Navigating Commercial Anchorages

[Channel Ribs]

We made it over to Bembridge on Saturday and had a good trip over and a great lunch, lost the wind on the way back and had to use the engine though /forums/images/graemlins/frown.gif

Anyway, when we left the Isle of Wight we were faced with the large anchorage populated by tankers and containers just off the main channel. This sparked a lively debate (no doubt fueled by the good lunch) about the best way to navigate the feature.

What is the considered view?

 

[fireball]

carefully!!

 

[Twister_Ken]

Pass downtide of each individual. Not much fun being swept onto an anchor chain. Takes ages to get the rust marks off the FRP.

 

[AIDY]

I reckon kens speaking from experience here /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

 

[StugeronSteve]

Keep a good look out, because it is easy to look around and assume that all the boats are at anchor, only to find that one has weighed and is now on the move. And this is spoken with the voice of experience.

 

[AliM]

Especially true at night.

We were passing the Sunk anchorage on a clear night. About 5 ships were there, all lit up with deck-lights visible from 10+ miles away, but clearly not moving. What freaked us out was when the lights of one disappeared, then reappeared, followed by another, by which time we had realised that another ship, lit only by the normal navigation lights which we had not picked out among all the lights of the other ships, was moving in front of them. Actually, our course was well clear of all of them, and after that flurry of excitement the rest of the passage was boring (boring's good!).

 

[Twister_Ken]

That's the sort of situation where AIS would earn its keep.

Roll on the intergrated plotter/AIS. That'll tempt my wallet out of hibernation.

 

[ChrisE]

That'll be the Raymarine upgrade you need, Ken, a must have for AIS/plotter integrators, best dust the moffs off now.

 

[cjepearson]

Yes, carefully is the right answer. I visit the Sunk anchorages about 200 times a year and it would be easy to miss which vessels are moving without radar, AIS and VTS help. Ships are also liable to make unexpected moves to make a lee for pilots boarding or landing, or just to avoid each other. Just to add to the fun, the Sunk Outer anchorage is not good holding ground, so ships regularly drag their anchors in bad weather. Probably best avoided after a good lunch.

 

[Twister_Ken]

Nah, I want it all in one box, no dodgy interfaces, no spaghetti, no confusion over nmea sentences. And preferably within spitting distance of £700.

 

[Channel Ribs]

This ought to be a contender, perhaps Jon will be along and say if it is going to be available and if AIS will be a software add-on. /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

http://www.standardhorizon.com/indexVS.c...mp;isArchived=0

 

[tome]

Might be a tall order as so many plotters are now networked - putting an AIS within each will add to the cost. Think the best we can hope for is Raymarine et al to release an engine which is plug'n'pray...

 

[Twister_Ken]

Nah, if they can get a fishfinder into a plotter, they can get AIS. Be more popular too.

 

[Channel Ribs]

I would have thoght it more likely to appear in VHF sets first, the big ones with nice screens have most of what is needed.

 

[Twister_Ken]

Yerbut you want the posn of AIS vessels superimposed on a chart, not on a radio station.

 

[fireball]

[ QUOTE ]
not on a radio station.

[/ QUOTE ]
Exactly ... might interrupt the Archers!

 

[Channel Ribs]

I had a judder thinking about a device which displays:-

Chart data,
Radar info.,
Speed over ground and speed through the water,
Charted depths, tidal predictions and actual depth,
Plus AIS.

With a machine like that, one could just set it to 'simulator' mode and not bother with the boat. /forums/images/graemlins/blush.gif

 

[Twister_Ken]

Nah, you'd still need someone to rock your chair, throw buckets of cold water over you, relieve you of thirty quid a night for parking, and drop gullcrap on your titfer.

 

[PTG1]

All this rubbish about electronics; how on earth did anybody manage when we had a proper Navy charging about all over the place?? Eyes, ears and keeping a respectful distance away from anything you're not happy to bump into!!

By the time this so-called government has finished, all electricity will be banned in the name of 'greenness' anyway.

ps AIS doesn't show up on 'proper' paper charts!!

 

[jwilson]

Watch particularly for tide setting you onto anchored ships, also that they really ARE anchored.

Also (not obvious) in some circumstances a big ship with high sides can lie to the wind, with tide flowing athwart the ship. I've seen a yacht pinned against the side of a an anchored ship by the tide. No-one got hurt, but it made a hell of a mess of the hull and rig.