says Kunz, adding that, beyond
using it to navigate, skippers
can also leverage the feature to
study the speed and direction
of cells. ¶ In terms of dodging
Great Lakes commercial traf-
fi c, an automatic information
system (AIS) transceiver is a
prerequisite. ¶ “You want a
full Class B transceiver so that
both captains don’t make the
same mistake at the same time,”
Dunn says. McGowan agrees:
“If you’re not being seen, you’re
not a full AIS participant. It’s
great to know that an oncom-
ing bulk carrier can see you.”
¶ While Kunz also agrees, he
says a commercial-grade Class
A transceiver might be a better
choice for a Great Lakes cruise.
¶ “Class B is 2 watts of output,
and lots of boaters use cheap or
bad antennas, which can drop
the transmit power down to
less than 1 watt,” he says. “Class
A AIS is a full 12.5-watt system.”Pacifi c Northwest
With steep hillsides, soaring
glaciated peaks and old-
growth temperate rainforests,
the Pacifi c Northwest off ers
some of North America’s most
dramatic scenery, which only
improves the farther north onevoyages. While the area’s huge
trees are impressive, the down-
side is that these long-lived
monsters regularly end up in
navigable waters — either from
storms and erosion, or from
logging-industry slippage —
and are incredibly hard to spot,
especially at night or at speed.
¶ Mariners have two options
for dealing with these dead-
heads at night: Subscribe to
the big-ocean theory — that is,
the thought that two randomly
placed, randomly maneuveredobjects in the ocean are un-
likely to collide — or rely on
electronics. The tools of choice
are thermal-imaging cameras,
which render images by us-
ing microbolometer sensors
that pick out minute thermal
diff erences between objects
and their backgrounds, during
both nocturnal and diurnal
hours. These cameras can buy
precious seconds or minutes
of reaction time while helping
mariners spot other vessels,
whales or man-overboard
victims. Some of them can
automatically fi nd and track
targets too, much like a radar’s
automatic radar plotting aid
(ARPA), or work in tandem
with an ARPA-enabled radar.¶ “Thermal imaging gives you
a whole new level of situational
awareness and lets you run
day and night,” says McGowan,
noting that FLIR’s thermal-
imaging cameras network
nicely with third-party multi-
function displays. “Sometimes
the best time to go boating
starts at 2100 hours.” ¶ A
powerful radar system is also
a wise investment for North-
west waters, because these
instruments can sometimes
pick out deadheads and logs atgreater ranges than all but the
fi nest fi xed-mount thermal-
imaging cameras. ¶ Finally,
while the Pacifi c Northwest’s
cold waters and relatively
warm air temperatures are
ideal for thermal-imaging
cameras, these same tem-
peratures mean that a man
overboard has precious little
time before hypothermia is
a serious concern. Experts
suggest carrying a vessel-
registered EPIRB, plus
properly registered personal
locator beacons and AIS bea-
cons for each crew member.
They’re the best way to notify
the authorities and nearby
maritime traffic instantly
when an emergency unfurls.In questionable waters, yachtsmen can
never have enough high-quality
charts from diff erent manufacturers.
istock/icemanjSubmerged DeadheadsCold water, deadheads and huge tidal swings are Pacific Northwest cruising realities.