Cap'n Scuba Steve
Active Member
Jeff: It was quite the experience each and every time! Approximately 100,000 vessels travel through that strait every year, and at it's most narrow point it is only 1.5NM wide which poses quite a challenge when you transit that area at night. I remember my first transit, the Captain of my ship had asked that a video monitor be placed in his sleeping quarters of his stateroom so if he was asleep he could wake up and at least have a glance at all the contacts on the radar. The Executive Officer was on the bridge while the Captain was getting some sleep, and I remember the Captain waking up and coming up to the bridge in a panic and asking everyone what was wrong with our radar. The XO told him to "look outside" and he quickly realized that the radar wasn't broken - there were just that many surface contacts! He had been stationed on ships on the East Coast his entire career, and this was his first West Coast ship. So he had never made the transit before. They use a Traffic Separation Scheme which works pretty well and in most cases you cannot overtake a vessel except in a couple of areas. The Navy largely ignored AIS as they weren't legally required to use it (and still aren't) but have said that they will now use it in congested areas after the John S. McCain collision three years ago.
Stephen
Stephen