I’m anti AIS. BUT......

[goboatingnow]

People are ignoring the single biggest advantage of ais. OTHER ships And boats get see YOU. collision avoidance is a team effort.

[goboatingnow]

Originally Posted by Chotu

You know, that’s really it. MarineTraffic.

If they would outlaw that site and sites like it, I’d be very pro-transmit at all times. It’s a good safety aid. Hell, I’m going to transmit anyway a lot of the time just for safety reasons.

But I’m strongly opposed to putting my location information on websites for the general public to see.

They could get a better AIS adoption rate by outlawing people scraping this data and publishing it globally. It should be a LOCAL system. Used when you are “in scope” of other vessels you could potentially collide with.

Or to put it another way, it should be like Bluetooth. Working in a small area that it’s needed in.


Bouncing signals like that to shore and the internet? That’s how our INTERNET ACCESS should work.

I can see your yacht with a binoculars , what’s the issue. Why do you care that joe public knows where your boat is. Joe public has no idea who you are. ( of course joe public can already look up your name on the itu database !!!, that’s public too )

[smj]

Originally Posted by goboatingnow

People are ignoring the single biggest advantage of ais. OTHER ships And boats get see YOU. collision avoidance is a team effort.

Only if they have AIS?
Don’t get me wrong, I think AIS has its place and can be a useful tool but maybe overused?

[goboatingnow]

Originally Posted by Anders

If they can't see where I am without AIS they should not be out there specially since is seems only a minority actually has and use AIS.

You can shout that up at the bow of the ship as it plows through you.

[Stu Jackson]

Originally Posted by smj

Seriously?
AIS shows the position of other vessels with AIS, otherwise you can’t see them. Radar can pick up a signal from most boats, I picked up a radar signal from 2 plastic kayaks, think they are carrying AIS?
If you get caught in the fog going up a channel or reduced visibility coming in an inlet will AIS show the position of the markers, jetties, land mass and most all boats in the area? Absolutely not.
I will give you this, radar won’t show me where my friends are anchored so if that’s a priority I guess AIS will win for you?

The two systems (AIS & radar) are complimentary.


You're reinventing the wheel with your either/or argument.


Most everyone has BTDT.


Happy New Year

[Chotu]

Originally Posted by goboatingnow

I can see your yacht with a binoculars , what’s the issue. Why do you care that joe public knows where your boat is. Joe public has no idea who you are. ( of course joe public can already look up your name on the itu database !!!, that’s public too )

The what database??

And no. You can’t see my boat with binoculars from Europe or even Georgia.

Only people in visual range can see that. Your argument is silly at best, but very, very weak.

It’s simply another electronic toy you love.

Love it all you want, but don’t lecture anyone on getting one if they don’t want it

[smj]

Originally Posted by Stu Jackson

The two systems (AIS & radar) are complimentary.


You're reinventing the wheel with your either/or argument.


Most everyone has BTDT.


Happy New Year

I agree, they could work well together. I was disagreeing with the poster who said AIS was WAY better than radar. No doubt I would take radar over AIS any day if having the choice of only one.

[goboatingnow]

Originally Posted by Chotu

The what database??



And no. You can’t see my boat with binoculars from Europe or even Georgia.



Only people in visual range can see that. Your argument is silly at best, but very, very weak.



It’s simply another electronic toy you love.



Love it all you want, but don’t lecture anyone on getting one if they don’t want it

It’s one of the best and cheapest forms of anti collision aids. Belittle it all you like , I’ve found it invaluable in keeping ships away from me.

If you don’t know what the ITU database is you’ve never left the USA it seems.
My point about binoculars is that your boat isn’t invisible to people that want to see it.

[Chotu]

Originally Posted by goboatingnow

You can shout that up at the bow of the ship as it plows through you.

Big ship not monitoring radar?? No one on watch? Just droning along running over everything that doesn’t have AIS?

I can’t even begin to list all the maritime crimes in your example.

You love technology for technology’s sake. That’s clear.

Note: I’m transmitting mine when I feel like it. Times when I and another vessel may not be able to see each other. Low visibility. Otherwise , I’ll just avoid all the drones peering into their screens and not keeping watch or looking where they are going. Been doing that for 30 years now and it hasn’t failed me yet. Keeping actual watch is handy for other things that don’t have AIS too. Shipping containers floating around or logs for example.

[Chotu]

Originally Posted by goboatingnow

It’s one of the best and cheapest forms of anti collision aids. Belittle it all you like , I’ve found it invaluable in keeping ships away from me.

If you don’t know what the ITU database is you’ve never left the USA it seems.

I’ve never left the USA to be a spy, no. But I’ve lived in Europe for a couple years. I’m a dual citizen as a matter of fact. So with all your electronic surveillance you still got all that wrong.

And you’re out there in shipping lanes making ships move away from you?? Are you serious?? Why aren’t you moving out of their way??

[goboatingnow]

Originally Posted by Chotu

Big ship not monitoring radar?? No one on watch? Just droning along running over everything that doesn’t have AIS?



