Capt. John Konrad writes:

John Konrad is a USCG licensed Master Mariner of Unlimited Tonnage. Since graduating from SUNY Maritime College he has sailed 4 of the world’s oceans and reports from his ship via satellite. John lives in Morro Bay, CA with his wife Cindy and son Jack.

Richard,

Ben over at Panbo has asked me to answer some questions about AIS-B and, more broadly, what precautions large ships take to avoid boats. I'm going to post a few of my thoughts on gCaptain and Ben plans on posting the others on Panbo, but... I think the other perspective would be of great value to my readers. Some story ideas;

1) What should ships worry about when interacting with boats?

Response
That most boats have no clue as to how to interact with ships. In the Licensing Courses I teach, I used to be surprised when folks indicated that they didn't know ships do not guard channel 16. Ships should be afraid, very afraid, as most boats don't have a clue, as to what to do or how to do it when they encounter a ship. Easily 1/3 of the boats I tow in the season, can't give their Lat/Long, even though the have a GPS, let alone know about what to do related to ships. Boats usually run the other way. Expect the unexpected

2) Top 10 things I wish ships did to make boating safer?

Response
1. Call a Securité, on channel 16, to announce a departure from norm.
2. Slowed down, when transiting congested waterways.
3. Occasionally use channel 16 when unsure of a boat's action.
4. - 10. I'll let readers fill in the blanks in the comment section.

3) Top 5 close calls I've had with ships.

Response
1. Hiding out in the Sep Zone as I was waked by ships on either side of me.
2. Being in restricted visibility with out a radar, before I knew the rules and almost hitting a CG Cutter off the Columbia Bar.
3. Attempting to beat a 900' USNS RoRo across the lanes. - I lost.
4. - 5. I'll let readers fill in the blanks in the comment section

4) Constant Bearing, Decreasing Range... how to tell if a boater is unable to get out of the way.

Response
CBDR - now there's a concept. Joe Blow thinks that if he bumps the throttle a few hundred RPM's that he can beat you across the VTS lanes. He has no idea that you're pumping 20+ kts, five to seven miles away when he starts across the (1.25 nm) lanes at 5.5 kts.

5) Lessons learned from my years boating the Puget Sound.

Response
Conditions change - be prepared for the worst case scenario. Always have a plan B and a plan C.

Practice, practice, practice. Can you navigate with traditional tools? If you're a sailor - can you make it to your slip under sail? When was the last time you did a man overboard drill?

By all means remember that S**T HAPPENS. If you think that something is about to happen, it is "Deemed to Exist." Don't put your head in the sand and boldly keep going.

These are just my thoughts but considering your uniquely qualified to write on this subject I'm open for ideas.

Let me know if this interests you.

-John
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John Konrad
Master Mariner

CoFounder
gCaptain.com