Hey Charlie,

Nice shot, what a great looking boat... That headsail looks pretty racy, what sort of sailcloth is that?

I've used the Vesper Watchmate on a couple of other boats, that's a very slick unit. I agree, I can live without the additional clutter on the plotter. Your description of the situation off Baha highlights one of the biggest advantages to AIS, the ability to easily make contact and elicit a response from merchant vessels... In open waters, I find most of them to be very cooperative, and more than willing to alter course a bit to help you out as you described... Most recently, I had a similar situation in the NW Providence Channel one night, passing by the turning point off Great Stirrup Cay, and being squeezed between a few ships heading both east and west... One guy was coming up from behind on an intersecting course and was really gonna present a problem, as we were sailing DDW and had little room to maneuver as well, but after giving him a call, he was happy to oblige and make a slight course change that had him crossing behind us...

I think one of the biggest upsides with AIS, at least in a situation like that offshore, is that it helps engender a bit more 'respect' for cruising sailors from merchant shipping, perhaps helping to make us appear a bit more 'professional' in their eyes...

best regards,

Jon