Tragedy Strikes.

[Catopia]

We use a SPOT Trace which is hard wired for power and always on. Spot sends email (or txt I believe) updates when movement is detected.


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[Ocean Girl]

Gil, glad you are home and around family!


Our ais draws very little and we keep it on at anchor and mooring using the anchor watch feature( love it!) The other vessels can filter us out if they so choose. At dockside we've been turning ais off, but now I think we will start a habit of leaving it on 24/7. We have a good supply of solar panels that keeps everything topped off.

[brianlara 3]

Originally Posted by socaldmax

I don't think strobes are a good idea at all. I was camped near a guy who had a strobe for a camp marker light, about 30' off the ground. The strobe was so annoying to everyone in camp, he nearly got lynched when they finally told him to shut the thing off.

They're astoundingly annoying to everyone within range of it, especially those trying to sleep but who can still see the strobe through their eyelids.

Socal, tell me why this is not a good idea.
Gil prepares to leave the boat to check in. He is anchored in an open roadstead.
He turns on his strobe from a specially hidden switch. He KNOWS that he will be, and also reasonably expects to be, back before dark to a place where entering traffic would not normally expect to come across an anchored vessel which had engine failure.

Lets say he gets held up and doesn't get back until after sundown.
So what?
Socal your campground analogy was in my opinion not comparing apples.....
Am I to assume that, were you in the marina that night at 9pm and the strobe was annoying you, you would next morning go out and give poor "stucko" an earful?
Hard to believe.
In your campground situation I would have been the very first to raise issue. (at least!).
MY PROPOSED SCENARIO, EG GILS SITU IS VERY DIFFERENT.
Apples, corn kernels, ad nauseum...
Still disagree?
If Im wrong then tell me so, pleeease.
But not about uscg or colregs, not interested in pedantics, just good people...and baddies I guess too.

[smj]

Originally Posted by Ocean Girl

Gil, glad you are home and around family!





Our ais draws very little and we keep it on at anchor and mooring using the anchor watch feature( love it!) The other vessels can filter us out if they so choose. At dockside we've been turning ais off, but now I think we will start a habit of leaving it on 24/7. We have a good supply of solar panels that keeps everything topped off.

What advantage is gained by leaving AIS on while at a dock? And could you explain the anchor watch feature?


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[sailingharry]

Originally Posted by smj

I don't think any vessel while sitting stationary should have their AIS on. We purchased a boat that had AIS and I finally disabled it as it was really frustrating having to view the boats that were tied up to the dock and anchored that left their AIS on. If and when they have AIS that would automatically shut of when the boat is stationary and activate when moving then maybe not as bad of an idea to leave it on while anchored.


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Here here! I installed an AIS receiver on my boat this past summer, and was looking forward to the safety it would provide with respect to freighters that have a nasty habit of sneaking up on you. It took me about a month to disable the connection to my chart plotter. Hundreds of alarms, not only from stationary boats, but any pleasure boat passing within 100 yards of me (can you imagine? 100 yards?). Neither Garmin (who makes the chart plotter) or B&G (who makes the VHF) have any suggestions on how to disable stationary or Class B targets. Class B AIS has destroyed the value of AIS for anything but offshore passages (or maybe night sailing).

[monte]

We always leave our AIS on. Well it's wired directly so we dont have a lot of choice, but if we did we would still leave it on. Users complaining about alarms should probably sit down with the manual and get to know their AIS unit a little better. Audible alarms on ours are generally permanently disabled. I'm not sure why you would need an audible alarm if you are keeping watch anyway. We would enable the audio alarm when well offshore. Apart from the audible alarm the only alarm is a change of colour to red, of AIS targets. Targets never clutter the plotter screen when on the appropriate zoom level. I would prefer others at anchor leave theirs on as well, but I'm not opposed to people turning them off either.

[a64pilot]

My AIS is definitely on at anchor, people get hit at anchor too.
Now being on at the dock is silly, but My Vesper by default I think only alarms if the CPA is within a mile, and non moving objects, don't have a CPA, so none have set off my Alarm.
Underway, mine will always be on, partially because I have two AIS MOB transmitters on our harnesses.

