Here's a new experience, just when you think you've already seen it
all.

Sunday afternoon we were traveling south on Florida's relatively
narrow, west coast Intracoastal Waterway. Traffic was relatively
heavy in both directions and since we were headed south, favored the
western (our right) side of the channel. At one point we noticed a
good sized motor yacht heading north about half a mile away. At first
he appeared to be heading to our side so we prepared to move left and
let him go to our starboard. As we moved left he moved back to the
center and then towards us again. We were closing at a combined speed
over 20 kts and I was preparing to sound the danger signal on the horn
as we moved right once again. At the last minute the oncoming boat
moved back to his right for a conventional port-to-port pass.

As the boat went by, the only person visible anywhere was sitting on
the foredeck, apparently operating a remote control device for the
autopilot. He waved, but we did not reciprocate.

Just when you think you've already seen it all...

Sounds like some PWC idiot got his first boat. Ya shudda got his hull#
and reported him. No R/M for the throttle or shifter , I bet....
JR
Wayne.B wrote:
Here's a new experience, just when you think you've already seen it
all.

Sunday afternoon we were traveling south on Florida's relatively
narrow, west coast Intracoastal Waterway. Traffic was relatively
heavy in both directions and since we were headed south, favored the
western (our right) side of the channel. At one point we noticed a
good sized motor yacht heading north about half a mile away. At first
he appeared to be heading to our side so we prepared to move left and
let him go to our starboard. As we moved left he moved back to the
center and then towards us again. We were closing at a combined speed
over 20 kts and I was preparing to sound the danger signal on the horn
as we moved right once again. At the last minute the oncoming boat
moved back to his right for a conventional port-to-port pass.

As the boat went by, the only person visible anywhere was sitting on
the foredeck, apparently operating a remote control device for the
autopilot. He waved, but we did not reciprocate.

Just when you think you've already seen it all...


--
--------------------------------------------------------------
Home Page: http://www.seanet.com/~jasonrnorth

On Mon, 14 Mar 2005 21:13:56 -0800, JR North
wrote:

Sounds like some PWC idiot got his first boat. Ya shudda got his hull#
and reported him. No R/M for the throttle or shifter , I bet....

==================================================

It's hard to say. The apparent skipper certainly appeared old enough
to know better and the boat in question was 45+ feet. It is a virtual
certainty that there were no remote engine controls, sometimes in the
aft cockpit, but I've never seen them on the foredeck.

I could perhaps see some rationale if someone is single handing the
boat and is in open water, but not in a 200 ft wide channel with lots
of traffic.

Wayne.B wrote:
Here's a new experience, just when you think you've already seen it
all.

Sunday afternoon we were traveling south on Florida's relatively
narrow, west coast Intracoastal Waterway. Traffic was relatively
heavy in both directions and since we were headed south, favored the
western (our right) side of the channel. At one point we noticed a
good sized motor yacht heading north about half a mile away. At
first
he appeared to be heading to our side so we prepared to move left and
let him go to our starboard. As we moved left he moved back to the
center and then towards us again. We were closing at a combined
speed
over 20 kts and I was preparing to sound the danger signal on the
horn
as we moved right once again. At the last minute the oncoming boat
moved back to his right for a conventional port-to-port pass.

As the boat went by, the only person visible anywhere was sitting on
the foredeck, apparently operating a remote control device for the
autopilot. He waved, but we did not reciprocate.

Just when you think you've already seen it all...

The skipper, sitting on the foredeck, was probably meeting the minimum
definition of keeping watch while underway. Remote controls for
autopilots are common, and remotes for throttles and shifters are
becoming so as well. (see following item)

It sounds to me like a classic case of computeritis. A guy sets his
course into the plotter, interfaces with the AP, and then is extremely
reluctant to adjust the course he created for theoretically perfect
conditions to relate to a real world with other boaters in it. You can
spot these guys when they overtake way too close abeam. They will be
staring, as if hypnotized, at the instrumentation and acting almost
oblivious to the real world beyond the windshield. A lot of these guys
hope that the stand on boat in a crossing or overtaking situation will
give way so that the AP doesn't need to be reset or adjusted.

