Who has/uses AIS?

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i have ais in use send and receive and i foud out its the best for inland, you can see around the corner and yes not all boats have ais, but in Europe all commercial vessels need to have ais by law, the best thing is if they want to make a call to you they don't have to shout hello smale white boat in fornt of us but they can call hello 'name of your boat'in front of us and you now direct the call is for you
 
I am located on the buisy River Humber, which is governed by a port authority.
We are not allowed to leave the port if visibility is less than two cable lengths ( 1320feet), unless you have AIS and radar. In clear visibility AIS is helpful when approaching the main shipping lanes, As the control people are screaming "unknown vessel near buoy x what are your intentions"
We find that with AIS on they can generally see what our intentions are, and don't bother us.
 
Mike makes a great point. Think it actually decreases need for VHF chatter if you’re a transceiver. When the other vessel sees you make a significant course correction it’s obvious to him you are aware of him and regardless of stand on/give way you will ensure you won’t get close. My attitude is I’m recreational, not in a rush, able to turn on a dime and rarely depth restricted. It’s easier and lower stress for me to not interfere with commercial traffic. It’s also lower stress to not need to get on the VHF to sort things out.
 
When I was delivering, AIS was just being born. I sure wish it existed - many of my deliveries were from SoCal northbound.

As you can see from the chartlet below, a direct route to Pt Conception runs almost exclusively in the shipping lanes in/out of Los Angeles/Long Beach so I would take a route that added some time but was a much less congested course. Because Pt Conception has notoriously confused seas which are accentuated by afternoon diurnal winds, my strategy was to round the points (Conception and Arguello, about 20 ns apart) around midnight. This meant a 10pm departure from, say Dana Point. Which meant crossing the shipping lane twice.......at night. By far the most stressful part of the trip. While ARPA/MARPA was definitely useful, it's far from precise, at least for my tastes so a wide margin was given. Even though I avoided much of the shipping lane, I still needed to cross it near Santa Barbara as I approached Pt Conception - the closing speed of an approaching ship traveling 25 knots is breathtaking - sort of felt like being a pedestrian crossing a freeway.

AIS was an easy decision to add to Weebles.

Peter
SoCal to Pt Conception.jpg
 
That is a smart route for that trip Peter.

Since I retired 3 years ago I spend quite a bit of time in the northern channels you have shown. I run just outside of the shipping lanes, then wait for an all clear and cut across the channel perpendicular to it, especially at night. I spent time on oil tankers doing the LA-SF route when I was a young man and it still amazes me how fast the big ships travel. Seeing, and being seen by them is a good thing. IE, a ships crew can quickly determine a small vessels size and other good data by drilling down on the AIS readout.

I am also noticing more center consoles (sport fishers who head offshore) starting to use it because they can be ghosty on radar when its choppy and the seas are up.

AIS really is a game changer and should be a requirement for anyone venturing offshore IMO.
 
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Hippocampus said:
Mike makes a great point. Think it actually decreases need for VHF chatter if you’re a transceiver. When the other vessel sees you make a significant course correction it’s obvious to him you are aware of him and regardless of stand on/give way you will ensure you won’t get close. My attitude is I’m recreational, not in a rush, able to turn on a dime and rarely depth restricted. It’s easier and lower stress for me to not interfere with commercial traffic. It’s also lower stress to not need to get on the VHF to sort things out.
Click to expand...
Agree. I try to stay out of their way. For the most part if the big boys need to call me then I have not been doing a good job setting things up for an easy pass on both our parts.
 
Simi 60 said:
Matsutec HA 102 are about $220 usd delivered now
Works a treat and trouble free for 4+ years
Click to expand...

Aliexpress now lists it as $116US but can't ship to US or Canada, probably due to import restrictions.
 
OldDan1943 said:
Well I went in whole hog when I went “in”.
AIS, transmit and receive with a switch to defeat the transmit.
Upon the recommendation of the sale and set up the AIS, no picture of the vessel if there is a chance of pirating or kidnapping.
I am told the best to display the AIS is on the RADAR instead of the chart display. Seems the RADAR is more accurate than the charts. Don’t have to wait X number of months for an update
Click to expand...


We purposely elected not to post a pic for the same reasons as above. . . . then someone else posted a pic of our vessel to www.marinetraffic.com. We didn't have any control over it. Anyone can post your pic and associate it with your boat.:eek:
 
Shipspotting is huge. I think it's trickled down.
 
not shipped to US & Canada

Be careful with some of the super cheap Chinese AIS transmitters. Some are not legal for use in US(&Can) - no proof they meet techical standards. Fines are heavy. Legal units carry a type "listing" reference number issued by FCC. Your radio shop will know if your unit is type listed. Saving $400 can cost you $2000 in fines for use of a non type approved unit. ASK the mfg for the type listing certificate before you order one directly over the internet.:socool:
 
Nick14, when I was new to this boat and heading south for the winter, I was in a forum discussion about heading south from Sandy Hook NJ on an overnight trek. I was advised to “make the coff and turn on the radar and AIS.”

“What the hell is AIS?” was my reaction.

Well I got a transmit/receive model and never regretted it.

Just makes life easier.
 
This past summer, my wife and I boated our Willard 40 from Sturgeon Bay, WI, to Rhode Island, then down the ICW to South Carolina, great trip. When encountering commercial and private vessels, the AIS transmitting our information came in handy more than several times. It just makes everybody safer.
Knigihtflier
 
I think AIS is great. I have a class a transceiver on the trawler. I even added a b+ unit onto the 15 foot dinghy we carry. This way I can keep tabs on the dinghy's location from the helm of the main boat.

Did the family make it to shore ok?
The dinghy has finished fishing and wants to catch up to the main boat it now knows where Im at without having to relay gps coordinates.
 
Wow bk living large but it does make sense. I don’t have a transceiver on the dinghy. Not fixed MFD display either and I’m dependent upon the cellphone for charts. It’s usually me wandering around in the dinghy and the admiral on the boat. Fortunately several apps have location services even the texting apps. We’ve been using those. Now given we’re usually within cellphone range it’s more than adequate. But having AIS on the dinghy would be a major step up.
 
Up here as you go north cell phone reception goes in and out and is often out. If it was just me driving the dinghy it wouldn't be worth it. But my wife has done things like make a 15 mile dinghy ride to go pick up family. I've got 3 kids who at some point will be driving the dinghy around. My father who comes with us likes to go fishing on the dinghy early in the morning.

All things that made it seem like a good idea to do. Its not really living that large TBH. You can get a class B transponder for as low as $600. But again, It only makes sense because of our usage model and location. But in the right situation it seems like a win win.

Hippocampus said:
Wow bk living large but it does make sense. I don’t have a transceiver on the dinghy. Not fixed MFD display either and I’m dependent upon the cellphone for charts. It’s usually me wandering around in the dinghy and the admiral on the boat. Fortunately several apps have location services even the texting apps. We’ve been using those. Now given we’re usually within cellphone range it’s more than adequate. But having AIS on the dinghy would be a major step up.
Click to expand...
 
bkcorwin said:
Up here as you go north cell phone reception goes in and out and is often out. If it was just me driving the dinghy it wouldn't be worth it. But my wife has done things like make a 15 mile dinghy ride to go pick up family. I've got 3 kids who at some point will be driving the dinghy around. My father who comes with us likes to go fishing on the dinghy early in the morning.

All things that made it seem like a good idea to do. Its not really living that large TBH. You can get a class B transponder for as low as $600. But again, It only makes sense because of our usage model and location. But in the right situation it seems like a win win.
Click to expand...

Don’t forget your sat phone.
 
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