Bonsai Supply Issues! Do it Now

[River's Edge]

I was in the US Coast Guard, and my first station was at La Push, Washington.
How do you think I know this stuff?

Then you must fully appreciate the AIS benefit. Those that have it turned off stick out like sore thumbs. So, there is a chance you may have noted the southern salmon migration that occurs in coolers along with other items. It is nice to have the coast guard out there along with Fish and wild life officers. You may have noted the boat I chose was originally designed as a small craft for the US Coast Guard and built out of Bellingham, Washington. I actually bought it from a retired coast Guard Captain who lived in La Connor Washington. He told me they were well built for the Pacific Northwest. That was thirteen years ago and he was right, I have appreciated his wisdom one more than one occasion when the weather did not cooperate.

 

[ShadyStump]

Then you must fully appreciate the AIS benefit. Those that have it turned off stick out like sore thumbs. So, there is a chance you may have noted the southern salmon migration that occurs in coolers along with other items. It is nice to have the coast guard out there along with Fish and wild life officers. You may have noted the boat I chose was originally designed as a small craft for the US Coast Guard and built out of Bellingham, Washington. I actually bought it from a retired coast Guard Captain who lived in La Connor Washington. He told me they were well built for the Pacific Northwest. That was thirteen years ago and he was right, I have appreciated his wisdom one more than one occasion when the weather did not cooperate.

We routinely dealt with that salmon migration you're talking about.
La Push is the Quillute indian reservation, and had a mall fishing fleet. Because the reservations in the region are subject to limited law enforcement smugglers would feel like those were the best ports of entry. I'm half convinced that's the only reason that tiny little small boat station still exists.

And I'd trust any small boat that's good enough for the CG. Their cutters, on the other hand, oi.

 

[Bonsai Nut]

Then you must fully appreciate the AIS benefit. Those that have it turned off stick out like sore thumbs.

Every now and then someone mentions something in an off-hand way on this site and it is a "holy crap!" moment for me.

Vessel Tracker

 

[River's Edge]

Every now and then someone mentions something in an off-hand way on this site and it is a "holy crap!" moment for me.

Vessel Tracker

Reminds me of when as a teenager I commented to my dad that the new car could probably outrun the local police!
His comment was, "it is tough to outrun a radio son!" Remembered that comment for quite a while, lets say close to sixty years.

AIS is a huge safety feature when caught in the fog and crossing commercial marine traffic lanes. Combined with Radar adds a significant safety factor. When satellites or surveillance craft see boats but not signals it becomes interesting! Also, no longer reliant on radio broadcast for positioning.
Knowing the size of the vessel, its speed and direction also helps. You can set the guard zone so alarm sounds if another vessel enters a certain radius around your vessel similar to radar.
Now if only it would let me know just before a fish bites!

 

[Bonsai Nut]

Reminds me of when as a teenager I commented to my dad that the new car could probably outrun the local police!
His comment was, "it is tough to outrun a radio son!" Remembered that comment for quite a while, lets say close to sixty years.

AIS is a huge safety feature when caught in the fog and crossing commercial marine traffic lanes. Combined with Radar adds a significant safety factor. When satellites or surveillance craft see boats but not signals it becomes interesting! Also, no longer reliant on radio broadcast for positioning.
Knowing the size of the vessel, its speed and direction also helps. You can set the guard zone so alarm sounds if another vessel enters a certain radius around your vessel similar to radar.
Now if only it would let me know just before a fish bites!

I thought it was cool that is shows a pic of the boat, destination, etc.

If I ordered a container of something from China, it would be cool to watch it creep across the globe

 

[ShadyStump]

You'd be surprised how many vessels still don't have AIS capabilities.
I said earlier that the Quillutes had (very) small fishing fleet. Not a single vessel had anything more than the old ELTs if anything. Now that was 2011 to 2013, but I doubt much has changed in 10 years.
So far as I know NOW (been a little while) there's no AIS requirement- at least by the US- and no subsidies for private operators to upgrade, so a significant part of sea traffic is still without. I'm pretty sure it's still only used in major ports for the most part.
Hell, when I was in, we did it all pretty much the old fashioned way with StS radio. My station didn't even have access to AIS or anything similar, and most coasties suck at DFing emergency beacons. It's not a fun one to train on, so doesn't happen much.

 

[Shogun610]

Yes we’ve made some…………arrangements for more supplies in bulk orders.

 

[ShadyStump]

Yes we’ve made some…………arrangements for more supplies in bulk orders.

Legit

 

[Shogun610]

Legit

Ya superfly is tight w Kifu. It’s a PA thing

 

[leatherback]

When satellites or surveillance craft see boats but not signals it becomes interesting!

