Wireless on the Water
Last weekend, I crewed on a delivery of a brand new, 49–foot Beneteau sailboat from Annapolis, MD to Newport, RI. It was a two-day trip, and we were going to be out of touch. Or were we? Wireless played a huge part in the delivery, and produced surprising results. We also happened upon at least two likely Darwin Award nominees, but more about that later.
Navigation was made easy through fancy electronics and wireless, starting with a GPS chartplotter which showed our boat’s position superimposed on a navigation chart. Add radio-based Automatic Identification System, which provides geoposition and identification of approaching commercial vessels on top of the chart view, so that we could, for example, see tugs pulling huge barges in the channel in the middle of the night with vital information like boat speed, displacement, destination, etc. And of course, there’s radar, especially useful for the night portions of the journey. Let me tell you, nowhere is it more clear how valuable these Location Based Services are than when you’re 75 miles offshore in the North Atlantic in the middle of the night, with state-of-the-art marine electronics and wireless radio!
We weren’t out of touch for mobile communications. Four sailors, four Blackberries, three feature phones and a high-speed data card – all four national carriers were onboard! (It got a little crowded with the “Do you hear me now?” guy and his support staff!) Twelve miles offshore from Atlantic City, we were checking e-mails, and getting a few messages out as well. Coverage was spotty that far out, not strong enough for a voice call, but the Blackberries were sending/receiving e-mails with no problem. In fact, for most of the journey except on the Atlantic City to Long Island leg, we had Blackberry coverage, including an incredible 14 miles offshore Long Island.
The most entertainment came from the VHF radio, on which Channel 16 is monitored. Vessels are required to carry marine radios. The Coast Guard and most coast stations maintain a listening watch on this channel, which is used for international calling, distress and safety. It is supposed to be limited to essential and emergency uses. Unfortunately, many inexperienced boaters use Channel 16 like a CB radio. Three transmissions/exchanges stood out, and maybe you don’t have to be a sailor to understand that at least two of these could be future Darwin Award nominees:
1. One boater asked, “Does anyone know if there are any weather advisories for the area?” (It is inadvisable if not downright foolhardy to go out on the water without knowing what the weather is going to be. All VHF radios have seven weather channels operated by NOAA, each with continuous weather broadcasts for a local area. This information was readily available had the user known how to use her radio. Fate will eventually catch up with this boater, a possible future Darwin nominee.)
2. Another not-so-swift boater requested a “regulation check” (as if there was someone with a rule book in front of them ready to answer any question) on whether it is “illegal to use a charcoal grill on a boat.” We were tempted to say, “Yes, but not indoors,” but someone else asked a better question, “Why?”, to which the future Darwin nominee responded, “I don’t want to do anything illegal.” He should have been more concerned about doing something stupid, but it all made for a few laughs.
3. The frequent (and annoying) “radio checks” on a channel allocated to safety and distress situations, clogging the channel. At one point, we heard an emergency broadcast involving a capsize of a Boston Whaler with three boaters overboard. Sounded like a serious situation, until the report continued that the boaters were standing on a sand bar. Fortunately, the boaters knew to stay near the vessel. But if this emergency situation had been blocked by a “radio check”, it could have been far worse.
Finally, once we arrived in Newport, I pulled out my high-speed data card, got on my laptop, and immediately was fully reconnected (with blazing speed, I might add).
So, wireless on the water included:
- GPS, Satellite, AIS and radar imagery, all integrated in a chartplotter that was the ultimate wireless LBS device;
- Cellular communications – voice and data (Blackberries and high-speed data cards); and
- VHF radio.
As they say, it’s the journey, not the destination. Wireless made a great journey even better. And safer, too, for those who know how to use it!