As far as remotes that transcend a simple "jog" funciton on the
autopilot:

Dave Bingham is the proud owner of "Bingo", a 70-foot custom
motoryacht designed by Brian Holland and produced by Oviatt Marine
Group. "Bingo" can be considered one of the more impressive vessels
in its class. ("Bingo" was the Seattle Yacht Club flagship for the
2004 Opening Day Parade.) Dave is fastidious, to put it mildly, about
the condition of his vessel. A speck of dirt would never find a soul
mate on "Bingo", and a scratch would be out of the question. Dave
sets a very high standard for the appearance and condition of his boat.

"Nobody realizes what this boat is about," said Dave. "It's the
result of two years of Brian and I working closely together. I went to
the Fort Lauderdale Boat Show five years in a row, and I've never
seen anything like this. Brian is a master designer, that's for sure.
He'd call me up in the middle of the night and we'd talk boat
design. There isn't another boat that does what this one does,
anywhere."

Dave Bingham is passionate about his gorgeous yacht, and has put
nothing but the finest systems and equipment aboard.

When not cruising throughout the Pacific Northwest, "Bingo" is
moored at a private dock in front of Bingham's waterfront home. Dave
backs her down between two finger piers, in a space just barely wider
than her beam, and often with a strong breeze on the port side. Dave
routinely performs this maneuver single-handed, and as if that
weren't impressive in and of itself, he is typically 25-feet feet or
more removed from the shifter and thruster controls while he is backing
into the slip!

Dave's experience defies everything we're supposed to "know"
about handling 70-footers. Yachts over 50 or 60-feet are often
considered too large to be handled by couple, and it is not unheard of
for boaters to hire a deckhand to assist. Some boaters would be more
comfortable hiring a professional skipper to run a 70-footer, primarily
for the challenges of close quarter operation. It is certainly uncommon
for a recreational yachtsman to single-hand a 70-footer, and even more
uncommon to make it look as easy as docking a 16-foot runabout.

Dave has a secret, of course, and we enthusiastically accepted an
invitation to learn more about the technology that allows Dave Bingham
to dock "Bingo" so very easily.

"Bingo" has both bow and stern thrusters, as well as twin engines
with electronic controls. The shifters and the thrusters are all
controlled by a wireless remote control unit, smaller than a deck of
cards, that hangs from a lanyard around Dave's neck. The system is
known as a "Yacht Controller," and is represented in the Pacific
Northwest by John Munroe of Ocean Currents Marine Electric.

We asked John Munroe about the product.

"We can hook the Yacht Controller to any electronic engine controls.
If a boater wants to upgrade from manual to electronic controls we can
do that too, and it runs about another $5000 for dual engines. The
thrusters are really easy to hook up because there's a joystick
station, and that's usually a three-wire station so we can hook right
in. The wireless remote communicates with a receiver, and we connect
the receiver to the control heads either on the flybridge or at the
lower helm. The receiver sends "ahead" and "astern" commands to
the shifters. It takes just about all day to hook one of these up, and
that installation service is free when a boater buys a Yacht
Controller."

John removed the thruster control joysticks and showed us a complex
circuit board that allowed the Yacht Controller to operate the
thrusters. Professional installation of the product would seem
extremely important.

"We range check every installation," said John Munroe, "and we
find the transmitter is always good for about 200 feet. It would be
possible, but not smart or legal, to operate the boat with nobody
aboard. If for any reason the signal should be interrupted, the
controls automatically return to neutral."

We asked, "What happens if the boater next door has a Yacht
Controller, and he or she is trying to send a different set of wireless
commands at the same time?"

"There are about 65,000 possible digital frequencies. It would be
virtually impossible for another unit to be coincidentally set to the
same frequency on a neighboring boat."

We asked about reliability.

"This is the same chip that Boeing uses for remote control cranes,
and it is used in hundreds of other remote control industrial
applications as well. This is a high quality, industrial technology
that has been adapted for the yachting world. I've installed five of
these systems in the local area so far, and you can be sure I'd be
the first to know if anybody were having a problem. We haven't had a
failure yet, and I don't expect any.
Even so, it's reassuring to know that the boat will simply go to
neutral if something ever did go wrong."

