1666: Great Fire of
London - caused by new oven technology
1777: First Marine Chronograph Patented
1888: Bonita hand built by craftsmen at Arnside, Cumbria
1999: Mobile Internet starts in Beta test
In her 125th
year, Bonita now carries echoes of all these events as she sails round
Britain. At the time she was built, she
was ‘state of the art’ for a gentleman’s cruiser. As much skill, effort and creative problem-solving went into her construction as went into the crafting of the computer software this old lady is carrying aboard - or for the new technology of baking bread..
Once GPS position
keeping became commonplace, one of the first maritime extensions was the AIS system. This
was originally designed for large ships to transmit short range ‘pings’ of
their position, speed and heading. Any
ship within radio range could pick up these short messages and then,
visually or automatically, work out whether a collision was going to happen —
and take avoiding action if necessary. The same
equipment transmits & receives and is compulsory on all registered merchant ships.
For cost reasons,
Bonita only has a receive capability, but this will be enough to stop her
being run down in Bristol Channel fog. Much
easier than shining a torch on her mainsail— which we've done on more than one
occasion!
Early on, some clever
techie realised, that if they could receive these tiny AIS messages at a shore-based radio
station. They could then display ship positions live on a computer - and nowadays send them onto the Internet.
Go to http://www.marinetraffic.com/ais/
and have a play – you’ll be astounded by the detail. You
can also download Marinetraffic for your Android phone or tablet from here. If you’re still on old technology, it’s
available for the Apple iPhone here. If you really want a great view on your PC or
tablet, get the Google Earth 3D extension from here.
Zoom in on the English Channel or Shanghai. See the live position of every ship in the area, then right click to see their track, their pictures and ship
details. You can even add waypoints and calculate
arrival times. If you search for Bonita‑Yawl
(not ‘Yawl Bonita’), you'll see her position if she’s transmitting. If she hasn't for 24 hours, it will say ‘Out of Range’. It will also tell you the last time she transmitted.
The picture above shows her journey today from Iron Wharf Boatyard to her mooring (click the picture for a much higher resolution).
So if she only has a
receive capability, how is Bonita doing this? Well the answer is the Google
Android Phone that Mike or his crew is carrying, and the mAIS Self Reporting
app which you can download from here. Bonita has her own MMSI number (or at least her VHF radio does) — 235098433
— and you can search on Marinetraffic using this instead of her name.
As long as she’s within range of a cellular network (which is almost all
the time), Mike or his crew’s phone will send out her speed, position and
heading every 15 minutes. The messages
are tiny, so the cost is negligible with a UK data plan; the power consumption
is low enough to only need to recharge the phone once a day.
More on Bonita’s electrical systems in a
later blog.
This requires a little mental effort as the yard seems comfortable and safe. There is a well stocked chandlers and a pub within easy walking distance. There is also mains water, electricity and clean(ish) toilets. There are lots of interesting boat restoration projects to look at in various stages of hope or despair. What more can a troubled sailor ask for? The river here never gets rough, and indeed at low tide there is hardly any river. Many boats and their owners get cosseted by these simple luxuries and seem never to leave the yard at all. 
