Sailing to Guernsey - what electronic safety equipment is recommended

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picardy

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I am planning a sail to Guernsey from Devon this summer. I do have a VHF and Chart Plotter but do not have Radar, AIS or a Radar Reflector.

Bearing in mind the shipping lanes and risks of fog etc what would you recommend I fit? It goes without saying I carry life raft, flares etc

Thanks
 
I've crossed plenty of times with the same as you plus the essential radar reflector. I now have AIS receiver which is linked to my plotter and gives a level of reassurance.
 
picardy said:
I am planning a sail to Guernsey from Devon this summer. I do have a VHF and Chart Plotter but do not have Radar, AIS or a Radar Reflector.

Bearing in mind the shipping lanes and risks of fog etc what would you recommend I fit? It goes without saying I carry life raft, flares etc

Thanks
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The one piece of equipment you really must have is a radar reflector.

Apart from that the usual safety equipment, charts in case your plotter fails
A passage plan - would you go direct, would you break the journey in Alderney at Braye Harbour, or even sail for Cherbourg for a break and then sail round the top of Normandy and down the Alderney race?

Whatever, enjoy!
 
I'm not sure the latter do go without saying since you're almost obliged to have a radar reflector on board, irrespective of how useless it actually is.

To answer the question, not long ago a hand-held VHF was sufficient. Not much has changed since, except attitudes.
 
SOLAS V regulations state only the radar reflector is a legal requirement "if practicable" but I would like to have, in order of preference - Radar - AIS - Reflector.

I'm sure plenty of people cross without radar or AIS but in my view its an unnecessary risk. AIS would be great if every vessel had it but they don't so you still can't rely on it completely. Don't expect another vessel to see you just because you have a reflector, most of them are pretty useless.

That leaves the radar - the most expensive and hardest to fit but isn't that always the way? And I would recommend the 1 day RYA radar course, it's important to be able to interpret what the radar tells you - its not completely black and white - and to understand its limitations.
 
Depth gauge, a good signalling torch and if you are relying on electronics for position then probably a spare GPS with its own power supply. If there is fog I would keep well clear of known shipping areas. A radar reflector high up is quite a good investment I think.
 
Lee Fairweather is selling this which is not a bad price. The other cheaper options are the ali rain catcher type. Avoid the 2" tube types they are rubbish.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/firdell-r...UK_Sporting_Goods_Sailing&hash=item4612eaf34b

There is a report somewhere on the net by MAIB which is worth a read:

http://www.maib.gov.uk/cms_resources.cfm?file=/radar reflectors report.pdf

An AIS receiver linked to your chart plotter will give you ships details and show their course if a collision is likely. We have one of these linked to our Garmin which has worked perfectly for 5 years and was recommended by Garmin before they brought their own unit out. There are lots of others.

http://www.yachtbits.com/easyais?product_id=1231

Other nice to haves would be some chart planning software. No need to go mad, one of the cheap ones will do just nicely.

http://www.motorboatsmonthly.co.uk/archive/general/469921/pc-chartplotters

Pete
 
I've done the crossing there-and-back a couple of times. We carried a radar reflector but no radar or AIS. The avoiding action of a couple of ships showed that they saw us on radar. I would quite like to have AIS because it makes it much easier to assess risk-of-collision. However it doesn't protect you from fast-moving mobos without it, and it doesn't protect you from bleddy great ships that have come all the way from Gibraltar without switching it on (I've heard the VHF conversation and checked Marine Traffic to confirm it was true!).

I also carried a steamer-scarer torch and we diligently took bearings on every ship we saw and didn't tick them off until we knew they were definitely clear of us.

I also ensured that all the crew were briefed that if they did come into the close encounter of the last kind zone, we should turn and go parallel with the ship. We always had a mental plan of how that would be achieved, whatever point of sail we were on at the time.
 
The OP does specify electronic in the title so whilst I agree a Radar Reflector is an essential piece of kit it does not necessarily come within the scope of the question.

AIS is very handy and can be reassuring but it is hardly essential and in any case should not be relied upon. There are cases of very heavy metal not having it turned on or actually working in reverse (showing ship travelling the opposite way to that indicated). There are also many cases of very small vessels with an AIS sending unit. There is no reason why a small vessel should not be able to display its position etc. but it is the big b..... That I am really interested in.

A good look out, VHF radio, depth sounder and GPS are my essentials although my boat is equipped with radar, AIS, VHF fixed and handheld,chart plotter linked to AIS and radar. 2 GPS's and full instrumentation. Over kill maybe but all together very reassuring. I also have a linked Yeoman and upto date paper charts.
 
Simondjuk said:
I'm not sure the latter do go without saying since you're almost obliged to have a radar reflector on board, irrespective of how useless it actually is.

