Reply to Duchess on AIS A vs B

I had a question from Dutchess on which is better AIS A or B? I'm  going to reply in a post instead of directly to Dutchess since the subject may be of interest to others.

If you want to participate in AIS (Automatic Identification System) you have several choices:
You can chose to just receive AIS signals from other boats and not transmit your own position. This is the least expensive option. You will need an AIS receiver such as  AMEC CYPHO-150S for $259. It has an internal signal splitter so you can connect it to your VHF antenna on top of your mast for maximum range.

If you you want to transmit your position so others with an AIS receiver can see you (such as very big ships) then you will need either a Class A or Class B transceiver. Class A is for the big boats, it transmits more often and with greater power but it costs more, around $1700. The AMEC CAMINO-701 is such a unit. Be aware that the $1700 cost is only the tip of the iceberg. You would need a heading sensor, GPS antenna, a VHF antenna, a junction box for interfacing with on board equipment, it costs more than the $1700. Only big ships have them installed.

If you want a simpler solution to transmit an AIS position and also receive AIS info from other boats you can chose the CAMINO-108S Class B transponder for $649 (check the box with the integrated splitter). It comes with an internal GPS receiver but requires an external GPS antenna which you can get for $49, the GA-22. Just connect the external GPS antenna, split the power to your VHF radio and route the VHF antenna wire from the mast to the unit. No separate antenna splitter is required. Note, the antenna splitter is an active splitter. It does not introduce signal loss like a dumb splitter. It switches between the AIS transponder and VHF radio in real time with the VHF radio taking precedence if there's a conflict.

On my boat I installed a Class B transponder and routed the output to my Garmin 492 chartplotter but any modern chartplotter will accept AIS input and display the targets on your chart as you move along in real time. The image to the right is AIS data from my Class B transponder as shown on my Garmin 492 chartplotter as I moved through New York Harbor. Note the intersecting red and black lines (black line for me in 10 minutes, red line for someone else in 10 minutes, we are headed to meet, he later changed course).

Poughkeepsie Yacht Club - At home on my dock, last post until 9/15/2017

This looks very big when passing close by!

It was a long day. The lousy weather continues but at least it didn't rain today. The high was only 61, really cold for the end of May. We got off our anchor by 7:17 am and started north. We had looked at the current tables and have learned that a favorable current is always later than predicted. We were supposed to hit a slack tide at the Verrazano-Narrows bridge but it took another two hours up to the George Washington bridge before the adverse current stopped.

The boat at the left edge got my attention!

We had intended stopping at Haverstraw Bay but when then we finally got a favorable current and started hitting 9 kts so we decided to soldier on. Beside, the next day's forecast was even worse than today, lots of rain.

Along the way we passed three naval vessels that were apparently in town for the Memorial Day weekend. One was an aircraft carrier, very impressive when so close. I can also vouch for the effectiveness of having AIS displayed on your chartplotter. At a glance you can see which very large boats are anchored and which are moving, very important when running through New York harbor. All the ferries have AIS too. Most chartplotters will give you a choice on how to display other boats on AIS. For me I chose the option of projecting a line where I will be in 10 minutes and the same option for other boats. If the two lines intersect, then you have a problem to solve to avoid a collision. Furthermore, there are two types of AIS. Class A just receives signals, Class B will not only let you see other  boats AIS signal but it will also transmit your own position so you're visible on their AIS displays. I have Class B, everyone should. If you want to use your VHF antenna at the top of your mast (for maximum range) then you will also need an active splitter which automatically switches between the AIS transponder and your VHF radio with no signal loss.

I was a great cruise, now it's time to get ready for the fall and our next trip down the ICW

We are now securely tied up at our home for the next 3.5 months. I have a long list of todo's that include publishing the 2017 version of the ICW Cruising Guide. It will  be greatly expanded with many new sections.

So this is my last blog post until 9/15 when I hope you will join me again for another trip down the ICW to Key West Florida. There may be a vew interim posts when we take our four grandkids for a Long Island cruise, we are looking forward to that as are the kids. Thanks for reading the blog, it's been fun.

