Is anyone crossing the Atlantic heading west? Can anyone rescue ADA

[savoir]

So people who disagree with you are having a rant ?

Got it.

[JPA Cate]

I'll re-state my opinion:

I support the experiment, AND I do think such a vessel should be made high visibility (for day) and lit at night.

Further comment: the person with the large cat who does not keep continual watching, well, other than calls of nature, or something important to attend to while the other is off watch, we generally do keep continuous watch. It is a question of self discipline and planning. I think it is a fact of life that some people care more about watch keeping than others. For me, i always thought it in the "very important" category, and coming up on an unlit sailboat in the middle of the night, I found rather upsetting. It used to be more common than it is now, due to the use of LED running lights, I think, as I doubt human nature has changed.

If you've ever tried to find a small target on a large ocean, you'd all realize that it would have been extremely difficult to locate Ada, unless it was regularly transmitting it's AIS position so that boats with AIS might be able to get close enough to spot it. But honestly, a small white sail on a grey ocean is going to be hard to see, let alone what the difficulties would be of getting a line on it.

Ann

[boatman61]

Originally Posted by MarkJ

Even Boatman61 has cruised accross there back in 1850.
Signed,

DISGUSTED!

FFS..!!
Check your facts mate.. it was 1847...

[uncle stinkybob]

Would we want drone cars tested on our roads? Why would we in our ocean? I'm surprised it's not against Coast Guard reg, as it's turned out it's now just one more piece of junk floating around as a hazard and ecological pollution. What kind of battery's and how many are now going to end up in the ocean? This is just wrong and no amount of feel good bull crap about how much the children are learning or how sailing benefit's from this are going to change that fact.

[SVNeko]

Originally Posted by Davidhoy

That would seem rather pointless. Receive-only AIS doesn't do too much good unless you have someone onboard to monitor it. A class B AIS beacon would make much more sense. Not only would that provide other vessels the ability to know that Ada was nearby, but with the AIS-S satellites receiving the VHF signal and relaying the data to a ground station, they would also be able to track Ada's position and progress.

Really? No, not if you have automated piloting, which this program was all about. In fact for that purpose it would seem indispensable. In any event, they were broadcasting back home GPS and weather info. Given the info they were transmitting, it couldn't come from an AIS transponder. And, considering the power required to transmit all that info does it make sense to also broadcast AIS from sea level in a little travelled seaway? I don't think so, and their program papers suggests as much


Sent from my MotoG3 using Cruisers Sailing Forum mobile app

[SVNeko]

Originally Posted by jackdale

There 3,739 Argo buoys that pop to the surface at regular intervals.



There are also uncharted free floating weather buoys; I saw one coming back from Maui last month.

Yes, there is a lot of stuff out there. Does that mean it is OK to put an unlimited amount of more stuff out there?

Sent from my MotoG3 using Cruisers Sailing Forum mobile app

[uncle stinkybob]

Originally Posted by SVNeko

Yes, there is a lot of stuff out there. Does that mean it is OK to put an unlimited amount of more stuff out there?

Sent from my MotoG3 using Cruisers Sailing Forum mobile app

EXACTLY. the mentality of, well there is already mega tons of trash in the ocean so what does it matter if I throw my one little bag of **** in the water?
I find it most disturbing is that this comes from boaters, yachters, cruisers, whatever ya want to call em. Makes me wonder what else goes over the side? I thought the idea was to clean the oceans up, not add to the problem and tell me it's all for the best.

[boatman61]

Originally Posted by uncle stinkybob

EXACTLY. the mentality of, well there is already mega tons of trash in the ocean so what does it matter if I throw my one little bag of **** in the water?
I find it most disturbing is that this comes from boaters, yachters, cruisers, whatever ya want to call em. Makes me wonder what else goes over the side? I thought the idea was to clean the oceans up, not add to the problem and tell me it's all for the best.

Ahh..!! but he is a professional..

[250224]

Originally Posted by uncle stinkybob

Would we want drone cars tested on our roads? Why would we in our ocean?

Bad analogy: density on the roads is orders of magnitude larger than on the oceans

Originally Posted by uncle stinkybob

it's now just one more piece of junk floating around as a hazard and ecological pollution. What kind of battery's and how many are now going to end up in the ocean?

