Marc Heusser d wrote in
:

But: They're not everywhere. European inland waterways for example do
not yet use them - hopefully they will soon. And not all pleasure craft
have one.


Europe is way ahead of the USA. Hell, our Coast Guard just got VHF radios
with TRANSISTORS in them!

We had some Coasties aboard for a volunteer inspection on Lionheart last
summer. They were fascinated that The Cap'n was tracking all the ships in
the harbor on AIS from our slip on the other side of the peninsula. We
just have the receiver, too. The transponders for yachts hasn't "settled"
yet, last time I looked.

They have no capability for AIS that I know of. I haven't been on their
bridges, lately, though. It takes forever for USCG to come around to new
technologies.