We asked Dave Bingham about his experience with the system.

"I've had the Yacht Controller since the beginning of summer. We
were out cruising for about two months. It got to the point where I did
almost every docking with the Yacht Controller. I originally bought it
because I have to back into this dock and there's only about a foot
and a half on either side. Visibility aft from either station is
restricted.
With the Yacht Controller, I can move back to the aft deck and still
maintain full control."

"I've been extremely pleased with the Yacht Controller,"
continued Dave. "It has solved a huge problem. I was originally going
to put stern controls on the boat, and that would have been about $7000
just for the engine controls alone. I would have needed to bring
thruster controls aft as well, and that would have been a lot of money
too. If I had stern controls for backing, I wouldn't be able to see
what was going on up at the front of the boat."

Dave observed that once the boat is in the slip, he can carry the Yacht
Controller onto the dock to assist in securing lines. "If the bow
starts to blow off, I just bring it back in. It can be very difficult
to man handle a boat this size. The Yacht Controller makes it possible
for me to take the boat out by myself, and I often do."

The proof of a pudding is in the eating, so Dave fired up "Bingo"
for a brief demonstration. The wind had set "Bingo" against her
starboard fenders, and snugged up the port mooring lines. Dave touched
the thruster controls on the transmitter, and "Bingo" moved to port
in her slip to release the tension on the lines. Dave tossed the
slackened lines from their cleats, and walked back to the covered aft
deck. "Bingo" began moving out into the lake.

"I've freaked a few people out," grinned Dave. "They can't
figure out who's driving the boat!"

Dave watched carefully as "Bingo" eased between the finger piers.
When the wind began pushing her back to starboard again, a deft touch
of the transmitter caused her to sidestep back to the center of the
slip. After clearing the slip by about 50 yards, Dave put "Bingo"
in reverse and began approaching his slip again.

"I'm a slow docker," said Dave. "I'm the guy who wants
everything perfect, and nobody can keep it that way but me." Dave
stood on the aft deck, keeping a wary eye on the approaching dock.
After we entered the slip, he glanced forward several times to be sure
that "Bingo" wasn't being blown to one side by the wind.

We entered and left the slip in perfect, fully controlled form. Once in
position, Dave used the Yacht Controller to shift "Bingo" ever so
slightly to allow us to refasten her mooring lines. The Yacht
Controller offered absolute control, absolutely as represented.

The weekend after we visited with Dave Bingham and John Munroe, we
happened to dock very near "Bingo" at the Port of Poulsbo. Dave had
put his boat at the head of a fairway, in a space just barely large
enough to accommodate the craft. During the weekend, several dock
walkers commented on "Bingo's" bristol appearance and impressive
lines. More than a few wondered aloud, "How did he get that great big
boat in here? He must have had to come in sideways!"

There's a very good chance he did just exactly that.

On Mon, 14 Mar 2005 21:08:30 -0500, Wayne.B
wrote:

~~ snippage ~~

Just when you think you've already seen it all...

It's pretty clear the guy was on geekeroids causing a bad case of
Remote Control Rage.

I know somebody who has a beater of a 24 footer that has more
state-of-the-art electronics on it that you could possibly shake a
stick at. You look at this boat and yo have to wonder how it floats,
but step aboard and it's like looking at the flight control panel of
an Airbus A300. Everything is automated, remoted, instrumented - you
name it.

I guess it all depends on your perspective.

Although it's pretty brainless operating in the manner you described.

Maybe it's Chuck's buddy that he wrote about a few months ago. :)

Later,

Tom

"Wayne.B" wrote in message
...
On Mon, 14 Mar 2005 21:13:56 -0800, JR North
wrote:

Sounds like some PWC idiot got his first boat. Ya shudda got his hull#
and reported him. No R/M for the throttle or shifter , I bet....

