I to like the latest greatest electronic devices, and will have an AIS unit as soon as I get back in the water, just because it makes it easier to communicate with other vessels. However, I would not consider it to be for "collision avoidance" that's the captains job. I boat in a very busy shipping area and have never needed to avoid a collision with a ship. In the open ocean a radar plot tells me most of what I need to know about aproaching ships, but it would be nice to call them by name and tell them my intentions. But even ships that won't respond don't really pose a threat to a boater, unless he (the boater) does something unexpected, like turn across the bow of the ship, that gets them excited (talk to a ship pilot sometime). If you like using your auto pilot and leaving the helm, (we seldom do) just set your zone alarm on the radar where you're comfortable (an auxillary horn helps, louder). Speaking of comfort, I suppose some folks are a little more comfortable around big ships than others. A lot of small boat captains get nervous when a ship is three miles off and aproaching, I get nervous when I get rolled by the bow wave. There's just really not much to be afraid of. Your still more likely to be killed going to the corner store. _________________________________________________________________ Talk now to your Hotmail contacts with Windows Live Messenger. http://clk.atdmt.com/MSN/go/msnnkwme0020000001msn/direct/01/?href=http://get.live.com/messenger/overview