Some small numbers of such vehicles won't hurt at all. Insignificant in absolute numbers and much more so compared to all the other trash which floats around. (And continues to be discharged)

Originally Posted by uncle stinkybob

This is just wrong

(you answered yourself )

...bull

[uncle stinkybob]

Originally Posted by blu3534

Bad analogy: density on the roads is orders of magnitude larger than on the oceans



Some small numbers of such vehicles won't hurt at all. Insignificant in absolute numbers and much more so compared to all the other trash which floats around. (And continues to be discharged)



(you answered yourself )

...bull

absolute mindless dribble.

[Bulawayo]

Driverless cars are already at their final testing phase as is the use of helicopter drones for small parcel deliveries by Amazon. At this rate it wont be that long before a disposable solar powered drone delivers the spare part to us in mid-ocean.
However, its rather off topic. We were asked to assist with retrieving a small lightweight sailing platform that was having issues in the North Atlantic and now it has decended into a spat over whether or not it is agreeable to launch such craft.
We dont show ourselves in a very favourable light to the students do we?

Originally Posted by uncle stinkybob

Would we want drone cars tested on our roads? Why would we in our ocean? I'm surprised it's not against Coast Guard reg, as it's turned out it's now just one more piece of junk floating around as a hazard and ecological pollution. What kind of battery's and how many are now going to end up in the ocean? This is just wrong and no amount of feel good bull crap about how much the children are learning or how sailing benefit's from this are going to change that fact.

[exitstrategy]

I have seen an unlit fishing buoy.

[Dody]

What is the matter with you people, I don't get it any more! If you don't like sailing yourself, why bother with a boat? And why annoying others who like it out there with some additional floating object, unlit, hardly visible, not answering or being able to help in case assistance is needed?

Whatever we try, in the harsh marine-environment this will only work for a very limited amount of time and then fail. I hope I don't have to remind you that a boat is not a car where you just push it to the side of the road, call roadside assistance and walk off!!

Yes, crewless cargo-ships are getting developed, the US Navy launched an unmanned monster able to fly across the water with 27 knots and they are even thinking of installing weapons on it! The best joke is the last sentence: "...but if you happen to see an unmanned vessel floating around the California coast this summer, don’t be alarmed. It’s just an ACTUV ship, waiting to do its duty." Gee, what could possibly go wrong?

Fortunately, and this is the only tiny little straw we've got against it, is the fact that the International Maritime Organization (IMO), the arm of the United Nations overseeing global shipping, prohibits ship operations without crew. The International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea, known as Solas, requires all ships to be “sufficiently and efficiently manned.

Do you realize, if they should let go of this, how things will change out there?

None of us leaves without a proper supply of provisions, water, fuel, spares and equipment, we all want to make sure to be prepared to best of our abilities and hope never to get into a state of emergency. Still, **** happens.

For hundreds of years ships have been helping each other. They were having someone on watch, they would change their course to have a look at a strange lifeless boat bobbing up and down on the waves and actively do something. Thousands of lives have been saved, sometimes with huge risks.

Why? Because we are humans (or we were ...)!

An unmanned vessel is NOT an autonomous vessel, it's just an unmanned vessel. To be autonomous, a living being has to be in it. So, where is this living being on board of ADA?

Fair winds
Dody

PS: And actually, I don't like the idea of being fired upon by an out of control vessel heading with 27 knots towards me and, after the sinking of my ship and me on the bottom of the ocean my relatives getting told "oh sorry, it was just a tiny little diode that malfunctioned, caused by manufactural error, and we lost control."

[Bulawayo]

Ada is little more than a 5 meter windsurfer and built using the West System. The likelihood of Ada ever being seen again is reducing daily. She is also not on the main sail boat route, despite one assertion that it is.
This one tiny dimple on the oceans of the sea and was not launched with the concept of disposal at sea. Structurally, how much risk does Ada really pose? I believe she is also super light - info gleaned from the 'varsity website before anyone challenges that.

Of bigger concern should be all the other maritime issues, from sustaining all forms of marine life to cleaning of debris, be it semi-submerged containers or huge swathes of garbage.
Once these matters are satisfactorily consigned to history we can then turn our attention to the subject of a University sending an unmanned 5 meter windsurfer on a passage across the North Atlantic.
There are approx 733 shipping containers lost sea annually per How Many Shipping Containers Are Really Lost At Sea? – gCaptain
Is this not more of a serious threat?

Personally, I dont have any difficulty in assessing which is more critical and judging from the postings, nor does everyone else - its just a few. Lets get things into perspective.

[30yearslater]

As with so many things: