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14-10-2012, 05:03
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#1
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Registered User
Join Date: Sep 2012
Location: Wa, Vancouver
Boat: Wanted 45' Hunter center cockpit
Posts: 60
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AutoPilot questions
I have a question about some kind of auto pilot system that allows you to avoid other ships, so you don't need to keep watch. I would not like a collision with a carrier in the night, and also is there something that will alert you like an alarm clock of theres a ship nearby, and what about smalll fishing ships that don't have AIS
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14-10-2012, 05:12
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#2
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Registered User
Join Date: Feb 2007
Location: Caribbean
Boat: Jeanneau 57
Posts: 2,265
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Re: AutoPilot questions
I don't know of such a system since the programming logic would have to include the COLREGS and knowledge of what the target is. Note that the COLREGS state that the stand-on vessel has an obligation to keep course (until there is no choice), so just avoiding any target would be wrong.
My radar and AIS are interfaced and will sound a loud alarm and this is, I think, the limit of automation.
Just a thought - imagine if the autopilot/radar system were to automatically change course to avoid a potential collision, causing a gybe which breaks some hardware on the sailboat. This sounds to me like a found mealticket for a lawyer in America's litiguous society.
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14-10-2012, 05:17
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#3
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Senior Cruiser
Join Date: Mar 2010
Location: gettin naughty on the beach in cornwall
Boat: 63 custom alloy sloop,macwester26,prout snowgoose 37 elite catamaran!
Posts: 10,594
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Re: AutoPilot questions
there is,and it is called the "WAFI ALERT",common on the bridges of big ships,fishing boats,and other vessels keeping a proper watch
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14-10-2012, 05:54
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#4
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S/V rubber ducky
Join Date: Jul 2007
Location: heading "south"
Boat: Hunter 410
Posts: 20,362
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Re: AutoPilot questions
isn't it called crew
__________________
Don't ask a bunch of unknown forum people if it is OK to do something on YOUR boat. It is your boat, do what you want!
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14-10-2012, 05:55
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#5
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Registered User
Join Date: Sep 2009
Location: on board, Australia
Boat: 11meter Power catamaran
Posts: 3,648
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Re: AutoPilot questions
Quote:
Originally Posted by chucklet321
I have a question about some kind of auto pilot system that allows you to avoid other ships, so you don't need to keep watch. I would not like a collision with a carrier in the night, and also is there something that will alert you like an alarm clock of theres a ship nearby, and what about smalll fishing ships that don't have AIS
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Simply, NO to 1st question.
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14-10-2012, 06:40
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#6
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Now on the Dark Side: Stink Potter.
Join Date: Aug 2003
Location: Palm Coast, Florida
Boat: Sea Hunt 234 Ultra
Posts: 3,962
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Re: AutoPilot questions
Human Look-outs are mandatory, not an option: The purpose is to prevent collisions at sea among other things.
If you still don't understand it, read again until it sinks in...
International Regulations for Preventing Collisions at Sea - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
__________________
Life is sexually transmitted
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14-10-2012, 07:14
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#7
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Registered User
Join Date: Feb 2011
Location: Valencia, Spain
Boat: SAGA 27 AK
Posts: 509
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Re: AutoPilot questions
And I thought trolling was all about catching fish...
__________________
Sweet are the uses of adversity.
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14-10-2012, 11:45
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#8
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Registered User
Join Date: Aug 2009
Location: between the devil and the deep blue sea
Boat: a sailing boat
Posts: 20,420
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Re: AutoPilot questions
I have such an autopilot here.
It is a very good sytem but it sometimes talks too much.
b.
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14-10-2012, 11:47
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#9
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Registered User
Join Date: Oct 2005
Posts: 6,185
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Re: AutoPilot questions
I'm going to reference this thread to remind people about folks setting off in boats with no idea (or care to learn) about seamanship and navigation.
$20 says this boat will have a chartplotter and definitely not a hand bearing compass.
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14-10-2012, 12:26
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#10
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Registered User
Join Date: Jun 2010
Location: St. Maarten & Israel
Boat: Grand Soleill 41 - Gali
Posts: 93
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Quote:
Originally Posted by chucklet321
I have a question about some kind of auto pilot system that allows you to avoid other ships, so you don't need to keep watch. I would not like a collision with a carrier in the night, and also is there something that will alert you like an alarm clock of theres a ship nearby, and what about smalll fishing ships that don't have AIS
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You never ever sail without an awake person on watch. This rule was in place since people took to the ocean and it still holds true today.
