No this isn't about the Hanse 675 but AIS, Automated Identification Systems. My Skipper bought one back in July with the intention of fitting it to me prior to our cruise in August. It never happened. He had wired one in on another yacht some years earlier so was no stranger to the equipment and his youthful years of building and preparing rally cars make him useful to have as a skipper or just on board for that matter.
So it came as a bit of a surprise to me that come august, there was no signs of it, in fact it was still in it's box back up at the house. Apparently it required the acquisition of an AIS compatible aerial and that had to be sourced from elsewhere, also both these aerials ought to be located in a position that would give them the best 'view' and as centrally as possible. Clearly my lower spreader would be ideal, if only it wasn't 8.0m up the mast and another 4.0m from the navigation table. So I see his point and we left without it and the use of mobile phone kept a few in the know of our location.
The device he's chosen is very clever. It's a Class B, not a mandatory thing but like radar it provides information of other vessels in range, as well as giving them yours if they have one fitted, which on interrogation can be vital to help make informed decision when a possible collision course is likely. Even down to getting a 'phone' number (MMSI - Maritime Mobile Service Identity) of the impending vessel such with a DSC radio the bridge can be 'called' and a real time conversation held with the man behind the wheel, whatever the weather. Now vessel over a certain size or carrying more than a requisite number of passengers have to have one and these have to be of Class A origin.
It's taken my skipper 6 weeks to get this little black box working properly. It's been back to the manufacturer after it crashed during a firmware upgrade, turning the whole thing off. He wanted to make sure it worked prior to undertaking all the necessary work on me to fit it properly. He still has my old 12v gel batteries that he's loathed to get rid of and with one of them he set it up in his dining room, but to no avail. The GPS was receiving others, but the VHF wasn't letting on. Various e-mails later the whole lot was moved to the plant room of the house and the bird feeder station was acquisitioned and adorned the VHF aerial at the top and the GPS aerial half way down. Still no joy, despite the aerial being vertical this time. A few more e-mails including a data log and it was suggested that there's something blocking the outgoing signal. Once more the whole lot was moved up to the attic room that overlooks the Solent. GPS aerial on the sill and VHF hanging upside down out of the window top. With the lap top plugged in to it once more and the diagnostic check made it was left to do its thing again.
Finally I, or a version of me as it has my data within it, appeared on any viewing AIS system on the internet, there I was alive and a mile from the nearest water !
Now that my skipper is happy that the little black box is working he'll start fitting it on board. Then people will be able to follow my track and see such information as Speed Over the Ground (SOG), where I've come from etc. As well as being there to ensure that a repeat of a couple of years ago doesn't happen, when my skipper was unsure as to what a freighter was doing within the English Channel as we came back from Braye and they wouldn't answer the VHF. Now he can simply 'ring' them up and ask what is their intention !
