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ocean crusing & anti collision tactics....
What are some opinions and methods sailors are
utilizing these days, in open ocean/offshore anti collision measures? Are folks/sailors using good radar systems with alarms (if so what brands) or just post and conduct regular watches, utilize radar reflectors, etc? ... Ween i say "open ocean/off shore" i mean crossing oceans, 20-30 days of straight sailing, etc... thanx... |
ocean crusing & anti collision tactics....
In article .com,
~^ beancounter ~^ wrote: What are some opinions and methods sailors are utilizing these days, in open ocean/offshore anti collision measures? Are folks/sailors using good radar systems with alarms (if so what brands) or just post and conduct regular watches, utilize radar reflectors, etc? ... Ween i say "open ocean/off shore" i mean crossing oceans, 20-30 days of straight sailing, etc... Well, not exactly crossing an ocean, but 10 days out of sight of land (100-200 miles off) seems to be offshore enough for my taste. For that we used a combo of radar (at night and only if we weren't sure about something) and regular watches, with two people on deck at all times (day or night). We only had one encounter with a tanker, and she changed course to avoid us. Yes, we had a radar reflector. Don't know if it was that or she saw us with a visual scan. It was during the day. We did encounter another sailboat who clearing had some sort of radar alarm, but it only alerted him when he was about 3-500 yards off. Plenty of time for both of us, but.... -- "j" ganz @@ www.sailnow.com |
ocean crusing & anti collision tactics....
One radar reflector, A torch to flash over sails in low visibility
condition, and "eyes". Nothing better than someone on deck with a hand compass taking a bearing on the approaching vessel.. Rememeber, if the bearing doesnt change you are going to collide. Simple! Definately, definately post watches around the clock unless you are sailing in the southern ocean perhaps. If you are in shipping lanes or anywhere that has "traffic" you need a good watch keeping system. And people who go to sleep on watch should still be keel hauled. (personal opinion there). I woke up once to find a watch keeper asleep in the cockpit. There was a ship only 500 meters away. Sleeping beauty could have killed us all. This raises a couple of interesting points. Watches should be made so not to fatigue the crew any more than nessesary. Tasks and challenges can be set at night to keep the crew busy durning the watch to prevent them from "nodding off". Peel tomorrow vegies, Entrys to personal logs, cleaning, safety inspections around the deck- what ever. DP "~^ beancounter ~^" wrote in message oups.com... What are some opinions and methods sailors are utilizing these days, in open ocean/offshore anti collision measures? Are folks/sailors using good radar systems with alarms (if so what brands) or just post and conduct regular watches, utilize radar reflectors, etc? ... Ween i say "open ocean/off shore" i mean crossing oceans, 20-30 days of straight sailing, etc... thanx... |
ocean crusing & anti collision tactics....
What I go by, 1- Dont expect the big boats to see you, often there is
no watch and if they actually hit you, they will NOT stop. Even if they know there was a collision. This is a universal reality. Cold but true. If you don't believe this your living in fantasy land. 2-Radar with an alarm is a must if your in shipping lanes Headed to the Bahamas at night on a well travelled route? A watch and radar, a must. 3- Lots of navigation lights beyond the usual, 4-Dont **** your pants if they get within 500 yards, to actually have a collision requires actual contact. Thats where that boat hits yours????? Their big and scarie looking when they get close but dont panic if they get real close as long as you take evasive action you can avoid the problem just fine. Closer they get the easier it is to calculate your desired course of steer. Just use your brain and dont freak out like your wife. And give her a shot of thorazine or prozac what ever you have on hand. Keep the boat crew calm. |
ocean crusing & anti collision tactics....