Remember no headphones, no books, no checking your Facebook messages. YOU ARE ON WATCH STAY ALERT people sleeping below depend on you. All it takes is one error and you all are gone.
Radars are good, autopilots are great, and AIS is fabulous, but nothing will EVER replace the person on watch.
__________________
Sailing together doubles the joy and half the pain
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14-10-2012, 13:13
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#11
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Registered User
Join Date: Jan 2005
Location: On board
Boat: Van de Stadt 50'
Posts: 1,405
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Re: AutoPilot questions
ITs strictly prohibited and so it should be.
Many scenarios, but imagine you have such a system, and you pass a family in a liferaft, who have run out of water, and they fire their last flare, and your "System" turns to avoid them, while you sleep, and you wake up in the morning . . . .
Maintain a proper lookout.
Use every means to avoid collision.
Check rule, 5, 6, 7, 8, 12, 18,19 in short, forget about it.
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14-10-2012, 13:14
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#12
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Registered User
Join Date: Mar 2011
Posts: 156
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Re: AutoPilot questions
Quote:
Originally Posted by levm
You never ever sail without an awake person on watch. This rule was in place since people took to the ocean and it still holds true today.
Remember no headphones, no books, no checking your Facebook messages. YOU ARE ON WATCH STAY ALERT people sleeping below depend on you. All it takes is one **** up and you all are gone.
Radars are good, autopilots are great, and AIS is fabulous, but nothing will EVER replace the person on watch.
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Except for singlehanded sailing... But it is the obligation of all vessels to MAINTAIN a watch. Some just are not able to do it...
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14-10-2012, 19:39
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#13
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Registered User
Join Date: Apr 2011
Location: Vancouver, BC
Boat: Niagara 35
Posts: 1,878
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Quote:
Originally Posted by levm
You never ever sail without an awake person on watch. This rule was in place since people took to the ocean and it still holds true today.
Remember no headphones, no books, no checking your Facebook messages. YOU ARE ON WATCH STAY ALERT people sleeping below depend on you. All it takes is one error and you all are gone.
Radars are good, autopilots are great, and AIS is fabulous, but nothing will EVER replace the person on watch.
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seriously? Single handing aside, I have no issue with reading a book on watch at sea. You just have to look around at the end of each page. Nothing moves that fast.
__________________
Chris
SailMentor.com - Become the Confident Skipper of Your Own Sailboat
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15-10-2012, 02:46
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#14
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Registered User
Join Date: Feb 2007
Location: Caribbean
Boat: Jeanneau 57
Posts: 2,265
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Re: AutoPilot questions
Quote:
Originally Posted by levm
You never ever sail without an awake person on watch. This rule was in place since people took to the ocean and it still holds true today.
Remember no headphones, no books, no checking your Facebook messages. YOU ARE ON WATCH STAY ALERT people sleeping below depend on you. All it takes is one error and you all are gone.
Radars are good, autopilots are great, and AIS is fabulous, but nothing will EVER replace the person on watch.
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Levm, while I applaud your enthusiasm, I can see that you have yet to stand watch offshore on a sailboat. Particularly a 12-hour watch on a short-handed boat.
I am a singlehander and need my sleep, so I willingly accept the fact that I sail while breaking the watchkeeping rules of the COLREGs. I mitigate my risks by using AIS and RADAR.
When offshore and outside of shipping lanes a constant watch is not only not necessary but can be counterproductive. Simple math (and a wealth of written material) shows that a big, but low-freeboard, vessel on the horizon with a closing speed of 30knots can be 16km away (9nm) - leaving a 1-3 of an hour (20 minutes) time to a collision. Note that a freighter moving that speed offshore (your 8knots plus his 22knots) is going to be visible much further away because he'll have a very high freeboard.
Thus a detailed visual sweep of the horizon every 15 minutes will give one a good safety factor and little object-fixation and repetitive boredom compared to constantly looking for objects for hours at a time.
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15-10-2012, 03:11
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#15
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Moderator Emeritus
Join Date: Oct 2009
Location: Manchester, UK
Boat: Beneteau 473
Posts: 5,589
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Re: AutoPilot questions
Interesting question.
Imagine the chaos if two or more boats had this mystical system and chanced upon each other.
__________________
Nigel
Beneteau 473
Manchester, UK
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