Sat Jul 17 2021
My airline pilot Eric flies Boeing 737s. Neil used to fly 747s but now is piloting the Airbus 350. Each of these aircraft has an enormous amount of redundancy in safety critical systems, and each has what’s called a minimum equipment list (MEL). If one of the items on that list doesn’t come to the party they either can’t takeoff or must look for the closest practical landing site or whatever. Respecting that MEL can spell the difference between a successful outcome and a disaster.
When I look around JollyDogs and consider the likelihood of a component or system failure, I consider how that might impact our chances for a successful outcome, especially in our current predicament. Then I consider what devices and systems have proven to be the most valuable at assuring a successful outcome since this situation manifested.
I swear at it a lot but I also swear by it, and so does Isabel. Our Iridium Go has been the most critical piece of kit for helping us work our way through this drama. Couple that magical piece of communications gear with the excellent weather forecasting available with a PredictWind subscription and it gets even more valuable. Throw down the $140/month for the unlimited data plan which also includes 150 voice comm minutes and now we’re talking an invaluable resource for situational awareness, routine and emergency email and text communications, and voice communications for calling Isabel’s dad (he’s kind of old) or dealing with medical emergencies. The email client is pretty crap, the texting app does idiotic things like cutting off long texts even though we’ve set a limit at 1000 characters, etc. Bloody hate the apps, but love having a satellite communications device that just plain works. If Elon Musk doesn’t come through with at-sea Starlink broadband comms, we’ll stick with Iridium and pay for a decent email client service - there are several out there to choose from.
Another piece of kit that gives us all kinds of peace of mind is our Vesper Marine XB8000 AIS transponder. Here in the North Pacific the visibility is terrible with thick fog much of the time. It would be nuts to be out here without a transponder which enables a ship’s watch officer to see and avoid us miles in advance. Just a 1 degree turn is all it takes if it happens 10 miles out.
Our ICOM 506 VHF radio with AIS receiver makes DSC calling a ship easy so we can discuss any concerns about safe separation. Ships respond to DSC calls and are generally very helpful and friendly.
Finally we’ve got a great radar reflector. Isabel did the pushups on that, and happened upon Stan Honey’s testing and review of the various devices available for small pleasure yachts (www.honeynav.com). A few nights ago while sailing through fog thick enough to spread on a cracker like peanut butter, I called a ship and asked the watch officer if he could see our AIS data. Yes, he said. Next I asked if he had been able to observe us on radar. For quite some time, he said. That made me feel better. He passed four miles astern.
Hitting something hard and crushing in a lower bow section is a scary thing, but something we’ll survive just fine. Getting run over by a big ship is likely something that would be the end of us and our wonderful JollyDogs. There are a lot of big ships out here.
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