Remote Control Boats

[shorebird]

Last summer I'm sitting on a dock watching a large powerboat, around 40' or so, maneuver his vessel in a rather tight area to leave the marina. He politely declined the assistance of several other boaters, but then he stepped off his boat, onto the dock, and proceeded to operate the vessel from the dock with a remote control. In this manner, he was able to see how far the boat was from the dock. When he was clear and ready to head out of the marina, he simply stepped back on and left. Now I'm no techno-weenie, but I didn't know such a thing existed. Is this a common thing on "higher end" boats?

[Ex-Calif]

Originally Posted by shorebird

Last summer I'm sitting on a dock watching a large powerboat, around 40' or so, maneuver his vessel in a rather tight area to leave the marina. He politely declined the assistance of several other boaters, but then he stepped off his boat, onto the dock, and proceeded to operate the vessel from the dock with a remote control. In this manner, he was able to see how far the boat was from the dock. When he was clear and ready to head out of the marina, he simply stepped back on and left. Now I'm no techno-weenie, but I didn't know such a thing existed. Is this a common thing on "higher end" boats?

The coasties here in Singapore have remote helm. When boarding the helmsman stands on the bow driving with a joystick so he can precisely approach and stand off.

Not sure I would leave the boat with the remote under any conditions. Was it wireless?

Battery failure or wireless glitch could be quite a drama.

[delmarrey]

If they can fly drones miles away, why not boats too?

[Hydra]

The German Navy has been using remotely-operated minesweepers at least since 1980 (Seehund & Seepferd classes).

With all wireless systems, there is always a risk of interference / jamming by another system. For this reason, a cable-connected portable station is sometimes preferred, for example for harbor operation, where it would be difficult to recover from an incorrect response by the system.

Alain

[shorebird]

The system was wireless. It would be great for single hand docking and anchoring, but, yes, stepping off the boat would be interesting if a glitch developed. My windlass is remote operated, but I still stand over it to free any snags if the rode catches or snags anywhere.

[btrayfors]

Well, hell, if you're going to leave the boat with a remote in your hand, why not go right on to the nearest cafe, order a tall one, and send the boat back off for a sail?

You could then meet it dockside on the way back to ease into the slip and tie her up :-)

[delmarrey]

Originally Posted by btrayfors

Well, hell, if you're going to leave the boat with a remote in your hand, why not go right on to the nearest cafe, order a tall one, and send the boat back off for a sail?

You could then meet it dockside on the way back to ease into the slip and tie her up :-)

Better yet, just send it out to anchor. Then when your done with your business and ready to head back out just have it come pick you up at the dock. No dinghy required.

[shorebird]

I don't think it would work well for a sailboat, but a powerboat? What about sending it to the nearest fuel dock for a top-up while you sip your tall, cool one? ( a frequent occurrence for the power boat types.) Wait!? What about man overboard? Some lifejackets auto-inflate when they get wet, so, what about activating a signal to return the boat to the person bobbing in the water? Not to mention the electronic voice which would say, as you re-boarded soaking and shivering: "Go below and change.. I'll take us somewhere nice.. oh, and wear those non-skid deck shoes next time..you know, the ones I keep telling you to wear but you never do?"
Oh the nightmare of technology gone berserk....

[Waterway Guide]

I think you've come up with product ideas worth $Millions! (...in lawsuits)

[ChannelIslander]

The largest boats in my port are remotely driven.

The Channel Cat is a 70 foot catamaran built for cocktail parties; the skipper stands way up on the roof with a remote.

The Condor Express is a 50 foot power cat whale watcher with two engines and four jet drives. Same system.

When the Condor Express first got here there was a malfunction with the remote when they were maneuvering into their slip. The skip had executed a turn (spin move) and the remote seized; he couldn't get out of the spin. Bumped a dock as I recall before he could get it under control.

Construction machinery such as road rollers and tree root grinders is all controlled by remote nowadays.

My last powerboat had fly-by-wire controls; an electrical current went back to the transmission and operated a mechanical actuator which changed the gears. One day a capacitor in the actuator blew up (literally); I didn't notice because there was no audible alarm, and when I got to my slip I put the boat into reverse and goosed it to slow dow, but instead I accelerated forward and rammed into a piling at about 3 kts.

That wasn't exactly remote, but close. It failed.

Draw your own conclusions.

- nick

[gosstyla]

Here's a controller:

Yacht Controller - Wireless Remote Control of Your Yacht

[s/v Jedi]

Originally Posted by shorebird

Last summer I'm sitting on a dock watching a large powerboat, around 40' or so, maneuver his vessel in a rather tight area to leave the marina. He politely declined the assistance of several other boaters, but then he stepped off his boat, onto the dock, and proceeded to operate the vessel from the dock with a remote control. In this manner, he was able to see how far the boat was from the dock. When he was clear and ready to head out of the marina, he simply stepped back on and left. Now I'm no techno-weenie, but I didn't know such a thing existed. Is this a common thing on "higher end" boats?

You guys don't have that yet? Not even with iPhone app?

cheers,
Nick.

[shorebird]

In all seriousness, overcrowded marinas are becoming the norm, as space is expensive, and marina operators want to get as many slips in a given area as possible. Watching vessels docking under such conditions, especially in windy conditions, is both stressful and entertaining so the popularity of thrusters and remote controls can only be expanding. Bow thrusters, once the mark of the largest, finest yachts, are now turning up everywhere, and we have one 20' boat in our marina with one.

[Seahunter]

A few years back a friend of mine showed me his remote helm on his Hunter. It worked so slick I installed one on our boat. As we already had an AutoHelm we went with a S100 wireless autopilot remote and it works as advertised.

[Knowazark]

We have a remote for our Raymarine autopilot. I have been known to go up on the foredeck with the remote while we're sailing along in benign conditions (light winds, small waves). It's nice to be able to wander about and check things like sail trim, look for other traffic, check for chafing, etc while still having an opportunity to control the helm, but I still feel kinda weird about it and don't feel comfortable doing it for any length of time.