To see as much of the world as we can,
Using the smallest carbon footprint we can,
Spending the least amount of money we can,
Making as many friends we can.

Team Red Cruising

Upgrades

Details will trickle into the blog from the electronics refit. I'm not doing it myself, so I'll have to report on the status of the folks from MTS. When we get out sailing (in the spring and summer), I'll provide details. For now, overviews.

Here's an important new feature. It's small, but you can sort of make out the a little pink dot labeled "RED RANGER".

Marine Traffic Screen Capture
Red Ranger on Marine Traffic

That's our new Class B AIS Transceiver.

A few years back we got a Standard Horizon chart plotter and the associated radio that can decode the AIS data. With a little extra wiring, the radio provides AIS position information to the chart plotter.

We could see all AIS-equipped vessels. It was wonderful.

At sea, at night, the chart-plotter drew little triangles for the vessels. We could look at the PCA (Point of Closest Approach) and TPCA (Time to the Point of Closest Approach) and judge our course to pass just behind the commercial behemoths that range over the watery parts of the world. A little turn, a little throttle change, and we were past Savannah (or Jacksonville) without any real drama.

Now, we'll also be visible to them. And, from web sites like https://www.marinetraffic.com/en/ais/home you can see exactly where we are.

And so can the commercial behemoths.