In 1982 (as a beginner) I was going upstream with no wind on the Saint
Laurent river toward Montreal in my brand new 27 foot sailboat when I lost the diesel engine. I went down to investigate the diesel engine while the wife was hosting the sales. Suddenly I raised my head to see the bow of a huge container ship coming at me. Then with the sails up with no wind and no engine I said this is the end of my family. I had no time to pray. The bow of the container ship was right on my stern. As I saw the bulbous of the ship the wake pushed my little sailboat aside and the 6 - 7 current took me away from the freeboard of the ship. I still thing it was a miracle. The lesson I learned is when your engine breakdown in heavy current on a dead calm sea is to broadcast your position and situation. Today I have a radar and I use the range guard alarm and I plan my course within a safe distance from the ship lane. When the location permits I like to contact Maritime traffic and make my intentions known. The other thing is I always leave the VHF on scanning. When entering heavy commercially fished and whales watching areas I broadcast my course and speed. Last year a 44 foot sailboat was hit by a container ship in the same zone. The sailboat sunk and everyone on board drowned. "Meye5" wrote in message oups.com... What I go by, 1- Dont expect the big boats to see you, often there is no watch and if they actually hit you, they will NOT stop. Even if they know there was a collision. This is a universal reality. Cold but true. If you don't believe this your living in fantasy land. 2-Radar with an alarm is a must if your in shipping lanes Headed to the Bahamas at night on a well travelled route? A watch and radar, a must. 3- Lots of navigation lights beyond the usual, 4-Dont **** your pants if they get within 500 yards, to actually have a collision requires actual contact. Thats where that boat hits yours????? Their big and scarie looking when they get close but dont panic if they get real close as long as you take evasive action you can avoid the problem just fine. Closer they get the easier it is to calculate your desired course of steer. Just use your brain and dont freak out like your wife. And give her a shot of thorazine or prozac what ever you have on hand. Keep the boat crew calm. |
ocean crusing & anti collision tactics....
"Part of the problem is many people are not only following the
trades/currents but using the same GPS routing info so everyone, The above is true however careful route charting will not guaranty that you are on a safe course. Night ocean sailing is one thing coast night and heavy fog sailing is another. Most of the commercial fishermen are programming their GPS's to retrieve their cages and nets and rely on Autopilot. They have licenses for a given territory and they do not expect other fishing vessels to enter their area. Not to mention that some fishermen do not have permits and do not want to be seeing by others. In the summer when the sailboats are cruising the coast unless the visibly is good your chances of be seeing by them is slim. Normally they are 2 -4 fishermen on board busy working and no one is assign to radar watch or any watch. Most of them leave the VHF on scan and have a speaker on deck. When I enter such a zone I feel safer to broadcast my course and position. Other thing that you can not plan for is submarines and sleeping whales. "ahoy" wrote in message ... On 17 Oct 2005 11:57:15 -0700, "~^ beancounter ~^" wrote: What are some opinions and methods sailors are utilizing these days, in open ocean/offshore anti collision measures? Are folks/sailors using good radar systems with alarms (if so what brands) or just post and conduct regular watches, utilize radar reflectors, etc? ... Ween i say "open ocean/off shore" i mean crossing oceans, 20-30 days of straight sailing, etc... Part of the problem is many people are not only following the trades/currents but using the same gps routing info so everyone, especially power boats, is on the same "shortest distance between two points" route. It seems this would create a sort of traffic lane even in ocean travel, especially for folks who have this wired into an autopilot. Maybe just slack off the main vector for starters. Figure a watch everyone can live with if you have the crew. Radar alarm if you have the money and DC to spare. I spoke to someone who works on freighters and he said they have no watch, that the radar isn't even on and whoever is "on duty" is usually watching a DVD anyway. A 200'+ boat is now manned by 4 people. Turning or stopping the thing takes forever. Happy sailing. thanx... |
ocean crusing & anti collision tactics....
