and clear of them at other times. I monitor the river traffic channel but the 'Cats seldom call me up regarding passing. But all too often there is one that either has AIS off or it isn't working for some reason. Next time that happens I'm going to hail them on the VHF to see if they area aware of it or not. AFAIK its mandatory for them to have it, and it should be on.

 

[Mako]

I am not afraid of people knowing where I am or where I am going. I have nothing to hide.

I've heard people say that over the years, especially when it comes to the Patriot Act and the government's domestic security programs. Personally I totally disagree.

Just because someone has nothing to hide doesn't mean he can't cherish his personal right to privacy.

Just because someone cherishes his personal right to privacy doesn't mean he HAS something to hide!

Perhaps I'm more sensitive to this topic, but living in this part of the world, and previously in places like Syria where my movements were tracked daily, one starts to appreciate what the Founding Fathers promised us, but which is slowly being eroded.

 

[O C Diver]

While I do use mine all the time while moving and most of the time when anchored out, I do turn it off at the dock. I know a number of people who only use it in receive mode and don't transmit their position. Their logic seems to be that they want to know where others are but not be seen. Guess I understand that if you're at your favorite fishing spot. The earlier units (like on my charter boat) didn't require you to put in a MMSI number or any data about your boat. This drives me nuts. There's a boat coming at you at 20 knots in the rain, and you have no idea if you're looking for a 25' center console or a 400' container ship. Interestingly, it's now required to be programmed by the dealer before they sell it to you, by federal law. You can still run it though without transmitting your position.

Not really worried about big brother or the privacy issue. During the refit I added the cloaking software to my radar, so now I can disappear with the flip of a switch.

Ted

 

[Insequent]

While I do use mine all the time while moving and most of the time when anchored out, I do turn it off at the dock. I know a number of people who only use it in receive mode and don't transmit their position. Their logic seems to be that they want to know where others are but not be seen. Guess I understand that if you're at your favorite fishing spot. The earlier units (like on my charter boat) didn't require you to put in a MMSI number or any data about your boat. This drives me nuts. There's a boat coming at you at 20 knots in the rain, and you have no idea if you're looking for a 25' center console or a 400' container ship. Interestingly, it's now required to be programmed by the dealer before they sell it to you, by federal law. You can still run it though without transmitting your position.

Not really worried about big brother or the privacy issue. During the refit I added the cloaking software to my radar, so now I can disappear with the flip of a switch.

Ted

Not sure who programmed the AIS for the guy at the end of my dock, a 60' boat. Whoever did it entered the boat dimensions in feet when the units required were metres. The guy looks humongous on the chartplotter! Fortunately he almost never leaves the dock and his AIS is normally off. So the rest of the marina is usually visible on the chartplotter.

 

[jleonard]

My AIS is still in the store. I haven't seen the need of it yet.

 

[nwboater]

Many older units, like mine, only receive AIS signals. Personally, I was less than enthusiastic when the FCC permitted recreational boaters to also transmit. In busy waterways like the San Juan Islands during the summer, my chart plotter display can look like it has the measles with AIS targets everywhere from all size vessels. I still prefer receiving only commercial vessel traffic. Call me a curmudgeon ;-)

 

[Baker]

I have been called a "poacher" on here for having a receive only AIS.

 

[BigJim]

Why don't warships transmit AIS data? I think I know the answer why NOT them?

 

[sunchaser]

I've noted that some boaters don't always use their AIS when underway. So, why have it and not use it? Is it perceived as an invasion of privacy?

Your privacy left a long time ago if you own a cell phone, Direct TV account or an I Pad.

 

[River Cruiser]

The area where we are has some small tows from a sand plant that are used in their business and also as helper boats to help tows thru a old RR bridge and into a lock a few miles away. They have their AIS on 24-7 and when I turn on my plotter up they jump and the cpa warning.


Sent from my iPad using Trawler Forum

 

[GFC]

My AIS is still in the store. I haven't seen the need of it yet.

+1. If I installed one I'd be the only recreational vessel on the water with AIS.

I suppose the tugs have 'em but they're easy to spot quite a distance away and with binocs I can read the tug name if I need to call 'em on the VHF.

 

[ksanders]

Our AIS is on all the time.

It's not a privacy thing for us. I want our last known position to be out there.

If we ever call for help it might just make a difference.

I want the boat coming around the corner to know who we are, our course and speed.

 

[Marin]

My AIS is still in the store. I haven't seen the need of it yet.

+2. Have not seen any practical value for it for recreational cruising in the region where we boat. If the boat had one we'd use it simply because it would be another cool electronics toy to play with.

But with a pair of large dedicated plotters, a very good radar, and VTS on the radio should we want commercial ship info we have never in over 17 years of cruising found ouselves wanting or needing to know what was on the other side of an island or the name of that bulk carrier five miles away.

