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Catalina/Capri 25/250 Sailor's Forums

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Real-time AIS

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Dave Bristle
Master Marine Consultant

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Djibouti
10005 Posts

Initially Posted - 10/25/2009 : 10:34:41

http://marinetraffic.com/ais/

Pick an area, pan and zoom, and click on a vessel... It updates periodically.

Association Port Captain, Mystic, CT
Past member and DPO of C-25 #5032
Now on Eastern 27 Sarge (but still sailing) and posting as "Stinkpotter".

Passage, Mystic, and Sarge--click to enlarge.

Edited by - on

delliottg
Former Mainsheet C250 Tech Editor

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USA
4479 Posts

Response Posted - 10/25/2009 : 11:06:29

And you can join if you've got an AIS receiver. Your data will be pooled with everyone else's, and if you don't have a receiver, but live in an area where they need more coverage you might be able to get one for free from them.

I've seen this site before, but never read through their FAQ. Didn't realize they were out of Greece.

Edited by - on

OLarryR
Master Marine Consultant

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USA
3442 Posts

Response Posted - 10/25/2009 : 16:18:56

Tracking via AIS is pretty neat. I remember last Spring when I bought a 2009 Mini Cooper S Clubman, a whole bunch of us were tracking the production of our MINIs thru the factory process, then to the loading dock in England and then tracked the freighter on AIS as it pulled into Southampton, England. Checked the freighter loading list to determine when the MINI was loaded and then tracked via AIS as the freighter pulled away from Southhampton. As it pulled away from the UK, we then lost track of it via AIS until it came closer to it's destination in NY/NJ coastline and then picked it up again.

Edited by - on

skrenz
Captain

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USA
351 Posts

Response Posted - 10/26/2009 : 08:24:54

That is just too cool. Thanks Dave for the link.

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DaveR
Master Marine Consultant

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USA
2015 Posts

Response Posted - 10/26/2009 : 09:54:05

Interesting story-
A friend of mine who's a Merchant Marine (Chief Engineer)just stopped by and I told him about the cool site with real-time AIS and he was aware of it, said all the boats have it and that it's just Big Brother watching. On their way by ship to Japan he and his Captain would swing a little out of their route and close enough to Hawaii (without the home office knowing) so the crew could use their cell phones. THAT stuff doesn't go on anymore

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piseas
Former Treasurer

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USA
2017 Posts

Response Posted - 10/26/2009 : 15:56:26

I have this on my Iphone, it is very handy.
Steve A

Edited by - on

TakeFive
Master Marine Consultant

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2272 Posts

Response Posted - 01/11/2011 : 19:42:14

I found that AIS site the other day, and it's really cool. There is a lot of commercial traffic on the Delaware River, and always at least 3 large vessels visible within a couple of miles when we sail. Usually they're anchored (waiting for the tide to shift), but sometimes not, and it's often difficult to tell in the distance. I need a new VHF anyway, so I ordered the new Standard Horizon GX2150 (with integrated AIS receiver). I'm going to feed that into a Netbook running OpenCPN (hopefully via Bluetooth) so we can get real-time info on screen and CPA predictions. It should come in real handy for the closely bordered waters where we sail. And we won't have to guess any more whether that tanker on the horizon is moving or not.

Also, it seems like that website's receiving station for the Philly area is offline much of the time, so the site fails to show many ships that are active in my area. Having the AIS on my boat will get me the most accurate available information.

Note that others will not be able to routinely see my boat via AIS. To do that I would a transponder, which costs several thousand dollars. But for my purposes it will be nice to have the receiver to see commercial vessels, and it's not that expensive when combined with the VHF radio. (I found the GX2150 for $315.) In in case of emergency, I can send out my coordinates via DSC. And friends have told me that since the AIS allows me to hail specific boats by name, those boats would be much less likely to ignore a distress call since their name is going out where the USCG can hear it. Obviously I hope I never have to do that, but it's a good safety feature to have in case.

Edited by - TakeFive on 01/12/2011 07:34:35

DavidCrosby
Navigator

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USA
237 Posts

Response Posted - 01/12/2011 : 08:51:56

I think AIS is awesome. I did two trips on the Atlantic during the summer of 2009. One boat had radar, the other had AIS. On the boat with radar, we were coming into Newport, RI in the fog and there was something very big on the radar that was going to cross very close to us.We did not know what it was until a very large, very black USCG vessel materialized out of the fog. Had we had AIS, I would have known every detail of the vessel and the closest point of approach instantly.

I did a transatlantic on the boat with AIS. Our watch practice was to do a 360 scan of the horizon first and then look at the AIS. Typically, I could spot a ship before looking at the AIS. Once seen on AIS, it was quickly evident whether the ship would pose a problem or not.

One night running wing and wing, I did my 360 scan and saw nothing. I then looked at the AIS, it showed a ship dead ahead on a collision course, CPA was 0.0. The really cool thing about AIS, is that you have ALL information about the ship. I have found that the ships do not typically answer a blind call on the VHF - but if you call using their radio call sign, they almost always answer. In this case, the ship did answer and said he would gladly alter course.

I am a believer in AIS!

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Stinkpotter
Master Marine Consultant

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Djibouti
9076 Posts

Response Posted - 01/12/2011 : 09:44:24

<blockquote id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">Originally posted by DavidCrosby
 I think AIS is awesome. I did two trips on the Atlantic during the summer of 2009. One boat had radar, the other had AIS... I am a believer in AIS!<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote">AIS is very cool, but along the coast, you want both. Too many vessels and other objects don't have AIS. If I can have just one for my circumstances, I'll take (and have) radar. I can estimate the CPA well enough on the screen.

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TakeFive
Master Marine Consultant

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2272 Posts

Response Posted - 01/25/2011 : 20:35:29

FYI, I've been working for the past few weeks on an instrumentation plan in preparation for the AIS receiver that I have ordered. Since this topic is relevant to all makes of boats (not just Catalina), I posted my descriptions here:

http://www.sailnet.com/forums/electronics/71615-sending-gx2150-ais-nmea-data-chart-plotter-over-bluetooth.html

Here's the current schematic that I am working against:

<center>

</center>

This will be a nice addition when I have it all done, especially given all the commercial traffic that we have nearby.

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