the i-n-f-o on ais

Now more than ever, the modern sailor has lots to choose from when it comes to navigation and safety instru- tempting to not worry about what you the Transpac, are starting to ments. Communication devices such as don't see. You can get blinded." require. the Iridium GO! and Garmin inReach With the advent of AIS and other Cassidy said he wrote (which also has GPS capabilities) have devices, we recognize that the modern the article because of two complemented the single-sideband radio mariner must learn an increasingly diverging opinions about and VHF. Chartplot- installation revolving around ters have digitized and dramatically simplifi ed navigation, and radar has long been an important tool for identifying marine traffi c, obstacles and weather. One of the more recent advances is the CRUISING CLUB OF AMERICA choices about antennas. As mentioned, AIS will work off a boat's existing VHF system — but that requires some compromise of power, What's more, AIS signals stop transmitting when the VHF is in use. One school of thought is Automatic Identifica- to have a second antenna tion System, or AIS, for AIS, thus eliminating which has dramatically the VHF compromise and changed the way sail- creating some redundancy. ors observe and identify But having two antennas marine traffi c. "AIS is on most sailboats requires one of the most sig- its own set of compromises, nifi cant marine safety as most experts believe that innovations in a de- electric aerials should be at cade," said the Cruising least four feet apart, space Club of America (CCA). that's not easy to fi nd atop a Relatively cheap and skinny mast. One solution is able to piggyback onto to use a horizontal bar, with a boat's VHF antenna, each antenna mounted at the AIS has helped cruisers end. manage harrowing pas- "Another temptation sages in low visibility would be to put an antenna through invisible elec- Its utility is perhaps best expressed by its simplicity. AIS can piggyback off on a spreader, but then it's trical pulses transmit- your VHF, and is available on small beacons in case of a crew overboard. between a stainless-steel ting where you are, and shroud and mast," Cassidy where everyone else is in relation to you. delicate balance between utilizing the said. "If you have a sloop, "It's a tremendously valuable tool advantages of technology and maintain- most people end up putting that we didn't have 10 years ago," said ing their 'analog' skills for when (not if) their second antenna on a Frank Cassidy, the author of the CCA's something goes wrong. pole off the back of the boat. AIS: Overview and Installation Consider- There are two classes of AIS: 'Class Effectively, you're creating a ations. "It used to be that at night, you A' is designed for commercial vessels, second mast." had to look for lights with your binocu- is higher powered, and comes with a Having a ketch, yawl or schooner lars and quickly determine what they display and keyboard. The majority of obviously eliminates the problem of meant and what direction the ship was cruisers use 'Class B', which is 'interop- second antenna placement that sloops going. But AIS tells you everything." erable' or can transmit and receive with are faced with. Which antenna, between But, like every maritime advance- Class A units. VHF and AIS, should be higher? Cassidy ment, a gizmo that starts to do the work "Class B transmits position every 30 said that it's important to have the VHF of a sailor has the potential to erode that seconds, is available as a 'black box' antenna as high as possible to increase its range, where as with AIS, you're most concerned about boats that are within a few miles of you, making range — and therefore height — less of a factor. Cassidy said the Cruising Club of America wanted to be careful not to 'dictate' what installation choices cruisers should make — rather, those decisions sailor's seamanship skills. AIS, which is without a display, is affordable, and is come down to idiosyncrasies of people's absolutely not required and by no means all that most pleasure boats need," Cas- boats, their budgets, the type of cruising ubiquitous on the millions of boats sidy's CCA article said, adding that Per- they plan on doing, etc. throughout the world, may potentially sonal AIS Beacons — sometimes called We thought the best review of AIS was lure sailors into a false sense of security. PABs — are available for life jackets in from the sailors on the front line. We "I'm worrying about the targets I can't the event of a crew-overboard situation, asked our readers to share their experisee," Cassidy said. "Because it's very something that offshore races, such as ences with AIS. Here's what we heard:

" The Automatic Identifi cation System (or AIS) is one of the most signifi cant marine safety innovations in a decade."

SARAH CURRY

So are there any ships around us? AIS takes a certain amount of guesswork out of watches at night with binoculars and a healthy knowledge of the infi nite combinations of navigation lights.

"A n AIS Class B Transceiver should be high on every offshore cruiser's essential gear list," wrote Sarah Curry, owner of Kaiquest, a Jeanneau Sun Odyssey 43. "We sailed across the Pacifi c in 2013 with an AIS receiver only, the Standard Horizon GX2200. It cost us $350 — we loved it and, to be honest, there were very few commercial targets in the South Pacifi c. That is until we were three days off the Australian coast in a massive squall, and had a super freighter (bound for Cape Horn, because he was too big for the Panama Canal) bearing down on us. We were panicking, and so was he, because he had no idea where we were in relation to him! Visibility was zero and we didn't show up on radar because of the squall. We were so close, he had to divert course by 70 degrees to be sure to miss us. "We are now cruising with the complete AIS transceiver: the EM Track unit at a cost of $700. On our sail south from Vancouver to San Francisco this August, we were hailed by name by one freighter, one research vessel, and San Francisco Marine Traffi c Control who watched us as we sailed in on a foggy day. It helped us feel and be safe. That being said, we were absolutely shocked that only one in ten commercial fi shing boats off the WA/OR/CA coasts transmitted an AIS signal. "I don't think this gadgetry takes away from our safety. We certainly don't rely on or use the AIS alarm. Visual checks and major vigilance in high-traffi c areas remain an absolute must. Above all this, I sure like to know we'll be seen by the big guys in all conditions. The ocean can be a busy place, and AIS adds to our safety and the safety of those around us." In our call-out for people's experiences with AIS, we asked: "Are people too busy staring at screens, rather than trying to sense the hazards around them?" Sarah replied: "The addictiveness of watching screens? I think that applies to our parents, who are now constantly tracking us on their phones. With an AIS transceiver, your signal also pings out to shore-based stations that are within VHF range. So you can see 'within range' boat traffi c all over the world on various websites.

