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I'm not sure if you're being serious, but the way "autopilot" works in a private yacht is the captain turns it on and goes below deck and gets drunk with the re

I'm not sure if you're being serious, but the way "autopilot" works in a private yacht is the captain turns it on and goes below deck and gets drunk with the rest of the crew. It just maintains a heading towards a destination at that point. You learn very quickly on the water to get out of the way of large private yachts when in open waters. There is literally no one at the helm. Even if they did notice you, they aren't in a position to halt the boats travel.

mike_d 4y ago
You left out the part that if there is a collision or loss of life the captain goes to prison.
- s1artibartfast 4y ago
  Same with cars
  - vkou 4y ago
    Short of being drunk, it's pretty difficult to go to prison for killing someone in a car, even if you were driving like a moron.
    - s1artibartfast 4y ago
      Not my experience. I knew a kid who went to prison for years after hitting a biker in black with no reflector at night.
      - vkou 4y ago
        Was the biker the police chief's son-in-law, or some rot like that? Did the driver have a few down at the local, but didn't quite blow a 0.08? Most hit-and-runs don't even result in jail time[1]. But sure, I can believe that hitting and killing the wrong person may once in a blue moon result in the law coming down on you like a ton of bricks. [1] https://abcnews.go.com/US/hit-run-drivers-kill-people-jail-time-rarely/story?id=61845988 https://abcnews.go.com/US/hit-run-drivers-kill-people-jail-t...
        s1artibartfast 4y ago
        I read the whole article twice but didn't see anything saying that "Most hit-and-runs don't even result in jail time“. It basically says that statistics on conviction are unknown, and sometimes people don't see jail time. And no, the driver wasn't drinking. They were 17 at the time and went to prison instead of college. I remember it because they had a soccer scholarship. I was scared because it could have easily have been me going to prison
  - AlotOfReading 4y ago
    Drivers get so much leeway that it's not even funny. Commercial air pilots get their licenses temporarily suspended if they're simply accused of being intoxicated.
gabesullice 4y ago
Autopilot in planes is not remotely as you described. It is used to reduce cognitive load precisely so pilots can pay more attention to higher cognitive demand tasks than maintaining straight and level flight. Such as collision avoidance, radio communication, navigation, briefing, etc. Your point only alleges that amateur yacht drivers act irresponsibly, not that naval autopilot systems are inherently unsafe.
- ceejayoz 4y ago
  Garmin released a product that does the radio comms, navigation, and landing in an emergency. https://discover.garmin.com/en-US/autonomi/ https://discover.garmin.com/en-US/autonomi/
  - tjohns 4y ago
    If by "radio comms", you mean playing a pre-recorded emergency message on a loop telling everyone to get out of the way. It can't visually identify non-ADS-B traffic (and I'm not even sure yet if it will avoid ADS-B equipped traffic?), it can't comply with ATC clearances, it can't coordinate with other pilots in the pattern, and it will happily fly your aircraft right into potentially-fatal icing conditions. It certainly can't be used during routine flight. Garmin Autoland is a wonderful piece of engineering, but even at best it's not a replacement for what a pilot would normally be doing to safely navigate. It's strictly there as a last-resort measure if the pilot is incapacitated.
    - lsh123 4y ago
      … and it will happily fly you into a construction crane that was notam’d a couple weeks back ;)
- sidewndr46 4y ago
  You're 100% correct, but my point is still valid: "autopilot" on a yacht and what tells calls "autopilot" are totally unrelated.
jonny_eh 4y ago
Luckily the seas are very big, so there's much less of a chance of a collision. Not zero though.
- awhitby 4y ago
  The extra dimensionality of roads < seas < skies help a lot. Though I suppose various standard corridors and channels collapse those dimensions somewhat.

mike_d 4y ago

You left out the part that if there is a collision or loss of life the captain goes to prison.

s1artibartfast 4y ago
Same with cars
- vkou 4y ago
  Short of being drunk, it's pretty difficult to go to prison for killing someone in a car, even if you were driving like a moron.
  - s1artibartfast 4y ago
    Not my experience. I knew a kid who went to prison for years after hitting a biker in black with no reflector at night.
    - vkou 4y ago
      Was the biker the police chief's son-in-law, or some rot like that? Did the driver have a few down at the local, but didn't quite blow a 0.08? Most hit-and-runs don't even result in jail time[1]. But sure, I can believe that hitting and killing the wrong person may once in a blue moon result in the law coming down on you like a ton of bricks. [1] https://abcnews.go.com/US/hit-run-drivers-kill-people-jail-time-rarely/story?id=61845988 https://abcnews.go.com/US/hit-run-drivers-kill-people-jail-t...
      - s1artibartfast 4y ago
        I read the whole article twice but didn't see anything saying that "Most hit-and-runs don't even result in jail time“. It basically says that statistics on conviction are unknown, and sometimes people don't see jail time. And no, the driver wasn't drinking. They were 17 at the time and went to prison instead of college. I remember it because they had a soccer scholarship. I was scared because it could have easily have been me going to prison
- AlotOfReading 4y ago
  Drivers get so much leeway that it's not even funny. Commercial air pilots get their licenses temporarily suspended if they're simply accused of being intoxicated.

gabesullice 4y ago

Autopilot in planes is not remotely as you described. It is used to reduce cognitive load precisely so pilots can pay more attention to higher cognitive demand tasks than maintaining straight and level flight. Such as collision avoidance, radio communication, navigation, briefing, etc. Your point only alleges that amateur yacht drivers act irresponsibly, not that naval autopilot systems are inherently unsafe.

ceejayoz 4y ago
Garmin released a product that does the radio comms, navigation, and landing in an emergency. https://discover.garmin.com/en-US/autonomi/ https://discover.garmin.com/en-US/autonomi/
- tjohns 4y ago
  If by "radio comms", you mean playing a pre-recorded emergency message on a loop telling everyone to get out of the way. It can't visually identify non-ADS-B traffic (and I'm not even sure yet if it will avoid ADS-B equipped traffic?), it can't comply with ATC clearances, it can't coordinate with other pilots in the pattern, and it will happily fly your aircraft right into potentially-fatal icing conditions. It certainly can't be used during routine flight. Garmin Autoland is a wonderful piece of engineering, but even at best it's not a replacement for what a pilot would normally be doing to safely navigate. It's strictly there as a last-resort measure if the pilot is incapacitated.
  - lsh123 4y ago
    … and it will happily fly you into a construction crane that was notam’d a couple weeks back ;)
sidewndr46 4y ago
You're 100% correct, but my point is still valid: "autopilot" on a yacht and what tells calls "autopilot" are totally unrelated.

jonny_eh 4y ago

Luckily the seas are very big, so there's much less of a chance of a collision. Not zero though.

awhitby 4y ago
The extra dimensionality of roads < seas < skies help a lot. Though I suppose various standard corridors and channels collapse those dimensions somewhat.