==================================================

It's hard to say. The apparent skipper certainly appeared old enough
to know better and the boat in question was 45+ feet. It is a virtual
certainty that there were no remote engine controls, sometimes in the
aft cockpit, but I've never seen them on the foredeck.


Might have been one of the wireless controls that are available as a
retrofit. My slip neighbor at Kingman had one installed on his 52 footer.
It allows remote control of shift and throttle for both engines, but not
rudder control. Still does not explain or excuse the erratic behavior.

Eisboch

On 14 Mar 2005 22:13:35 -0800, wrote:

The skipper, sitting on the foredeck, was probably meeting the minimum
definition of keeping watch while underway. Remote controls for
autopilots are common, and remotes for throttles and shifters are
becoming so as well.

======================================

I agree but the foredeck is not the ideal place to observe the track
of the boat, and it would take more than a few seconds to scramble
back to the helm in an emergency. I doubt that this particular boat
had full fly-by-wire controls but I know there are some very
sophisticated systems available nowadays. The most impressive I've
seen so far was on a LARGE boatyard travel lift. It was totally
operated by one guy on the ground with a remote control panel
suspended from shoulder straps. He said that they routinely haul and
launch large boats with just one person.

The skipper, sitting on the foredeck, was probably meeting the minimum
definition of keeping watch while underway. Remote controls for
autopilots are common, and remotes for throttles and shifters are
becoming so as well.



Wayne.B wrote:
I agree but the foredeck is not the ideal place to observe the track
of the boat

True

... and it would take more than a few seconds to scramble
back to the helm in an emergency.

Also true

... I doubt that this particular boat
had full fly-by-wire controls but I know there are some very
sophisticated systems available nowadays.

And the prices are coming down. That doesn't make it good sense to drive
the boat by remote from the foredeck in a narrow channel with constant
traffic!

We were sailing along in the Chesapeake on a sunny day and encountered a
large (40' or so) cruising sailboat that appeared to have nobody aboard.
Sails set, trucking along along on a close reach, aimed to pass us
pretty close, so I luffed up and let it pass, thinking to get a better
look and maybe radio the situation to somebody. Lo and behold, as we go
by, a head pops up out of the companionway and the rather irate skipper
starts chewing us out for violating his "right-of-way." He shouted
(among other things) "Can't you see my vessel is on autopilot?!?" I
didn't say anything, but my wife laughing at him did not improve his temper.

I wonder how long it took him to learn his lesson, and if he ran down
any smaller vessels in the process.

Fresh Breezes- Doug King

On Tue, 15 Mar 2005 09:48:30 -0500, DSK wrote:
"Can't you see my vessel is on autopilot?!?" I
didn't say anything, but my wife laughing at him did not improve his temper.

I wonder how long it took him to learn his lesson, and if he ran down
any smaller vessels in the process.

-----------------------------------------------

I know of several sailboat collisions on Long Island Sound where at
least one of the boats was on autopilot. One resulted in the fatality
of a well known racing skipper several years ago. In his case the
"autopilot" boat was an older yacht under power at night, and his
sailboat which sank, was also under power with inexperienced watch
standers on deck.

On Mon, 14 Mar 2005 21:08:30 -0500, Wayne.B
wrote:

Here's a new experience, just when you think you've already seen it
all.

Sunday afternoon we were traveling south on Florida's relatively
narrow, west coast Intracoastal Waterway. Traffic was relatively
heavy in both directions and since we were headed south, favored the
western (our right) side of the channel. At one point we noticed a
good sized motor yacht heading north about half a mile away. At first
he appeared to be heading to our side so we prepared to move left and
let him go to our starboard. As we moved left he moved back to the
center and then towards us again. We were closing at a combined speed
over 20 kts and I was preparing to sound the danger signal on the horn
as we moved right once again. At the last minute the oncoming boat
moved back to his right for a conventional port-to-port pass.

As the boat went by, the only person visible anywhere was sitting on
the foredeck, apparently operating a remote control device for the
autopilot. He waved, but we did not reciprocate.

Just when you think you've already seen it all...

That was me. Whats the problem? Jealous because im rich?