Sailing drones
- Thread starter Alan Gomes
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I don't know about this one, sports fans. They're talking about having thousands or tens of thousands ("creating a web of sensors") of those things out running around. Could be be a COLREGS nightmare. The consensus of our forumites seems to be that aerial drones are bad. How could lots of those things be good?
"Hand me down my torpedo next week I'm coming back for more." (Apologies to Leo Sayer.)
"Hand me down my torpedo next week I'm coming back for more." (Apologies to Leo Sayer.)
I agree. Bad idea. They are putting them out there without radar or AIS so it is sailing blind. Us single handers are bad enough out there, but there are not 10,000+ of us, just a handful at most each year crossing an ocean and at least we try to be on watch as much as possible and listen to AIS and radar alarms. 10,000 out for months at a time. I hope the big ships run them over each chance they get.
I just found out why Raymarine took there Autopilot control off WiFi links control.
Drone hacking into SeaTalk... (and others)
And to think I was afraid of Sharks, Moray Eels, and Barracuda
Jim...
Are the lives of those these things will inevitably take worth more than they are saving by not using manned vessels?
And even if they did add AIS, that would mean every other vessel had to have it too, or be in danger. I don't want or need AIS, period.
My wife's comment after seeing this; "Sounds like a really bad idea. The saildrones will become as pesky as I imagine Maine lobster pots to be, only worse. Seriously, who comes up with this sh*t? By the time I'm your age, they will be out here, and hooked into something like AIS, and therefore, all vessels will have to run a tracking system and expect a machine to do the thinking for them whether it's telling them the closest point of approach or that they trust the saildrone's programming to detect/avoid them." Just to clarify, she's a bit younger than I.
And even if they did add AIS, that would mean every other vessel had to have it too, or be in danger. I don't want or need AIS, period.
My wife's comment after seeing this; "Sounds like a really bad idea. The saildrones will become as pesky as I imagine Maine lobster pots to be, only worse. Seriously, who comes up with this sh*t? By the time I'm your age, they will be out here, and hooked into something like AIS, and therefore, all vessels will have to run a tracking system and expect a machine to do the thinking for them whether it's telling them the closest point of approach or that they trust the saildrone's programming to detect/avoid them." Just to clarify, she's a bit younger than I.
It's not like they would ever find the thing and prove it was shot at, let alone have any evidence that I was the one that shot it. It would be so far down under water, thousands of feet, and so far out at sea that it would cost more to retrieve it then build a new one. These things are not going to be around the coastal cruising areas. These are mostly just a danger to ocean crossers like me.
Come on, guys. The ocean is big. Really big. You just won’t believe how vastly hugely mindbogglingly big it is. (with apologies to Doug Adams)
So lets do some numbers. Assume Saildrone is wildly successful and manages to put a fleet of 40,000 drones on the Atlantic. Since the Atlantic is roughly 40 Million square miles, that's one drone every 1000 square miles! Almost the size of Rhode Island! You'd need a Search & Rescue fleet to find a 23 ft boat in an area that size!
I don't think random encounters/collisions are going to be a significant problem.
So lets do some numbers. Assume Saildrone is wildly successful and manages to put a fleet of 40,000 drones on the Atlantic. Since the Atlantic is roughly 40 Million square miles, that's one drone every 1000 square miles! Almost the size of Rhode Island! You'd need a Search & Rescue fleet to find a 23 ft boat in an area that size!
I don't think random encounters/collisions are going to be a significant problem.
If there are 10,000+ a lot of danger. Almost guaranteed I will run into one deep at sea (I plan on cruising for 20 more years). No lights, no radar, no AIS on it...I will not see it at night even if I am looking. Yes, that is right, the picture of the one I saw did not have lights on it either and even if it did, what if it had a malfunctioning light...they wouldn't know. Even the reliable LED lights break on sailboats. I had to replace my 2 year old $400+ LED masthead light.
I am not the type to go around damaging other people's stuff but...
Explain why ships then pull into ports with masts hanging off their anchors on the bow and ships are out there going around in circles for months at a time either. Same thing applies...lots of space but it will happen.
The guy who is developing the sailing drones in the article has an interesting background. Seems he is the fastest man alive under sail, of any kind. He drove a sail powered "car" to 126 mph!
I have got to get an ice boat. That just looks like too much darn fun!
Sam
I have got to get an ice boat. That just looks like too much darn fun!
Sam
Nor do I.
Do the math, folks. It's not impossible, just very, very improbable.
P.S.- enjoyed the HGTTG reference!
I don't offhand remember the number of containers out there floating around, but it's a lot less than 40k. Having hit one (and abandoned long lines, nets and numerous pallets, etc), I'd argue that the ocean isn't nearly as large as your on paper mathematics might lead one to believe. Random encounters with anything out there can be a matter of life and death. If it's MY life, then I'd think it was rather significant!
I agree with capta. I've had to alter courses for ships out at sea many times and tons more have altered for me. Just on my last leg a sailboat called me up on the radio because I light up my deck and sails when I go to sleep. They were worried we were on a collision course and they saw me before AIS could. I've also ran over abandon fishing nets and even ran across somebody 300 miles from the nearest island that I thought needed help. It is big, but we seem to find a way to run into each other. I am glad there are only a handful of single handlers like me out here in the South Pacific and I always make sure we never leave the same port the same day.