Hm.. This implies you mean to say there is an autonomous detection setup, without the ship sending notification of position? Wonder how they do it.

When I lived in Australia I spent a few hours trying to locate a few japanese "fishers" in an empty ocean when "some conservation groups" throught something fishy was going on. We had a hard time finding them using satellite imagery.

 

[ShadyStump]

Hm.. This implies you mean to say there is an autonomous detection setup, without the ship sending notification of position? Wonder how they do it.

When I lived in Australia I spent a few hours trying to locate a few japanese "fishers" in an empty ocean when "some conservation groups" throught something fishy was going on. We had a hard time finding them using satellite imagery.

Almost all modern commercial vessels have a satellite GPS transponder that allows their location to be monitored. You can outfit your personal small craft with it as well. Some nations have legal requirements surrounding this, and some very busy ports require it themselves.
To my knowledge there's no international requirement and no strong push for one, I suspect because so many people in the world still rely on small time independently operated fishing and shipping.

 

[leatherback]

Almost all modern commercial vessels have a satellite GPS transponder that allows their location to be monitored.

naturally. But the comment was that sattelites would see them, without boats giving a signal. That triggered my curiosity. A GPS transponder is just an active signal given off by the boat. As I work in the earth observation field, I was curious to know whether there was a new tool about that I was not aware of.

 

[ShadyStump]

naturally. But the comment was that sattelites would see them, without boats giving a signal. That triggered my curiosity. A GPS transponder is just an active signal given off by the boat. As I work in the earth observation field, I was curious to know whether there was a new tool about that I was not aware of.

Not that I'm aware of. If your experience is mostly with large busy ports where radar and satellite monitoring are constant, though, you could be forgiven for thinking it happens everywhere.

 

[Maiden69]

I guess the good ol 8822 and turface will be in short supply

nope, thankfully there are quite a few better choices.

 

[River's Edge]

When satellites or surveillance craft see boats but not signals it becomes interesting!

Anomalies stick out, one layer shows a certain pattern of activity the other layer shows a different pattern. It is not necessary for all surveillance options to pick up the same signal. Boats transiting international waters or otherwise emit many signals that can be used for location and or identification.
Engine sounds, ship to shore radio signals, Radar echoes, AIS signals, cell phone operation.
Nearby boats, Surveillance planes, drones can all be equipped with AIS which immediately shows wether a transponder is operating on the sighted vessel.
When the chart plotter is configured to show multiple layers, the anomalies stand out. I made this comment because I have observed this when using my own boat. The AIS chart shows three boats and I see four on the radar chart layer. If I can observe this on my pleasure boat, I am pretty sure the coast guard or patrol aircraft can do the same thing.
Information is filtered and compared every day by those who are curious or just observant.
You seem to have narrowed in on your implication of what I actually said. Sorry if it confused you.
No grand conspiracy theory here!
To be clear if multiple signals are charted in layers on a plotter the anomalies can be noted. So satellite data and surveillance craft data con be compared for anomalies. And signals can come from a number of sources. Modern day marine plotters can be configured to show data layers from multiple sources or they can be configured to display them in multiple screens/pages.

 

[chicago1980]

I don’t want this to come across as complaining because we still have it very good in North America compared to many other places in the world, but for the sake of the thread here is a description of what i have experienced:

Japan Post stopped shipping to Canada over a year ago now. This was supposed to be ‘temporary’ due to COVID. I speak to Japan Post and Canada Post every single monday for an update, and it does not seem like the service will resume any time soon.

FedEx and DHL are the only options in most cases, and their prices have increased dramatically :

On Wednesday i paid $3000CAD to ship an order that cost me $750CAD for the EXACT same size and greater weight last weight (both with FedEx)

Today I shipped a pot from Japan that i purchased 8 months ago, and I paid $240CAD to ship a box with FedEx (4-5 days) which cost me $48 with Japan Post (10 days) last year for the EXACT size and greater weight. ….that $250 Nakawatari cost me in total $500 instead of $300

BUSINESS DECISIONS
Bringing in tools from Kaneshin has been impossible due to shipping cost — that’s on hold for now.

I’m still bringing in plants from Japan because I’ve already purchased the inventory at auctions/nurseries all year, and the cost of having somebody maintain them in Japan for a year would amount to the difference in shipping (and who knows if the shipping price will go back to ‘normal’ by this time next year, if ever). Moreover, many species have a 10mm (0.4”) limit, and there would be a risk that some species would get thicker than 10mm over the course of a year

I have shipped from Japan since early 2014 and unfortunately shipping prices the last 2 years have risen in most cases 3 to 5x in price. which is substantial, while I do receive my orders in pristine condition, it is still challenging to accept the extra shipping cost.