Atlantic Highlands - at anchor with cold and rain for comfort

A second iteration of the iris - I like it better than the first one

Rain storms came sweeping in from the west even though we had a 15 to 20 kt east wind (humm, how does that work...)  We watched the multiple storms approach and move through but there always seemed to be another one right behind. We almost left, we took the motor off the dinghy and were ready to turn on the engine when yet another storm appeared on the weather radar. That was around 11:00 am. With that we decided the better course of action was just to stay put. Navigating through New York Harbor in a driving rain and wind is not a good thing to try. We're just in not that much of a hurry, let the dozen or so ferries and a like number of tugs and barges battle it out without us, at least until there's better visibility.

Tuesday is predicted to be a better day as far as visibility, the temperatures will still be in the 60's with an overcast sky, ugh. The only good thing is the flood tide that should carry us far up the Hudson River in the morning. If you can catch the flood tide at the Battery in NYC, then you can ride it up the river all the way to the Poughkeepsie YC. This only works going up the Hudson since the flood tide is progressively later in the day as you move north.

Nobody left today, we're all in a row

Ann spent most of the day painting with her pastels (see photo) and I read. The genset is a real blessing in such weather, we were nice and warm. When taking Hoolie ashore he somehow got it into his head to jump the dinghy before I got ashore and he found himself in neck high water. On occasion I've had him jump into the water when the dinghy touched bottom. Then he's ankle deep, no problem. He was probably thinking of that when he jumped. Now I had a saltwater wet dog.

Once again we plan on leaving in the morning in anything other than a downpour. We've given up on getting warm weather but we do want to avoid rain going through NY harbor.

Atlantic Highlands - at anchor

Goodbye Atlantic City until next year

We said our farewells to Atlantic City at 5:45 am and headed north. There was a regular armada of  boats going north, about a dozen that I could see. The Coast Guard was posting a small craft advisory Monday night so the window was now and everybody took advantage of the opening in the weather. Still, what's with the weather? It's almost June and the temperatures are still in the 60's!

A great dinghy dock at Atlantic Highlands

The winds and waves were exactly as predicted by PocketGrib using the grib file produced by NOAA. Just light winds off the aft quarter and little wave action. We like a comfortable ride when going 80 Nm in a day.

The moorings here are $50/day, way overpriced. As usual, we opt'ed to just anchor which we prefer to a mooring anyway. There's room for at least a dozen boats but there are only four of us here tonight. There's a 15 minute (time limit) dinghy dock down the second fairway past the fuel dock. So we have everything we need in an anchorage.

Lots of room in the anchorage, why pick up a mooring??

On Monday we would like to run up the river with the tide behind us all the way to our home, Poughkeepsie YC but the weather does not look good, rain all day long. I really do not want to navigate through NY harbor in a driving rain with a ferries and very large boats going in all directions. So we will wait for the rain to cease before hauling anchor and perhaps we'll not make it to PYC which leads us to the Haverstraw Cove anchorage for the night, about six hours south of PYC. That put us home on Tuesday instead of Monday. As usual, the weather is king, we'll see Monday morning.

Atlantic City - at a dock by The Golden Nugget

The marina was full!

"Style and Grace" didn't jump ship this morning as we exited our slip. We accounted for all the lines this time and came out without embarrassment. For once the forecast was accurate with light winds behind us and no chop but a 3 to 4 ft swell which was no problem given the long period (7 sec). So we settled into our 1/2 hour on and 1/2 hour off routine and made it to Atlantic City by 2:00 pm.

The entryway to the Golden Nugget

We treated ourselves to a dinner at The Charthouse which was outstanding. We walked through the casino after dinner and the place was packed. In fact, the marina barely has any empty slips. I was amazed at how crowded it was. We usually pass through before Memorial Day or after Labor Day which is not during the busy season apparently. There wasn't an empty table at the Charthouse either. I guess it's good to see business booming. We picked up sandwiches for the trip north on Sunday.

There's a pool on the 6th floor, available to boaters too, cool today though

The weather report has seemed to settled down to a good day for going north on Sunday. All the services we follow agree for a change: NOAA Coastal forecast, PocketGrib and SwellInfo. Of the three services, we've found PocketGrib to be the most accurate followed by SwellInfo. The coastal forecast seems to lag the other two in timing. It eventually agrees with PocketGrib but only after 6 hours or so.

I bet Finn and Rowan would have lots of fun with one of these in the house!

