T&T: AIS - Vessel Info

[Scott H.E. Welch]

dlegrow at yahoo.com writes:
>Yes, be sure to have your installer get the dimensions correct as well as 
>the vessel type.  I recently ran into (well not literally, we crossed two
>miles behind) a Nordhavn heading into Wilmington or there about, that was
>supposedly 6 meters long and 5 meters wide, and was designated as a fishing
>vessel.

Yes, I have a similar story to share, except in this case the embarrassment
was mine: last summer I was cruising the Gulf Islands in BC, and spent a few
days near Thetis and Kuper islands. These are served by a small car ferry
(about 120 feet) from Chemainus. One day I happened to be watching the ferry
on AIS and I noticed that the transponder had clearly been installed
backwards. The arrow was pointing the wrong way, and the indicated speed was
9.5 knots in reverse.

I thought that I would be a helpful kind of guy, so I called the ferry
captain to let him know, and suggested that he let the maintenance guys
investigate.

You can imagine my mortification when he came back to remind me that he was
piloting a roll-on / roll-off car ferry, and that every return trip was in
"reverse".

D'oh!

Scott Welch
Product Manager, Open Text Collaboration and Social Media Group
www.opentext.com
905 762 6101

"Things turn out best for people who make the best of the way things turn
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