Denis Marier wrote:
In 1982 (as a beginner) I was going upstream with no wind on the Saint Laurent river toward Montreal in my brand new 27 foot sailboat when I lost the diesel engine. I went down to investigate the diesel engine while the wife was hosting the sales. Suddenly I raised my head to see the bow of a huge container ship coming at me. Then with the sails up with no wind and no engine I said this is the end of my family. I had no time to pray. The bow of the container ship was right on my stern. As I saw the bulbous of the ship the wake pushed my little sailboat aside and the 6 - 7 current took me away from the freeboard of the ship. I still thing it was a miracle. The lesson I learned is when your engine breakdown in heavy current on a dead calm sea is to broadcast your position and situation. Today I have a radar and I use the range guard alarm and I plan my course within a safe distance from the ship lane. When the location permits I like to contact Maritime traffic and make my intentions known. The other thing is I always leave the VHF on scanning. When entering heavy commercially fished and whales watching areas I broadcast my course and speed. Last year a 44 foot sailboat was hit by a container ship in the same zone. The sailboat sunk and everyone on board drowned. "Meye5" wrote in message oups.com... What I go by, 1- Dont expect the big boats to see you, often there is no watch and if they actually hit you, they will NOT stop. Even if they know there was a collision. This is a universal reality. Cold but true. If you don't believe this your living in fantasy land. 2-Radar with an alarm is a must if your in shipping lanes Headed to the Bahamas at night on a well travelled route? A watch and radar, a must. 3- Lots of navigation lights beyond the usual, 4-Dont **** your pants if they get within 500 yards, to actually have a collision requires actual contact. Thats where that boat hits yours????? Their big and scarie looking when they get close but dont panic if they get real close as long as you take evasive action you can avoid the problem just fine. Closer they get the easier it is to calculate your desired course of steer. Just use your brain and dont freak out like your wife. And give her a shot of thorazine or prozac what ever you have on hand. Keep the boat crew calm. We have to be careful here also, although the ships do slow down a bit once in the harbour. (Halifax). I bought my Sandpiper 565 from a guy in Cap de la Madeleine, Que and he told me he found the wake from the passing freighters very high out in the St. Lawrence River traffic lanes. He also had a scare trying to re-start my Evinrude Yachtwin 6hp outboard to avoid a ship. He warned me not to tilt the motor. I'll have to find out what that problem might be. BTW, even when sailing on my friends Mirage 33, I always brought my handheld VHF along and tried to monitor traffic, over his stereo and boisterous crew. |
ocean crusing & anti collision tactics....
Don White wrote:
We have to be careful here also, although the ships do slow down a bit once in the harbour. (Halifax) ... I always brought my handheld VHF along and tried to monitor traffic, over his stereo and boisterous crew. A few years back I entered Halifax for the first time, and unfortunately it was a real "thick-o-fog." I could not see the dink I was towing. It was roughly 0300 and I had been in contact with Halifax Traffic and learned that a commercial ship was outbound and that we would meet in a rather narrow stretch about 2 or 3 miles in from the mouth of the harbor. Frankly I was a bit spooked. In any case I used radar, my eyes, my ears, my GPS(s), and a few assorted pieces of electronics and miscellaneous body parts to proceed into harbor. At the appointed time I could both hear and feel the ship's horn off to starboard and close aboard. I eventually made it into the Northwest Arm and grabbed a RNSYS mooring I could barely see to calm myself down and get some rest. I am not sure what point I was trying for when I started this post, other than to say that even the best-prepared boats will at some point be severely tested. -- Good luck and good sailing. s/v Kerry Deare of Barnegat http://home.comcast.net/~kerrydeare |
ocean crusing & anti collision tactics....
Denis....damm...that was close..nice to hear the
wake or displacement pushed you to the side !! I would be a singlehanded 38 foot sailboat...doing the SF Bay to Hawaii and onto NZ or Perth...so...i would be in open ocean most of the time....not being able to post 24 hr watches, I would be dependent on radar and electrical devices to alarm me.......And pure lick, of course...... "I had no time to pray. The bow of the container ship was right on my stern. As I saw the bulbous of the ship the wake pushed my little sailboat aside and the 6 - 7 current took me away from the freeboard of the ship. I still think it was a miracle......" |
ocean crusing & anti collision tactics....
Lennn...when you say "broadcasting",
what freq or wave are they brodcasting on... the "water/marine vhf channels", say 16 or 13 or whatever ?... thanx.... "broadcasting commercial vessels over 300 tonnes" |
ocean crusing & anti collision tactics....
Meye5...what are the best, or what systems
would you look at 1st for a 38ft sailboat? i guess i would be looking for a nice radar/alarm scan or feature..... "2-Radar with an alarm is a must if your in shipping lanes Headed to the Bahamas at night on a well travelled route? A watch and radar, a must." |
ocean crusing & anti collision tactics....
