Radar - andyone have/use it?
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dlandersson
- Admiral
- Posts: 5038
- Joined: Fri Aug 27, 2010 10:00 am
- Sailboat: MacGregor 26X
- Location: Michigan City
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rsvpasap
- First Officer
- Posts: 253
- Joined: Fri Dec 13, 2013 2:05 pm
- Sailboat: MacGregor 26X
- Location: Seattle, WA
Re: Radar - andyone have/use it?
I had raymarine radar for a few years. This was during a time when I was recurringly underway at night, or in the rain, or in the fog. I found it moderately useful If I was going into areas where I had never previously traveled, but when I refit the boat last year, I did not reinstall it because my sailing activities have become more conservative and I now rarely have to adhere to a travel/cruising schedule. Also I have moved away from using the chart plotter and now primarily rely on navionics on the phone and a Samsung tablet.
In my area, it is very very common for boats, including small boats, to have radar. For example, see the attached article. There have been occasions where radar was extremely useful such as in situations where the fog never lifted the entire day and I had to make a transit. I'm in Puget Sound, San Juan Islands, BC Gulf Islands, so there can be big ships, military ships, cruise ships. I have now reached the point that if I am actually dependent upon radar for navigation, I sit tight until conditions improve. Also, one of the biggest issues is debris and deadheads after very high tides or heavy rain. I did not find radar much help with that.
I mounted it about 7 ft up on the mast so that it was relatively easy to remove for raising and lowering. Even with Wi-Fi data connectivity, you will still need a substantial power cable running to the dome. That proved to be a piece of work to run behind the lining. If I were doing it over again, would probably mount it on a pole on the stern. I recently installed starlink mini and a weather station on the stern and those installations were comparatively a breeze.
In my area, it is very very common for boats, including small boats, to have radar. For example, see the attached article. There have been occasions where radar was extremely useful such as in situations where the fog never lifted the entire day and I had to make a transit. I'm in Puget Sound, San Juan Islands, BC Gulf Islands, so there can be big ships, military ships, cruise ships. I have now reached the point that if I am actually dependent upon radar for navigation, I sit tight until conditions improve. Also, one of the biggest issues is debris and deadheads after very high tides or heavy rain. I did not find radar much help with that.
I mounted it about 7 ft up on the mast so that it was relatively easy to remove for raising and lowering. Even with Wi-Fi data connectivity, you will still need a substantial power cable running to the dome. That proved to be a piece of work to run behind the lining. If I were doing it over again, would probably mount it on a pole on the stern. I recently installed starlink mini and a weather station on the stern and those installations were comparatively a breeze.