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AIS question, how can I find a boat?

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delliottg
Former Mainsheet C250 Tech Editor

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USA
4479 Posts

Initially Posted - 12/18/2012 : 18:29:58

So, a bit of back story, about three months ago, one of my best friends from San Diego contacted me out of the blue. He was flying in the next day to meet up with a good friend of his who needed a deck hand on his fishing boat. He needed to get from SeaTac airport to Aberdeen, a distance of about 100 miles. Since I wasn't working at the time, Rita & I decided to just pick him up at the airport & drive him there. We had a pleasant drive catching up on news since we hadn't seen each other for quite some time. We dropped him off at the pier & took a tour of his fishing boat & met his friend the captain. Mike (my friend) had told us that they were going to be going out for three to four weeks albacore fishing and then returning. Then, if Mike liked the work, and the captain liked him, there was the possibility of making a trip to Fiji to do more fishing. I'm pretty sure the skipper turned AIS off shortly into the trip, I was only able to track them for a short time. Then about a month later, they popped up on AIS again in Newport, OR, and I assume it was to offload their catch, take on fuel & food, & head to Fiji. This entire time, I haven't heard a peep from Mike. I left him a text message on his phone when I saw them in Newport, but they were there less than a day. That was the day before Halloween. I calculated that at their max speed of 7kn, it'd take about five weeks to get to Fiji, so I didn't really expect to hear from him for the entire month of November (assuming he made the trip). Now that it's approaching the end of December, I'm wondering where he is and a tiny bit concerned for his welfare. He's a big boy & can take care of himself, and I suppose he doesn't owe me anything in particular, but it'd be nice to hear from him just so we know he's OK. They've only showed up on AIS those two times, and I check about weekly.

Here's my question, other than AIS, how could I find out where the boat is? I'm a bit grumpy with him for not keeping in touch, but I'd really just like to know he's OK & that the boat didn't go down while transiting the Pacific.

David
C-250 Mainsheet Editor

Sirius Lepak
1997 C-250 WK TR #271 --Seattle area Port Captain --

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Stinkpotter
Master Marine Consultant

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Djibouti
9081 Posts

Response Posted - 12/18/2012 : 21:07:34

AIS information is transmitted on the VHF band, which gives it a limited range over the horizon but less limited into space. As I understand it, the International Space Station is currently receiving and relaying some AIS data (I don't know who is receiving it from the station or what they're doing with it), and other satellites are or will eventually do the same, but most data is still coastal at this point, maybe to 50 miles out--thus the disappearance of the vessel in the great blue Pacific and its re-appearance when it approached Oregon.

Edited by - Stinkpotter on 12/18/2012 21:08:52

redviking
Master Marine Consultant

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USA
1771 Posts

Response Posted - 12/19/2012 : 13:21:59

Try marinetraffic.com
Sten

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britinusa
Web Editor

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USA
5404 Posts

Response Posted - 12/19/2012 : 14:28:49

Marinetraffic.com is the AIS data provider that is used in the Associations Gallery System.

If you view an Album and see a link in the top right corner of the album. Just click on "Show AIS Chart for this Album", which is shown if the album author enters the location data in their Album description.

Paul

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Stinkpotter
Master Marine Consultant

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Djibouti
9081 Posts

Response Posted - 12/19/2012 : 15:55:25

<blockquote id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">Originally posted by redviking
 Try marinetraffic.com...<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote">...and notice that the areas in which they're tracking are coastal and around major islands. Most of the Pacific is "off their radar." (They are watching around Tahiti...)

Edited by - Stinkpotter on 12/19/2012 15:59:21

delliottg
Former Mainsheet C250 Tech Editor

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USA
4479 Posts

Response Posted - 11/10/2013 : 18:40:43

Out of the blue, my friend contacted me about an hour ago. He's been fishing the entire time except a brief trip home during the summer & a couple of weeks at xmas. They caught 157 tons of albacore in the past year. He's in San Diego for a while and the boat's in Vancouver (I'm assuming WA, not BC). In about six weeks they head back out to Samoa to start fishing again. He's not real big on the fishing part, but likes being out on the boat and the money. The owner of the boat is offering him his own boat starting next summer, so it appears he's done well on this one.

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The Officers, Staff and members of this site only provide information based upon the concept that anyone utilizing this information does so at their own risk and holds harmless all contributors to this site.