Sunburn!

[marisca]

Tuesday & Wednesday last week + today and my face is burning. It may not feel hot but .......

[mm5aho]

Some of that burning might have been from getting too close at Coulport?? Looks like a nice leisurely day trip up the Loch. Isn't AIS a pest? everyone can see where you go, what speed you did, what time you left and got back etc.
Also interesting to try to work out where the wind was, and how it changes direction in the loch.

[marisca]

I do have an off switch! Interesting that both MarineAIS and Shipfinder lost me before Loch Goil despite me continuing up past the entrance.

[cpedw]

I have a notion that some of these AIS sites depend on shore stations operated by keen amateurs for their data. I can imagine there's no-one in VHF range around there.
I haven't checked my first conjecture so it could be nothing to do with it.

[mm5aho]

Marine Traffic is perhaps the better of these and it does indeed rely on a wide range of shore based receiving stations, some of them amateur enthusiasts.
There is a vetting system for contributors, but I don't know how good that is.
It would be soon pretty obvious if someone fed in bogus data, but not immediately.

An advantage of some land receiving stations is their antenna height. A disadvantage is the distance from the sea for some of them. Oilrigs, ships at sea and others are also contributors.