Denis...what channel, 16?...or do you
set up a scan.....oh yea, and i would add the the list.. 1) submarines 2) sleeping whales 3) abandon shipping container (80% submrged)...... "When I enter such a zone I feel safer to broadcast my course and position. Other thing that you can not plan for is submarines and sleeping whales." |
ocean crusing & anti collision tactics....
Len.....oh, i see now...never mind
my "pre mature" question...it is web based...looks cool, i set up a free acct.. i will check into this....thanx.... "When you want to see it work: www.aislive.com Go to the public site, register for free and see the situation one hour old."... |
ocean crusing & anti collision tactics....
Len...yea, i got her "dialed in" and working
now...that's cool that you can see names, locations, radio call info....this info looks good for the busy ports and shipping areas... "When you want to see it work: www.aislive.com " |
ocean crusing & anti collision tactics....
Len wrote: Apart from 3 hr watches, intense lookout every 15 minutes, radar on standby we use AIS. For no more than 200 euro's I bought an AIS-receiver, a dedicated vhf-antenna and I plugged it in a serial port on my 1 amp computer. That's a great idea. What was the name and make of the AIS receiver you bought? TIA, Jack |
ocean crusing & anti collision tactics....
what is "AIS" ?
marine / vhf transmissions..? |
ocean crusing & anti collision tactics....
"what is "AIS" ? "
or, is it a proprity (sp?) freq or system the "web page" owns?? thanx !! |
ocean crusing & anti collision tactics....
Apart from 3 hr watches, intense lookout every 15 minutes, radar on
standby we use AIS. For no more than 200 euro's I bought an AIS-receiver, a dedicated vhf-antenna and I plugged it in a serial port on my 1 amp computer. Now the lcd-screen in my cockpit displays the position and course (and more) of all broadcasting commercial vessels over 300 tonnes in the cockpit. I'm not saying it's all you need and when used improperly it's even unsafe I guess but I am very glad to have it. Of every transmitting vessel in a range of 30 miles I see position, course, speed, name and MMSI-number so I won't have to call for "the freighter on my starboard about two mile distance" but I use the right name or even dsc to the right number. I will keep looking out for fishermen, other yachts etc though... When you want to see it work: www.aislive.com Go to the public site, register for free and see the situation one hour old. Len S/v Present On 17 Oct 2005 11:57:15 -0700, "~^ beancounter ~^" wrote: What are some opinions and methods sailors are utilizing these days, in open ocean/offshore anti collision measures? Are folks/sailors using good radar systems with alarms (if so what brands) or just post and conduct regular watches, utilize radar reflectors, etc? ... Ween i say "open ocean/off shore" i mean crossing oceans, 20-30 days of straight sailing, etc... thanx... |
ocean crusing & anti collision tactics....
In article .com,
"~^ beancounter ~^" wrote: What are some opinions and methods sailors are utilizing these days, in open ocean/offshore anti collision measures? Are folks/sailors using good radar systems with alarms (if so what brands) or just post and conduct regular watches, utilize radar reflectors, etc? ... Ween i say "open ocean/off shore" i mean crossing oceans, 20-30 days of straight sailing, etc... thanx... That's what AIS is good for...... Me |
ocean crusing & anti collision tactics....
In article .com,
"~^ beancounter ~^" wrote: Lennn...when you say "broadcasting", what freq or wave are they brodcasting on... the "water/marine vhf channels", say 16 or 13 or whatever ?... thanx.... "broadcasting commercial vessels over 300 tonnes" AIS works on an Unsed VHF Marine Duplex Receive Channel, that I can't remember at the moment, in simplex mode. It is a Transponder type service, that transmits a pile of operational data about the ship, and receives all the data from other ships within VHF Range (Approx. 90 Miles on the High Seas) There are a lot of monitor receivers setup on Internet, that cover many of the major shipping routes worldwide, that can be displayed in real time. Me |
ocean crusing & anti collision tactics....
Len....wow...thanx for all that info.....thats
exactally what i am lookin' for..... |
ocean crusing & anti collision tactics....
