Back Pocket Insurance
Written by: Peter Hallock
March 5th, 2024
Until I embark on my own Great Loop adventure, much of my boating has been in and around Long Island waters. This past summer we took our 24’ Scout from Mamaroneck, NY to Ocean Beach on Fire Island where we had rented a beach house. The long trip up the Sound to Orient Point was tedious but uneventful. Once inside the confines of Gardiner’s Bay it gets much more interesting and beautiful. Navigating with my Garmin was a breeze, that is, until we got to the Long Island Intercoastal Waterway, locally referred to as the “State” channel. The narrow channel runs from the Shinnecock Canal to Bellport Bay before it opens up to Great South Bay. It’s constantly shoaling despite significant and ongoing dredging and epitomizes Intracoastal Waterway challenges. Passing opposite Moriches Inlet is particularly troublesome. As we approached the inlet, I asked my son Dell to check the backup charts we carry because my Garmin wasn’t showing any ATONS.
“Dad, after that last mark it says see Note B which says mariners should obtain local knowledge before navigating this waterway!” Well, now we had a problem because I hadn't been through this passage in a few years. Fortunately, there was a lot of traffic in the area because the inlet is a huge fishing hotspot. I picked out a couple of boats our size hoping they possessed the “local knowledge” that I obviously lacked. Shockingly they turned hard to port where the Garmin and charts showed the channel running dead ahead. Trying to keep pace we passed fishermen drifting in the shallows on either side of us. This route took us south to the bay side entrance of the inlet before turning north again and back out to the channel about a mile east of where our diversion began. Fortunately, my solo trip back a week later was uneventful because I now had my own breadcrumbs to follow.
Dialing it forward a couple of months I got a call from the father of one of my son’s school chums. He asked if I would be interested in BETA testing a new navigational app that he and a coworker were developing. Enter Ditch. Essentially, the app lets you use other boaters’ breadcrumbs when you’re having one of the “oh sh!t” moments. Using historical AIS data generated by other vessels, Ditch decides who the frequent local boaters are and then uses Artificial Intelligence to generate a smooth Smart Path based on their transits.
Thinking ahead to my plans for a larger boat capable of doing the Great Loop, I began testing it on other known trouble spots up and down “the Ditch.” With phone in hand running Ditch and the Waterway Guide on my laptop I found Ditch to be amazingly consistent with navigation alerts and Bob423 tracks. Right away I could see the benefits of using a boating navigation app. It also seems to be some of the best boating navigation app pricing across the board at $30 a year.
This summer when I embark on my Great Loop cruising Ditch will definitely be in my back pocket for extra insurance.