To answer the question, not long ago a hand-held VHF was sufficient. Not much has changed since, except attitudes.
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A hand held is probably not really adequate, but better than nothing. I guess it depends on your budget, size and speed of vessel, self confidence or ignorance, etc, etc. So radar, active dual band reflector, passive reflector, auto helm ,sheet to tiller self steering or vane gear, plb, epirb, AIS transponder, plotter at the helm, plotter with aid and radar overlays, MoB monitor for crew, liferaft, charts, pilot books, toolkit, flares, handheld with disc, main set VHF with disc, alternative charging system, water maker,well victualed yacht, agreeable crew, reliable serviced engine, spare fuel, multiple batteries for domestic and engine start, ... ... All on a 19 ft trailer sailer...
 
picardy said:
I am planning a sail to Guernsey from Devon this summer. I do have a VHF and Chart Plotter but do not have Radar, AIS or a Radar Reflector.

Bearing in mind the shipping lanes and risks of fog etc what would you recommend I fit? It goes without saying I carry life raft, flares etc

Thanks
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It might seem an odd thing to say, but what crew will you have with you and how experienced are they?

The last time I sailed to Guernsey we had a fantastic trip with near perfect winds, clear blue skies and excellent visibility - all the way from Chichester to about 5 miles north of the Little Russell. Having seen Guernsey quite clearly, we watched it disappear into the fog and in a very short space of time found ourselves in zero visibility as night fell. My wife, bless her, became scared and disoriented leaving me effectively single-handed.

Fortunately I had an autohelm connected and have a chartplotter linked to AIS that is visible from the helm. My radar display is mounted at the chart table, so could only be viewed occasionally. Whilst not exactly rendering it useless, this did limit the use I could make of it. In my experience, a radar screen really needs to be continuously monitored for useful information to be obtained - particularly in the hands of an occasional user such as myself.

We found our way into Beaucette marina using the autohelm and chartplotter primarily. Virtually zero visibility (we didn't see the entrance until we were about a boat's length away) made hand steering extremely difficult - staring at the compass was the only way of maintaining a course as it was otherwise easy to turn through 90 degrees without being aware of doing so.

So, back to my original question re crew, you can have all the gear in the world but if you don't have crew available who know how to operate it, you have to consider how you will use it yourself - and if your set-up will enable this. If I had no autohelm and my chartplotter, AIS and radar were all below deck, I would have struggled - no, scrub that, I couldn't have got the boat in. Maybe I was foolish to try in any case.

I've made crossings in the past with just a VHF, GPS and radar reflector, but I wouldn't want to be without the equipment I have now or to have a chartplotter / AIS that could only be viewed at the chart table. If you have experienced crew that you can rely on, the location of the equipment may not be so important.
 
Attitudes have indeed changed, so much so that the reliance on electronics for navigation pops into the news on a regular basis as people take actions which are not the best examples of seamanship (though individual circumstances can drive all of us to do such things). I don't know whether the earlier poster had reason to believe that the accuracy of a GPS reading was sufficient to negotiate a very narrow entrance blind, but the alternative would be to stay at sea or find a suitable anchorage neither of which would be easy or likely to ease his other half's anxiety.

I agree that if the crew are proficient, you already have built in redundacy in the systems and all the extra electronics will add little to the boat's safety. Please remember, one of the simplest and sometimes safest options is to turn back.

Rob.
 
rob2 said:
Attitudes have indeed changed, so much so that the reliance on electronics for navigation pops into the news on a regular basis as people take actions which are not the best examples of seamanship (though individual circumstances can drive all of us to do such things). I don't know whether the earlier poster had reason to believe that the accuracy of a GPS reading was sufficient to negotiate a very narrow entrance blind, but the alternative would be to stay at sea or find a suitable anchorage neither of which would be easy or likely to ease his other half's anxiety.

I agree that if the crew are proficient, you already have built in redundacy in the systems and all the extra electronics will add little to the boat's safety. Please remember, one of the simplest and sometimes safest options is to turn back.

Rob.
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I expected to receive criticism for my actions and, to be fair, I deserved it. Things turned out ok on this occasion but it could have been different if, for example, I'd got a rope caught around my prop.

I would never give my course of action as an answer to a theoretical question but, as we all know, things can be different when you're tired after a long trip and faced with additional complications such as an upset crew.

Hopefully my "owning up" will enable others to learn from my experience. In the context of the OP's question, I think that making sure that the equipment fitted can be easily accessed and used when short handed is the learning point - otherwise it may prove next to useless. In a more general context, planning an alternative course of action in advance (like a safe anchorage to head for) rather than being lulled into a false sense of security by familiarity and the perfect conditions enjoyed for 95% of the trip - and then forced to react when under pressure and in the dark - would clearly have been sensible. Staying at sea would have been safer, but would also have required a lot of will power. From memory, the fog didn't actually lift until late the following day.

In summary, not my finest hour and I should have known better (I do know better!). I will be better prepared next time.
 
Sorry, didn't mean it as a harsh criticism! More to the point, no electronics would have improved the situation, but another pair of hands would. If it's down to owning up, I often sail locally with a single inexperienced crew which puts me in much the same position. Some of my arrivals at the pontoon have been less than elegant!

Rob.
 
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