[monte]

That's an interesting point. We also have AIS mob devices in our jackets. I've tested them and they work when alarms are disabled as well. The other day at anchor someone else tested theirs and our audible alarm went off, with a screen message 'AIS MOB ALARM TEST'

[Lizzy Belle]

I'd leave my AIS on while at anchor as well. Shouldn't use too much power, and should something happen to the boat, I'll at least know where she went.
If the AIS is turned off, I'll at least know she was stolen and didn't just leave me for an adventure of her own.

Strobe lights - no way. I'm pretty sure fellow cruisers would turn it off for me if I left one on, and I can't say I blame them. I'd probably do the same. Just like loud alarms that go off when the boom swings or a bird flies to close ... Strobes are a no-no in my book.

[Sandero]

Is it possible to for example leave an AIS B on as an AIS receiver but shut down the transmit signal?

[smj]

I could see leaving your AIS on while at anchor if your anchored in an area that is open to a lot of traffic, such as next to a busy channel, otherwise I can't see the point. Is it getting to the point where people no longer trust their eyeballs while transiting an anchorage? In my opinion, and I'm sure others won't agree, having all the electronic gadgets at the helm detract from your number one navigational aid, your eyeballs!


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[a64pilot]

Originally Posted by Sandero

Is it possible to for example leave an AIS B on as an AIS receiver but shut down the transmit signal?

Sure, but unless your in an area where you may not want to be seen, why?

[socaldmax]

Originally Posted by brianlara 3

Socal, tell me why this is not a good idea.
Gil prepares to leave the boat to check in. He is anchored in an open roadstead.
He turns on his strobe from a specially hidden switch. He KNOWS that he will be, and also reasonably expects to be, back before dark to a place where entering traffic would not normally expect to come across an anchored vessel which had engine failure.

Lets say he gets held up and doesn't get back until after sundown.
So what?
Socal your campground analogy was in my opinion not comparing apples.....
Am I to assume that, were you in the marina that night at 9pm and the strobe was annoying you, you would next morning go out and give poor "stucko" an earful?
Hard to believe.
In your campground situation I would have been the very first to raise issue. (at least!).
MY PROPOSED SCENARIO, EG GILS SITU IS VERY DIFFERENT.
Apples, corn kernels, ad nauseum...
Still disagree?
If Im wrong then tell me so, pleeease.
But not about uscg or colregs, not interested in pedantics, just good people...and baddies I guess too.

I'm telling you that within 15 minutes of him turning that strobe on, everyone was so on edge and angry about it searing into their eyeballs even inside their RVs, with their eyes closed, that the entire camp demanded it be shut off.

It was just like someone coming into your quiet anchorage and playing Mariachi music at 180 dB. There was no ignoring it, and it kept everyone awake.

Is that clear enough? Perhaps a weaker strobe might not have been so annoying, but then it wouldn't be visible at such long range.

There ARE MANY better ways of tracking your vessel WITHOUT annoying everyone in the anchorage.

[socaldmax]

Originally Posted by smj

I could see leaving your AIS on while at anchor if your anchored in an area that is open to a lot of traffic, such as next to a busy channel, otherwise I can't see the point. Is it getting to the point where people no longer trust their eyeballs while transiting an anchorage? In my opinion, and I'm sure others won't agree, having all the electronic gadgets at the helm detract from your number one navigational aid, your eyeballs!


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There is a thread on CF just about this phenomena, a bulk tanker hit another vessel in the Straits of Dover because the OOW was alone on the bridge and relied solely on AIS for collision avoidance, not keeping a proper lookout at all. From the posts in that thread, it's becoming an alarmingly common problem with people failing to keep a visual lookout and instead relying on electronics alone.

[FSMike]

Originally Posted by brianlara 3

Socal, tell me why this is not a good idea.
Gil prepares to leave the boat to check in. He is anchored in an open roadstead.
He turns on his strobe from a specially hidden switch. He KNOWS that he will be, and also reasonably expects to be, back before dark to a place where entering traffic would not normally expect to come across an anchored vessel which had engine failure.

Lets say he gets held up and doesn't get back until after sundown.
So what?
-----

So what? So a strobe is usually considered to be a distress signal. So I'd be quite irritated if I went to the trouble of untying my boat to run out to assist a vessel in distress only to find out there's no one on board. Then I would start trying to find a crew member overboard.
When I eventually found out there was no emergency, just a distress signal activated by some fool who was not in distress, then I would be extremely irritated.
Appropriate karma for that kind of behavior is people failing to respond to your strobe light when you ARE in trouble.