The leg to the Atlantic Highlands is the longest of our cruise.81.4 Nm. It usually takes about 11.5 hours so we'll leave at least by 6:00 am to give us plenty of time. Hopefully, the weather will turn out as predicted!

Cape May - Last day

The dredgers are still squatting in the favorite anchorage in Cape May, but a few boats are still anchoraged

Well, it's been okay but it's time to move on. The marina is very well protected and I've heard that people have ridden out hurricanes in this marina. We've had no hurricanes but we did have high winds. We've been comfortable but Saturday looks like a go day for getting to Atlantic City.

We're having spring tides and the lows have been -0.8 ft! In walking Hoolie today we saw one boat in a place where we've anchored before, it's shallow. The big power boat (see photo) was hard aground and  had called BOAT/US for a tow. When you anchor, all you really have to do is to look at the nearest tide station and subtract that number from whatever depth reading you see when you anchor. If the resultant number is less than your keel, then you will be aground. How difficult is that? I went out tonight with Hoolie and the boat was gone.

Let's see, if you keel is deeper than the water, you're aground!

Last night Sunday was a good day for reaching Atlantic Highlands. This morning winds of 18 kts on the nose was forecast. Now, tonight the forecast is once again favorable with winds less than 10 kts. Hopefully, that good forecast will not change but who knows? We just happened to hit the Golden Nugget on Memorial Day weekend when they jack up the rates to $4/ft. Now that's not nice and we could anchor out but we do like our comfort when in Atlantic City so we'll foot the bill. Plus, I promised Ann a dinner out at the Charthouse restaurant there.

If all goes according to plan, we'll shove off for Atlantic Highlands on Sunday morning for our longest trip of the cruise (if the forecast holds).

Cape May - We explore Cape May shores

We actually saw the sun today so we visited the lighthouse/

We awoke to a driving rain in the morning, what else is new? It eventually stopped and the rest of the day was almost okay except for the 60 degree temperatures. We had rented a car for provisioning yesterday afternoon so we took today to cruise around the beaches of Cape May.

If you take the round the Cape route on the inside, you'll have to contend with the standing waves

You have two choices in passing by Cape May. You can take either the Cape May Canal with the 55 ft bridges or go around the cape and brave the currents. Going around the Cape you have other choices. Either the inside passage taken by the Whale Watcher boat which hugs the shore, one a little farther out or one that takes the channel used by the large ships which adds a lot of miles to the route. If you go around the Cape be prepared to brave the currents if you select a time where the current is against a strong wind. The waves build up and are square. That was the case today in the video and in the photos I took. We've done both, taken the route around the Cape and also the route under the bridges. If I choose the Cape route, I'm very careful to do it in calm winds and slack tide. The local fishermen can take the standing waves created by opposing wind and tide but I don't want to try my hand at that without a lot of practice.

There is not 55 ft at high tide, but the formula given below works

The route under the two Cape May Canal bridges is fine if you can clear the height restrictions. They are rated at 55 ft at high tide but that is not the case (see photo). The way to figure if you can clear is to start with a clearance of 58 ft at low tide and adjust the height for both the predicted tide per the tide tables and the actual vs predicted delta measured at the NOAA water height station at the mouth of the canal on the western end. So the equation works out to be 58ft - (tide) - (water height above predicted per the NOAA station). If the resultant number is more than your mast, then you can clear the two bridges.

As an example, when I came through on Tuesday the tide was at 1 ft above MLLW as given by the tide station at the western end of the canal. The NOAA actual vs predicted gave the result that the actual tide was 1 ft above predicted so the equation yielded: 58 - 1.0 ft tide - 1.0 ft actual vs predicted = 56 ft. With my 55.3 ft mast I had plenty of room, over 1/2 ft!  Just to keep things interesting, the height boards were unreadable for the bottom half due to scum and several were broken off below the 52 ft mark. No problem, I've been through here a dozen times and my formula has always worked.

There's a great fish market over at The Lobster House, we crab stuffed flounder tonight with stuffed clams

Over the last few days with the east wind and heavy rains, the water has risen even higher, almost 1.5 ft above predicted so if you  venture through the canal route, be very sure to look at that predicted vs actual tide station along with the tide per the tide stations.

The winds on Friday are close to 20 kts all day so we'll take yet another day off and start north again on Saturday for Atlantic City and hopefully for Atlantic Highlands in New York Harbor on Sunday, if the weather holds.