About once a year I wonder if we should get an AIS unit. We have room for it on the console and I fail to see any "privacy" issues witth the thing. But every time i consider it I come to realize (again) it would serve no truly useful purpose for us. It would give us a bunch of interesting information but it's actually not information we need to run the boat safely to our destination. It would just be more clutter added to the information we already have.

So we have so far decided to put the money in the fuel tanks and carry on boating.

 

[BlueYonder]

I have a receive only setup. It came with my VHF radio and does supply interesting information. At night or in reduced visibility, the AIS information is a nice add on to the radar.

I question why so many boaters don't seem to be able, or know how to turn their AIS transmitters off. I went into Baltimore a couple of weeks ago and had over a dozen AIS collision warnings on my plotter. All from docked boats.

 

[jleonard]

never in over 17 years of cruising found ouselves wanting or needing to know what was on the other side of an island or the name of that bulk carrier five miles away.

About once a year I wonder if we should get an AIS unit. . But every time i consider it I come to realize (again) it would serve no truly useful purpose for us. It would give us a bunch of interesting information but it's actually not information we need to run the boat safely to our destination. It would just be more clutter added to the information we already have.

So we have so far decided to put the money in the fuel tanks and carry on boating.

Agree 100%

 

[ksanders]

I have a receive only setup. It came with my VHF radio and does supply interesting information. At night or in reduced visibility, the AIS information is a nice add on to the radar.

I question why so many boaters don't seem to be able, or know how to turn their AIS transmitters off. I went into Baltimore a couple of weeks ago and had over a dozen AIS collision warnings on my plotter. All from docked boats.

Some AIS units cannot be turned off.

I question why so many boaters don't seem to be able, or know how to adjust the settings on their plotter to not display a collision warning from a boat that is not underway and transmitting a 0 knots AIS signal.

 

[O C Diver]

+2. Have not seen any practical value for it for recreational cruising in the region where we boat. If the boat had one we'd use it simply because it would be another cool electronics toy to play with.

I have been boating off shore since the early '70s. Can't tell you how many times over the years I heard that with regard to:

VHF radios
Lorans
GPS
Chart Plotters
Radar
Epirbs

Hang around long enough and AIS will be as common as chart plotters on boats. While I'm not a betting man, think it would be a pretty safe bet that most navigational aids will be replaced by AIS virtual aids on a chart plotter screen in 10 to 20 years maybe sooner. Cost savings and the easy to adjust their position as necessary, make them an obvious choice.

Ted

 

[Capt.Bill11]

I have been boating off shore since the early '70s. Can't tell you how many times over the years I heard that with regard to:

VHF radios
Lorans
GPS
Chart Plotters
Radar
Epirbs

Hang around long enough and AIS will be as common as chart plotters on boats. While I'm not a betting man, think it would be a pretty safe bet that most navigational aids will be replaced by AIS virtual aids on a chart plotter screen in 10 to 20 years maybe sooner. Cost savings and the easy to adjust their position as necessary, make them an obvious choice.

Ted

+1

 

[refugio]

I question why so many boaters don't seem to be able, or know how to adjust the settings on their plotter to not display a collision warning from a boat that is not underway and transmitting a 0 knots AIS signal.

It's simply a POV issue - some people think the world revolves around them, others not so much. At one time they also thought the world was flat...


Keith

 

[Marin]

Hang around long enough and AIS will be as common as chart plotters on boats.

AIS is the same as transponders in aviation although aviation transponders pre-date AIS by several decades. So I've been using this type of technology since the early 70s. It certainly has it's place in aviation but for some aspects of aviation it's not needed nor required.

Boating is no different.

 

[BandB]

AIS is the same as transponders in aviation although aviation transponders pre-date AIS by several decades. So I've been using this type of technology since the early 70s. It certainly has it's place in aviation but for some aspects of aviation it's not needed nor required.

Boating is no different.

A lot of equipment isn't needed constantly. It's that one time it comes in handy and you're very glad you had it.

 

[refugio]

My bilge pump isn't "needed or required", but I'm keeping it anyway. But that's just me...


Keith

 

[Wxx3]

Some AIS units cannot be turned off.

I question why so many boaters don't seem to be able, or know how to adjust the settings on their plotter to not display a collision warning from a boat that is not underway and transmitting a 0 knots AIS signal.

As to the rest of the responses

 

[Marin]

A lot of equipment isn't needed constantly. It's that one time it comes in handy and you're very glad you had it.

Sure. I can come up with all sorts of scenarios where we would be better off it we had on our boat:

A rail-launched, self-righting lifeboat similar to what is carried on the sterns of ships these days.
A few auto-deploy liferafts with canopy and survival gear and provisions for a week or two.
Survival suits for every person on the boat.
A parachute drogue.
A collision mat.
An EPERB
A personal locator for every person on the boat to wear at all times.

