Big ship and no AIS on your screen.

[Marsupial]

It all comes down to "are you going to believe what you see or what the AIS system tells you" as others have said AIS is a good technology BUT with massive limitations not least it relies on the actions of someone else to make it work for you - and its not switched on by everyone who has it so at the momement its no good, relegated to the level of a novel chocolate teapot used to store boiled sweets. eyeballs and radar are still the only sensible options - but that could change if AIS became believable. oops thats one "if" too many. .

[actionoptics]

Thanks for the interesting replies.
WOODHOUSE : I have an integrated Raymarine setup with a c80 screen;
AIS 250 and radar.
Scotty Twister : My boat is berthed in the Solent near Fawley so there
is always a large number of AIS contacts esp tankers on or near the refinery
and all of the ferries to and fro the I.O.W. so the system is working.
TWISTER KEN : Did "Ouzo" see it coming? I just like to use all possible
information to keep me out of trouble.

Perhaps I should have done this first but it has been interesting
hearing all your comments and thoughts but I have just phoned the Solent CG.
I got a very strong recommendation that we report to them any vessel that should be
transmitting an AIS signal but which is not. It is the law that large or
passenger vessels or coded boats should transmit

[Scotty_Tradewind]

Next, the captain's inside leg measurement.

What you mean my old pal Nich' Bates?
Well, we're both getting on a bit now and due to that we've lost a bit in height.
But when we were last together in Sanantonio 3 years ago, he was still shorter than me and I reckon he's always suffered from 'ducks disease' so I would reckon his IL will be around 28-29. Inches of course.
:-)

"TWISTER KEN : Did "Ouzo" see it coming? I just like to use all possible
information to keep me out of trouble." ...............get out of that!!

[Twister_Ken]

"Did Ouzo see it coming?"

Sadly, we'll never know.

[LadyInBed]

The only Mary I've had on AIS recently was the Queen Mary as she slipped by Bembridge two weeks ago.

She went astern of me as I returned from Holiday at the end of August, lights all ablaze

Did that old Colvic make it across to the other side then? There didn't seem enough wind to move her old bones when you were due to go.

Look at the Cherbourg 09 post on Scuttlebutt - get all the gorey details

[jonjo]

She went astern of me as I returned from Holiday at the end of August, lights all ablaze

The QEII altered course to pass me in the Channel one night. I took a screen shot to record the event.

[Scotty_Tradewind]

She went astern of me as I returned from Holiday at the end of August, lights all ablaze



Look at the Cherbourg 09 post on Scuttlebutt - get all the gorey details

good on you, it seems you had a very satisfying little trip.
Better than my aborted one to the Chan' Isles. SW F6+ winds with chunky seas made me stay in Poole and The solent.
I reckoned that one of my crew would not be up to it as she had just got over swine flu. Just as well, she has gone down with post viral fatigue since, (whatever that is?) so I would never have forgiven myself had she been grog all the way there and back and I were seen to be at fault.
S