Boating & Cruising

Photos, ramblings and the occasional bit of useful information from our voyages aboard the runabout Sunset Chaser and other small boats.

The great AIS debate, and a bit of applied mariner's sense

Submitted by Matthew on

There's quite a flurry of debate going on right now about automatic identification system (AIS) equipment. The question of the month is about who sees what: if you fit your boat with a class B AIS transponder, will big ships carrying class A equipment set their display filters to hide your much smaller vessel from their radar displays?

ARC fleet, passage speed and trade-offs

Submitted by Matthew on

Those who are still at sea in this year's Atlantic Rally for Cruisers certainly seem to be enjoying themselves... for the most part. The trade winds have filled in, the boats are ticking off the miles, and a fair chunk of the fleet is already in St. Lucia.

ARC fleet on 12 Dec 2010

ARC fleet, some distractions from the approaching winter

Submitted by Matthew on

Winter's approaching. It's cold, it's grey, and the sun is setting at five in the afternoon. Thanks to modern technological marvels, though, we can enjoy- remotely- a bit of the excitement of being out on the ocean. Yes, it's Atlantic Rally for Cruisers time again, and the fleet's been underway for five days now.

Cleaning up the docking paraphernalia

Submitted by Matthew on

For a small boat, Sunset Chaser carries an awful lot of docking and mooring paraphernalia. Small boats are inherently much more vulnerable to storms than large ones, and get knocked around more by smaller waves, so our inventory shouldn't come as a surprise: four 4"x12" fenders, two 6"x15" fenders, seven 3/8" docklines (four 12', three 20'), plus of course the anchor, its rode, and assorted light cordage.

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