But somehow I don't think any of this with perhaps the exception of the EPERB is really relevant to the boating we do on the inside waters of NW Washington and BC.

If we made regular trips across to Hawaii or the southwestern Pacific or Asia, sure, a lot of that list would become very relevant.

One of the things I often find amusing on forums like this is the armchair-theorizing about all kinds of disastrous things that could happen and all the equipment one needs to be ready for it. There is very often an extreme disconnect between the theorizing and the reality of recreational boating.

The implication that if one is going to take a boat up the Inside Passage to Alaska, for example, one needs a veritable barge-load of safety equipment in order to have any hope of surviving the trip is totally unrealistic. I think the armchair crowd would be somewhat shocked to see the kinds of boats and the way they are outfitted that make this run on a regular or seasonal basis with no disastrous events of any kind and no need for all the whiz-bang equipment so many people seem to think one should have before even contemplating leaving their home slip.

Could real bad things happen? Of course. A person could have a grand piano fall on them as they walk down a city street, too. Life is a constant appraisal of risk and reality and making judgements and subsequent decisions accordingly. Some people assume every possible bad thing is going to happen to them, some think nothing bad will ever happen to them, and some have the ability to make rational and logical risk assessments based on reality.

AIS is a terrific tool if you need it. If you don't need it, you don't need it. The fact that it exists does not mean that boating without one is deadly dangerous. So far we have not needed it. If the day comes that we do need it, we'll get it. But so far we've not encountered a scenario in our boating in our region where an AIS would have made a lick of difference in what we did with the boat or how we did it.

I'm not anti-AIS. I simply see no need to buy something I currently don't need. Like a rail-launched, self-righting lifeboat on our stern. It would be way cool to have one, but I rather doubt we'd ever need it unless our boat was attacked by a really pissed off sperm whale.....

 

[BandB]

Sure. I can come up with all sorts of scenarios where we would be better off it we had on our boat:

A rail-launched, self-righting lifeboat similar to what is carried on the sterns of ships these days.
A few auto-deploy liferafts with canopy and survival gear and provisions for a week or two.
Survival suits for every person on the boat.
A parachute drogue.
A collision mat.
An EPERB
A personal locator for every person on the boat to wear at all times.

But somehow I don't think any of this with perhaps the exception of the EPERB is really relevant to the boating we do on the inside waters of NW Washington and BC.

If we made regular trips across to Hawaii or the southwestern Pacific or Asia, sure, a lot of that list would become very relevant.

One of the things I often find amusing on forums like this is the armchair-theorizing about all kinds of disastrous things that could happen and all the equipment one needs to be ready for it. There is very often an extreme disconnect between the theorizing and the reality of recreational boating.

The implication that if one is going to take a boat up the Inside Passage to Alaska, for example, one needs a veritable barge-load of safety equipment in order to have any hope of surviving the trip is totally unrealistic. I think the armchair crowd would be somewhat shocked to see the kinds of boats and the way they are outfitted that make this run on a regular or seasonal basis with no disastrous events of any kind and no need for all the whiz-bang equipment so many people seem to think one should have before even contemplating leaving their home slip.

Could real bad things happen? Of course. A person could have a grand piano fall on them as they walk down a city street, too. Life is a constant appraisal of risk and reality and making judgements and subsequent decisions accordingly. Some people assume every possible bad thing is going to happen to them, some think nothing bad will ever happen to them, and some have the ability to make rational and logical risk assessments based on reality.

AIS is a terrific tool if you need it. If you don't need it, you don't need it. The fact that it exists does not mean that boating without one is deadly dangerous. So far we have not needed it. If the day comes that we do need it, we'll get it. But so far we've not encountered a scenario in our boating in our region where an AIS would have made a lick of difference in what we did with the boat or how we did it.

I'm not anti-AIS. I simply see no need to buy something I currently don't need.

It's to each person what they feel they need. I agree with you on overreaction to some areas and some possibilities, but some need to be extra cautious for their own peace of mind. The inside passage is certainly not something we found threatening and we'd see enough on all the current Alaska television shows to not be surprised at the boats we saw, many of which I personally would be reluctant to leave the dock in.

On the other hand, I see people who stay put because of conditions we'd consider mild. I don't fault them though. That's what they're comfortable doing. A lot of benefit is not quantifiable nor does it even have to be logical and objectively supported. If it allows someone to enjoy their boating better then that's a real benefit.

As to AIS, I'm not sure it's done anything for safety on the water to this point. It's too inconsistently used plus there are so many other tools. To this point it's generally given us additional information which we really had no use for. Finding the detailed information on the boat you'd already decided to let pass in front of you is nice, but really does nothing for you.

One day though we'll all take AIS for granted. Doesn't mean we'll be safer boaters. However, a future generation of boaters will feel something important is missing if they don't have it.