I can’t even begin to list all the maritime crimes in your example.



You love technology for technology’s sake. That’s clear.



Note: I’m transmitting mine when I feel like it. Times when I and another vessel may not be able to see each other. Low visibility. Otherwise , I’ll just avoid all the drones peering into their screens and not keeping watch or looking where that are going.

Quite frankly you’ve never actually sailed a lot in seas with a lot of shipping. Look up the “ pride of Bilbao “ incident. Or have a chat with a jolly sailer who had a little incident with a carrier recently.

Note to you : SHIPS don’t see yachts a lot of time especially at night.

Note I’ve no issue turning off ais if your security is at risk but paranoia is not a security risk.

[skipmac]

Originally Posted by Anders

No paranoia but I don't want my every move showing on marinetraffic and other sites for years to come.
No safety has been compromised. I'm perfectly capable of tracking other boats by eyeball or radar.

First I am not trying to bust your chops or criticize and I say this as well to Chotu. I am just sincerely curious. What is the concern or problem with your tracks showing on marinetraffic or anywhere else for that matter?

If you were sailing off the coast of Somalia or Venezuela hell yes, turn off the transmitter. If you're carrying contraband or smuggling CIA agents into Russia turn it off.

But for the average sailor what's the problem? If big brother wants you, turning off the AIS isn't going to help a whole lot. With a few exceptions there aren't bad guys out there looking for a yacht to hijack. If you're fishing your competitors could be after your secret spot. Other than this I just can't think of a reason for concern. I would truly be interested in the why and wherefore. Maybe its something I should be concerned about and should be more cautious in the use.

[Kelkara]

Originally Posted by skipmac

First I am not trying to bust your chops or criticize and I say this as well to Chotu. I am just sincerely curious. What is the concern or problem with your tracks showing on marinetraffic or anywhere else for that matter?



If you were sailing off the coast of Somalia or Venezuela hell yes, turn off the transmitter. If you're carrying contraband or smuggling CIA agents into Russia turn it off.



But for the average sailor what's the problem? If big brother wants you, turning off the AIS isn't going to help a whole lot. With a few exceptions there aren't bad guys out there looking for a yacht to hijack. If you're fishing your competitors could be after your secret spot. Other than this I just can't think of a reason for concern. I would truly be interested in the why and wherefore. Maybe its something I should be concerned about and should be more cautious in the use.

You need to ask who can use this information ... on the one hand it's fine if its a buddy in my marina who looked at marine traffic to see that I wouldn't be back for a of week, so he could move his boat into my slip which has a better dock for some boat repairs he was doing, knowing he had plenty of time before I'd return ...

... on the other hand if it had been my local neighbourhood house burglars using that same information to make best use of my absence ...

[Chotu]

Originally Posted by Kelkara

You need to ask who can use this information ... on the one hand it's fine if its a buddy in my marina who looked at marine traffic to see that I wouldn't be back for a of week, so he could move his boat into my slip which has a better dock for some boat repairs he was doing, knowing he had plenty of time before I'd return ...

... on the other hand if it had been my local neighbourhood house burglars using that same information to make best use of my absence ...

This is really it.

Criminals or other opportunistic people like that.

Its crazy to put your information out there for the world to take advantage of you.

Yachting types aren’t poor. They make quite a nice target.

I could prove my point by stealing anyone’s dock box, power cable, etc.. who disagrees with me. I can also leave a note on your car in the parking lot telling you I could have just broke into it. I can look up your name or boat name in the list of documented vessels. How many of you freely share your boat name on here? Most?

Then I can watch your moves on marine traffic and go steal things (temporarily) from your dock when you are gone. Or leave notes. Further, if I’m an armed robber, I can case you out when you are returning by offering to help with your dock lines then plan how I’m going to rob you.

If you go for a day sail and leave the dinghy behind, it’s mine.

The potential for exploiting people’s position information is endless to thieves and murderers. Endless.

If you love sharing your location so much, why not do it live at all times on Facebook or Snapchat or whatever?

Do all your phones have your location shared at all times with all apps and services?

I’m pretty sure most people aren’t naive enough to share their location constantly online. So why are you naive enough to share it only when on the water?

[skipmac]

Originally Posted by Kelkara

You need to ask who can use this information ... on the one hand it's fine if its a buddy in my marina who looked at marine traffic to see that I wouldn't be back for a of week, so he could move his boat into my slip which has a better dock for some boat repairs he was doing, knowing he had plenty of time before I'd return ...

... on the other hand if it had been my local neighbourhood house burglars using that same information to make best use of my absence ...

Have had several break-ins in a couple of different homes over the years, manage to catch one of them and busted one other. I can guarantee none of them would have had the resources nor the smarts to put together AIS tracking on my boat to absence from my house on land. The overwhelming majority of the house burglars are opportunistic.

Now if you were mega rich and had a house full of Picassos then you would have a whole different class of burglar trying to track down your movements. But then anyone with that level of wealth also has a serious alarm system as well.