Here in the Bay of Fundy, Maine and Nova Scotia coat I set up a memory scan
16,12,14 28,68,70. Every spring after launch I check with Fundy, Halifax Traffic, Coast Guard and South West Harbor US Coast Guard. Then I validate my memory scan. When in close quarter I may use dual scan only. Here we are privileged when getting out or in the Saint Harbor I always advise Fundy Traffic. They in turn acknowledge my position on their radar and advise of any approaching traffic Further to the following list I am adding "abandon fishing nets", One year it took me two hours to free my rudder and propeller on a clair day. 1) submarines 2) sleeping whales 3) abandon shipping container (80% submerged)...... "~^ beancounter ~^" wrote in message oups.com... Denis...what channel, 16?...or do you set up a scan.....oh yea, and i would add the the list.. 1) submarines 2) sleeping whales 3) abandon shipping container (80% submrged)...... "When I enter such a zone I feel safer to broadcast my course and position. Other thing that you can not plan for is submarines and sleeping whales." |
ocean crusing & anti collision tactics....
Len....do you run a radar system w/a alarm, as well?
if so, how reliable is it? can one set up audible alarms w/the AIS systems? thanx... "I "only" installed an AIS receiver where the AIS transponder is getting cheaper and almost reasonable. I bought the nasamarine engine thats connevted to a serial port of my pc. Together with SeaClear nav software the system is complete and functions well. I see my map, my own position, others together with the info I want presented" |
ocean crusing & anti collision tactics....
Well, AIS = Autmomatic Identification System
In stead of repeating others there is somegood info at: http://www.uais.org/87BStory.doc And as always I jumped in a bit too soon a small year ago. I "only" installed an AIS receiver where the AIS transponder is getting cheaper and almost reasonable. I bought the nasamarine engine thats connevted to a serial port of my pc. Together with SeaClear nav software the system is complete and functions well. I see my map, my own position, others together with the info I want presented. I still have to scrape the maps from my cracked Tsunamis '99 into Seaclear first but that's another matter. They also carry the nasamarine ais-radar, horribly wrong name of course but it is nifty. It has its own screen you can put up in the cockpit. take a look at http://www.nasamarine.com/AIS/AIS.html When you're interested in a transponder (so you'll be seen by others with a receiver or a transponer and that are awake) take a look on ebigchina site http://smartradio.ebigchina.com/sdp/...369-74856.html There are quite a few nav programs that support AIS. I use SeaClear now but I'm looking for a prog that can use my Transas World Folio 2000 so I won't have to copy and paste that much... But I'm not complaining.. :) Regards, Len S/v Present On 18 Oct 2005 10:07:14 -0700, "~^ beancounter ~^" wrote: "what is "AIS" ? " or, is it a proprity (sp?) freq or system the "web page" owns?? thanx !! |
ocean crusing & anti collision tactics....
Len...right now I am "high and dry"
bear Boulder, Co.....we are messin' around on a 20 foot boston whaler cuddy cabin on the local lakes..we had a santana 22 and sold it a few years ago...i am ready for a ericson 23 (w/trailer) in the next year or so... to do some more light sailing on the lakes...and see how or what the kids think about sailing...my wife and i enjoy sailing a lot... we met working in the "sailing business"... my "big" trip is a number of years off...just in the planning stage right now...but, it will be on a ericson 38...singlehanded....thanx for the info you posted...it was helpful.. !! "Where on our planet are you and what is your vessel ? " |
ocean crusing & anti collision tactics....
You're very welcome of course. I also got greedy when I first saw it.
Imo it's a must on a ocean going sailing vessel I just don't rely on it for 100%. With my luck I'll bump into a fishingboat with no lights while looking at my AIS-screen... :) Where on our planet are you and what is your vessel ? Len S/v Present On 18 Oct 2005 13:11:30 -0700, "~^ beancounter ~^" wrote: Len....wow...thanx for all that info.....thats exactally what i am lookin' for..... |
ocean crusing & anti collision tactics....
