The folks at LRSE are people, I bought my raft there and have it serviced there too.
East or South to St. Thomas from the Chesapeake
- Thread starter Water Dancer
- Start date
@Water Dancer For the route you are considering (Coastal from Beaufort NC to Florida,) I don't think I'd consider Radar a Luxury. It may not be essential, but for the traffic you are likely to see at night that doesn't have AIS, a modern radar interfaced with your charter plotter might not be a necessity but its more than just a luxury. Isn't night time your real concern? If you can't see a large ship in daytime then you are not keeping a good visual lookout. On the "near shore" passage at night you will see a lot of lighted buoys, lights on shore, lights on fast moving power boats, slow moving fishing boats and the like. Further out, say 50 miles, you won't see the shore lights and probably not many lighted buoys, but you will see a lot of confusing things. Sorting them out can be confusing and difficult. Radar can help with that, but only if you get to know it and use it properly. It is best to fire it up when you don't need it during the day so you can see the radar images from slow moving ships, fast boats, big boats, buoys, shore line, etc. Of course if you don't practice with it it won't do you much good. As you can see, we sailors have our own thoughts and respect the opinions of other like @dlochner. I think he is correct that AIS send/receive is essential but I wouldn't say radar, if properly practice, understood and used it more than a luxury. I don't know any Navy Surface vessel and commercial transport vessels that doesn't operate their radar when in congested waters. There must be a reason for that. DO NOT OPERATE under the assumption that having AIS alone will make for safe navigation in congested waters especially at night.
Like, I said, you should choose your equipment for where you are going to sail and what kind of traffic you expect to see and how to detect it, analysis it and avoid danger. Even on off shore you may be in coastal shipping lanes as well as "crossing" inbound/outbound shipping lanes at least in Charleston, Savannah, some other lesser Georgia Ports, Jacksonville, FL and so forth. AIS is probably essential to feel comfortable in or near the shipping lanes but I am not convinced it is as useful in off shore less than 50 miles for sorting out the visual image you'll see at night.
Each to his own
Like, I said, you should choose your equipment for where you are going to sail and what kind of traffic you expect to see and how to detect it, analysis it and avoid danger. Even on off shore you may be in coastal shipping lanes as well as "crossing" inbound/outbound shipping lanes at least in Charleston, Savannah, some other lesser Georgia Ports, Jacksonville, FL and so forth. AIS is probably essential to feel comfortable in or near the shipping lanes but I am not convinced it is as useful in off shore less than 50 miles for sorting out the visual image you'll see at night.
Each to his own
Pick up one of those inexpensive laser range finders like golfers use. We love ours. Settles many debates about if we are anchoring too close to something.
Mark
I would agree about a combined transponder, but if picking up a new VHF, then having it also have an AIS receive function is useful. It is convenient to be able to just select an AIS target, press "call", and be directly connected to them without having to hail them on an open channel. It rings directly on their radio, so they don't have to be listening for someone calling them, and they cannot ignore it easily.
Also a backup AIS receiver should the transponder go down. Half of AIS is better than none.
Mark
Yes, I wasn't clear in my post, relying on a VHF with an AIS Transponder would be a single point of failure. A VHF with a receive only AIS is a good idea for backup and for DCS calling. And since VHFs with AIS also have GPS, the Panic Button on the on the VHF will transmit the boat's location.
I have never made the run you're working on, but I'm preparing to sail my 13th Regata del Sol al Sol from St. Pete to Isla Mujeres in April 2024, 11th time as Captain of my 1984 Irwin 38. Blue water sailing is no place for a novice, but it is not exclusively for just old salts. The key for me is crew.
I have said many times that "I sail for S#&% but I recruit really well." We have no less than 6 crew and run 4 on 8 off watches. One guy is really good at sail trim, another at tactics/routing, another is great in the galley. I'm the ship's mechanic. It's four days of hard-on sailing. It's an absolute BLAST! I love it. Nothing compares to trimming your sails by the sound of the wind, seeing millions of stars or bending on a gale sail, or putting in double reef at 0200. It's all out there.
I definitely encourage you to take the offshore route. It's an experience you will never forget. But you must have qualified crew.
Recruit at your local sail club or ask around at the dock. Even if you're not a member, call the sail club and see if they have anyone interested. Avoid a "professional captain;" he's likely to take all the fun away and cost you a small fortune. Get some guys/girls who have 'round the bouy's club experience and want to venture offshore. You must have a couple of crew with offshore experience. Offshore is just not a four-letter word. Go! And be sure you have plenty of spare parts and know how to fix everything that breaks. There's no West Marine at sea and Amazon doesn't deliver out there [yet].
I have said many times that "I sail for S#&% but I recruit really well." We have no less than 6 crew and run 4 on 8 off watches. One guy is really good at sail trim, another at tactics/routing, another is great in the galley. I'm the ship's mechanic. It's four days of hard-on sailing. It's an absolute BLAST! I love it. Nothing compares to trimming your sails by the sound of the wind, seeing millions of stars or bending on a gale sail, or putting in double reef at 0200. It's all out there.
I definitely encourage you to take the offshore route. It's an experience you will never forget. But you must have qualified crew.
Recruit at your local sail club or ask around at the dock. Even if you're not a member, call the sail club and see if they have anyone interested. Avoid a "professional captain;" he's likely to take all the fun away and cost you a small fortune. Get some guys/girls who have 'round the bouy's club experience and want to venture offshore. You must have a couple of crew with offshore experience. Offshore is just not a four-letter word. Go! And be sure you have plenty of spare parts and know how to fix everything that breaks. There's no West Marine at sea and Amazon doesn't deliver out there [yet].
Your suggestion is a good one, and one that I will heed in making plans. I have two such friends so far that have expressed interest in going, one with Chesapeake Bay experience, and one with West Coast Coastal experience. My hope is to also recruit my neighbor who works in a boat yard and can frankly fix anything on a yacht if he has the parts and equipment. Thank you for your comments - Paul