"It's very tempting not to worry about what you don't see."

An example: We had to carefully explain that it's not exactly live, and very much dependent on our proximity to land stations. Our signal didn't refresh for a long 16-hour period off the Oregon coast, and we know that because our mothers were checking every fi ve minutes! We want to be detectable at all times offshore, but it's also nice to know we can fl ick the AIS switch to 'ghost mode', especially if we want to hide out in an anchorage somewhere without everyone knowing our exact whereabouts."

Phyllis Stratton said her boat Apolima is equipped with AIS, "and we have found it is a good guy/ bad guy. We fi nd that in traffi c, we get an alarm from ships that are in no way going to come near us — but it beeps anyway — and we can't fi nd a way to turn off the ships that don't concern us. Consequently, we are constantly turning off our alarm." In our call-out, we also asked: "With AIS are you less likely to keep a vigilant watch, know your navigation lights and learn to spot dangers on the horizon because you're relying on an alarm from a computer?" "You are defi nitely correct about the watch situation," said Stratton. "We are a bit more complacent about resting in the cockpit when we do have the alarm on, although we're very aware that most boats don't have AIS yet, which could really be a problem when it is compulsory to have one. "One of the better gadgets we have found this time around is our Garmin

inReach. We can send position reports every six hours for friends and family, send emails of 160 characters, post on Facebook, and get weather reports for our position as well as our destination. Really got to love it."

Greg Dorland, owner of Escapade, a Catana 52, said that as someone who appreciates advances in technology but isn't an 'electronics geek', he fi nds AIS to be "the best thing since fresh bread on an ocean crossing. AIS is truly the best collision avoidance system on the boat. "Nonetheless, one absolutely needs to get away from the screen to go outside and have a good visual look around and get a feel for the conditions. Couple this visual watch with a healthy concern for the limitations of AIS. "With AIS, you can't see if your electronic chart doesn't 'match' the surrounding topography, which is where radar comes in handy. You certainly can't see all those important things like sea conditions that might be affecting you. You also can't see small boats (especially fi shing boats) or boats purposely operating 'dark.' "One of my most frightening nights at sea was rounding the elbow of Costa Rica en route to Panama. The wind was up and the night was dark — until it was suddenly lit up by lightning accompanied by rain squalls. The shortest route to and from the Canal was close in to that point. We had plenty of AIS targets to keep an eye on compounded by several visual sightings and/or radar targets we were trying to differentiate from the squalls. Occasionally, we would be passed by one of these 'dark' ships without AIS going Mach 9. They most likely were warships and scared the hell out of us. "On another dark starless night, we were running downwind off the coast of Nicaragua with the big Escapade chute up, keeping an eye on the AIS, as well as our helmsman keeping a steady watch, who saw the dark outline of a small boat to windward. We turned on a masthead strobe revealing a 40-ft fi shing boat barely making way with fi shing lines out. It felt like you could reach out and touch them. "Sure, the AIS can be a pain when you're in close quarters with dozens of other boats — and yes, we do turn the audible alarm off on these occasions — but you continue to monitor the screen closely. We always stand watch at sea, and the AIS is always on."

"Our gadgets are not exactly new — most were installed in the summer of 2014 — but we've put a lot of miles on our Tayana 48DS, Atsa, since then, and we've reached some defi nite conclusions regarding their usefulness," wrote Hartley Gardner. "We wouldn't go anywhere without AIS. I'm thinking seriously of picking up another networkable receiver just in case our unit goes bonkers. At night, it resolves 99% of the 'what is that ship doing' questions, and allows us to take evasive actions long before things get tight. We've noted that big ships have

Hartley Gardner — who's a big fan of AIS — sent us this photo of Patsy Verhoeven's Gulfstar 50 'Talion' on the 2015 SoCal Ta-Ta.

taken action to avoid us (mostly cruise ships, but also ferries and even an occasional cargo ship), and we've been hailed on several occasions by a big ship wanting to warn or reassure us. "In addition, it is very useful for spotting which cove has which of our friends in it — and also allows us to open a conversation with 'we saw you yesterday'. "The only negatives are: 1) positions displayed are not the current location, but rather where the vessel was a bit ago, so using AIS for close-in collision avoidance is not a good idea. In those environments, radar works better. And 2) some big ships (and lots of fi shing boats) don't have it, including the Navy and USCG vessels around." Gardner also said his chartplotter took the grind out of navigating with a compass, knotmeter and binoculars. "We still avoid making fresh landfall/harbor entrances at night or in the fog if we can, but the situational awareness provided by the chartplotter takes a lot of worry out. We bought the Blue Latitude charts for Mexico, and they were wonderful — our normal Navionics were OK, but the BL ones were right on."

While we fully support any gadget adding to a sailor's safety at sea, we want to use our soapbox to remind would-be cruisers to have backup plans for their backup plans. Most sailors with miles under their belt have lost some or all of their electronics to any number of issues (from the mundane to the exotic). In this issue's Letters, one of our readers asked how well people knew their lights, which way to turn if you fi nd yourself going head-on with another boat, and a number of other seemingly basic questions (some of us professed ignorance). Do you know what you don't know? "The electronics are leading to getting so dependent," Frank Cassidy from the CCA said. "People aren't carrying paper charts because they have iPads. People aren't keeping a position log, so they can at least know where they are if their electronics go out. I don't know how you overcome that."