Hi Rich (that IS your first name, no?),
In foul weather and when nothing comes on the screen I run the radar with intervals of 15 minutes (range 25 sm) to reduce power consumption. In good weather I just have it on standby at nights. Doesn't use much (dunno how much eaxactly this minute) and it saves me 2 full minutes warming up time when I need it fast. My radar is not that modern but it's a big mother, Simrad-Anritsu. Doesn't put out nmea of any kind, doesn't have marpa or all that. So you see why I'm happy with the addition AIS gives me. I take it you go singlehanded? We (the admiral and me) run watches of 3 hours. To be sure we use the old eggtimer for the next lookout and screen-study... Never felt the need for an auditive alarm other than my anchor alarm... :) But there surely will be nav software around that get's you awake when it calculates (a risk of) collision course from the AIS data... I can ask my dutch sailing computer club if you like... Len S/v Present On 18 Oct 2005 13:21:27 -0700, "~^ beancounter ~^" wrote: Len....do you run a radar system w/a alarm, as well? if so, how reliable is it? can one set up audible alarms w/the AIS systems? thanx... "I "only" installed an AIS receiver where the AIS transponder is getting cheaper and almost reasonable. I bought the nasamarine engine thats connevted to a serial port of my pc. Together with SeaClear nav software the system is complete and functions well. I see my map, my own position, others together with the info I want presented" |
ocean crusing & anti collision tactics....
On Tue, 18 Oct 2005 13:22:47 GMT, Don White
wrote: BTW, even when sailing on my friends Mirage 33, I always brought my handheld VHF along and tried to monitor traffic, over his stereo and boisterous crew. I keep a handheld VHF (with a NiCad pack I recharge every 12 hours or so) in a caddy hanging in the companionway. I also have an air horn and a couple of hand rocket flares within reach. Lastly, I file a sail plan with the Coast Guard when cruising away from Toronto and/or so far out in the lake that I'm beyond cell phone range. Sometimes, if the weather's rough, I do a position check and repay their attentions by providing local weather, wave height, etc. as there are only two weather buoys in Lake Ontario (at either end). The lake freighters and tankers keep to fairly well-travelled lanes. I keep a running fix with pelorus and/or GPS on the hour when I do my log entries, and I can tell if I am getting close to these lanes. Lastly, when night sailing, I keep the usual nav lights on and raise a "raincatcher" radar reflector on the flag halyard. I also ready a 500,000 candela halogen hand light to flash on the sails. I also add the "ship-to-ship" frequencies to my scan list on the nav station VHF. Frankly, though, I have had far closer encounters with dopey fellow recreational sailors, powerboaters and jetskiers than I have with commercial maritime traffic. I have had 35-40 foot sailboats under main and motor cross my path obviously under autopilot in Lake Ontario with no one at the helm or visible. I gave one such "near miss" two miles offshore a blast with the horn (I was under sail alone) and saw a bed-headed sailor with a mug of what I assume was coffee appear in his cockpit, peering owlishly about as I sailed off, having missed him by about three boat lengths. Some people just don't get it. He probably thought his chartplotter would shriek if he got near another vessel. R. |
ocean crusing & anti collision tactics....
interesting rhys...thanx......some good observations there...
|
ocean crusing & anti collision tactics....
Here is very common to have two VHF on board one handheld and one fixe
mount. With the use of relay towers locate on high ground the range of an handheld is better than before. Now days the cell and sat. phones, are used more and more. The same thing goes for GPS one handheld with an SD memory card loaded with information and one fixe mount both working on 12 volts and batteries back up. The US defense dept are not suppose to scramble GPS transmissions. But to be on the safe side I still have my old Loran as a back up. This year I have added a 12 volts 700A mobile power pack in case the boat's batteries run out, one more thing (toys) to carry. "rhys" wrote in message ... On Tue, 18 Oct 2005 13:22:47 GMT, Don White wrote: BTW, even when sailing on my friends Mirage 33, I always brought my handheld VHF along and tried to monitor traffic, over his stereo and boisterous crew. I keep a handheld VHF (with a NiCad pack I recharge every 12 hours or so) in a caddy hanging in the companionway. I also have an air horn and a couple of hand rocket flares within reach. Lastly, I file a sail plan with the Coast Guard when cruising away from Toronto and/or so far out in the lake that I'm beyond cell phone range. Sometimes, if the weather's rough, I do a position check and repay their attentions by providing local weather, wave height, etc. as there are only two weather buoys in Lake Ontario (at either end). The lake freighters and tankers keep to fairly well-travelled lanes. I keep a running fix with pelorus and/or GPS on the hour when I do my log entries, and I can tell if I am getting close to these lanes. Lastly, when night sailing, I keep the usual nav lights on and raise a "raincatcher" radar reflector on the flag halyard. I also ready a 500,000 candela halogen hand light to flash on the sails. I also add the "ship-to-ship" frequencies to my scan list on the nav station VHF. Frankly, though, I have had far closer encounters with dopey fellow recreational sailors, powerboaters and jetskiers than I have with commercial maritime traffic. I have had 35-40 foot sailboats under main and motor cross my path obviously under autopilot in Lake Ontario with no one at the helm or visible. I gave one such "near miss" two miles offshore a blast with the horn (I was under sail alone) and saw a bed-headed sailor with a mug of what I assume was coffee appear in his cockpit, peering owlishly about as I sailed off, having missed him by about three boat lengths. Some people just don't get it. He probably thought his chartplotter would shriek if he got near another vessel. R. |
ocean crusing & anti collision tactics....
Its not the 500 yards.. it was easy to change course at the time. The
problem was that the 500 yards meant we had had possibly only minutes left afloat had I not gone on deck to have a chat. The gas carrier was on a steady course to our destruction. DP "Meye5" wrote in message oups.com... What I go by, 1- Dont expect the big boats to see you, often there is no watch and if they actually hit you, they will NOT stop. Even if they know there was a collision. This is a universal reality. Cold but true. If you don't believe this your living in fantasy land. 2-Radar with an alarm is a must if your in shipping lanes Headed to the Bahamas at night on a well travelled route? A watch and radar, a must. 3- Lots of navigation lights beyond the usual, 4-Dont **** your pants if they get within 500 yards, to actually have a collision requires actual contact. Thats where that boat hits yours????? Their big and scarie looking when they get close but dont panic if they get real close as long as you take evasive action you can avoid the problem just fine. Closer they get the easier it is to calculate your desired course of steer. Just use your brain and dont freak out like your wife. And give her a shot of thorazine or prozac what ever you have on hand. Keep the boat crew calm. |
ocean crusing & anti collision tactics....
Meye5 wrote:
snip... Just use your brain and dont freak out like your wife. And give her a shot of thorazine or prozac what ever you have on hand. Keep the boat crew calm. Now there's good advice....dope up the crew... |
ocean crusing & anti collision tactics....
I just completed a 20 day crossing to Hawaii and then 20 days
back from Oahu to the Columbia River. It is a 38ft sail boat and I had my wife, 11yr old son and 7yr old daughter as crew. I asked a lot of experienced sailors in Mexico what their standard "actual practice" for keeping watches was for ocean crossings. I got a lot of different answers, but they fit into a couple categories, all for when you 150+ miles off shore. Closer, most people I know have someone on deck pretty much all the time. 1. Set radar alarm and the autopilot and the whole crew goes to sleep for the night (only met a couple that did this one) 2. 24 hours a day, someone goes up on deck every 15 or 20 min and checks the heading, sail trim and the scans the horizon, and someone is fully awake at all times, watches from 3 to 4 hours. (A lot of people did this) 3. 24 hours a day, someone goes up deck every 15 min, leave the radar on alarm status all the time. At night the watch person can take cat naps in between the egg timer going off (we did this, and found a lot of others that did also) 4. Keep someone on deck at all times with 3 to 4 hour watches. (This was common for racers who do a lot of sail adjusting at night, boaters with larger crews, and for boaters who don't want to run the lights all night). For many more primitive boats the tri color or side and stern lights are a heavy percentage of the daily amperage consumption. I bought the low end monochrome radar from Raymarine. It uses very little power when the alarm is set and it is in sleep mode. It comes on every 15 min and does 20 sweeps. If it sees anything, then the alarm sounds. It was very good once we played with the gain a little. We set it to go off for anything from 2 miles to the max range it was effective, about 16 miles for ships at sea. We never saw a ship the alarm hadn't found first, so it gave us a lot of security, but we still kept the 15 min watch. I had to set the min distance on the alarm to 2 miles or the waves would set it off. We hailed every ship that was even remotely in our path. All but a couple answered our hail. Most did not see us until we hailed, but had no trouble changing course. The ships were usually about 1000ft by 300 ft and were doing 20 knots, most said they had crews of 19 . The captains often loved to talk wanted to know how long we had been out and where we were going etc. They were excellent sources to check the calibration of our barometer and were great at confirming our weather routing decisions. We saw very few ships, 4 on the way over and about 10 on the way back. My experience with ships has always been very positive, either in Puget sound, SF bay or on the left coast. I just hail them and recognize that I am out there having fun and they are making a living. The fishermen outside of the Columbia were great in helping me with a strategy for crossing bar for the first time. John S/V Pangea |
ocean crusing & anti collision tactics....
great info John...congrat's on your crossing!!
helpful info...thanx...... |
ocean crusing & anti collision tactics....
Interesting reading.
I often read various post regarding unmanned watches on ships (probably happens, but I'd consider it uncommon) and from what I'm reading below, it appears that most ships need be aware that an alarming percentage of cruising boats are employing unmanned watches AND possibly running without lights. 1. AIS is relatively new. Be aware that some of the information contained can be in error (junkin-junkout). 2. Radar alarms have improved greatly, but should be used only as a back-up to the on watch lookout. 3. Never run without lights .... can you guarantee you'll remember to turn them back on when needed? BTW, if you do get to one of those sites that show AIS info, notice the density of traffic in many areas ...... and those are only the vessels with AIS transponders. otn wrote in message ups.com... I just completed a 20 day crossing to Hawaii and then 20 days back from Oahu to the Columbia River. It is a 38ft sail boat and I had my wife, 11yr old son and 7yr old daughter as crew. I asked a lot of experienced sailors in Mexico what their standard "actual practice" for keeping watches was for ocean crossings. I got a lot of different answers, but they fit into a couple categories, all for when you 150+ miles off shore. Closer, most people I know have someone on deck pretty much all the time. 1. Set radar alarm and the autopilot and the whole crew goes to sleep for the night (only met a couple that did this one) 2. 24 hours a day, someone goes up on deck every 15 or 20 min and checks the heading, sail trim and the scans the horizon, and someone is fully awake at all times, watches from 3 to 4 hours. (A lot of people did this) 3. 24 hours a day, someone goes up deck every 15 min, leave the radar on alarm status all the time. At night the watch person can take cat naps in between the egg timer going off (we did this, and found a lot of others that did also) 4. Keep someone on deck at all times with 3 to 4 hour watches. (This was common for racers who do a lot of sail adjusting at night, boaters with larger crews, and for boaters who don't want to run the lights all night). For many more primitive boats the tri color or side and stern lights are a heavy percentage of the daily amperage consumption. snip John S/V Pangea |
ocean crusing & anti collision tactics....
otnmbrd.....3 good points to remember...thanx...Len posted a great
link on they system (ais) http://www.uais.org/87BStory.doc it pretty much explained it all to me...We used the electronic transponders in the planes we fly...I guess it makes since to use a like kind model on the water...But, one does have to participate....The traffic jams are interesting....I was watching asia and the panama canal...Its pretty cool... esp for the price....Talk about arm chair boating........I am learning there is no substition for good watches and running lights...Spronkled w/some electronic back up systems...So far that is..... |
ocean crusing & anti collision tactics....
38 ft sailboat...prob avg @ 4 kts....
4 * 24 = 96 * 20 = 1,920 kts... = 2,209.4965402 miles about right, no? |
ocean crusing & anti collision tactics....
Sounds about right... we did over 1000 miles in 10 days on a 48' full keel
ketch... stopped every day for a couple of hours to go swimming. -- "j" ganz @@ www.sailnow.com "~^ beancounter ~^" wrote in message ups.com... 38 ft sailboat...prob avg @ 4 kts.... 4 * 24 = 96 * 20 = 1,920 kts... = 2,209.4965402 miles about right, no? |
ocean crusing & anti collision tactics....
yup......100 miles avg, per day is easy to remember...
Capt. JG...where did you go in your 1,000 trip? |
ocean crusing & anti collision tactics....
SF to Cabo... the easy direction.
-- "j" ganz @@ www.sailnow.com "~^ beancounter ~^" wrote in message ups.com... yup......100 miles avg, per day is easy to remember... Capt. JG...where did you go in your 1,000 trip? |
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