"Scott Vernon" wrote in
:

What would you have done differently, if anything, without radar? Did
you ring your bell?

We really don't want to know, Scotty.


Bertie
Scotty

"Jeff Morris" jeffmo@NoSpam-sv-lokiDOTcom wrote in message
...
"otnmbrd" wrote in message news:y9GWa.1579
I got a glimpse
of a bridge, tooted, and hugged the side of the channel - it
turned
out to be a Coast
Guard boat - I never picked it up on radar even though I knew it
was
there, and they
never
signaled.

I would give someone serious thought as to why you never saw them
on radar.... wrong range? not tuned? blended in with the shoreline?
Have a feeling there's something to be learned here.....

Much to be learned ... The radar is a 4 year old Ray SL 72 on default
settings, auto gain.
The range was 3/4 mile because I was using it more for navigation -
finding the buoys and
ranging the islands. I was also more concerned with what might be
out in
the main ship
channel that lay ahead than what was immediately in front of me in
the
side channel. At
that range, the three pairs of channel buoys were all fairly tight on
the
screen - I
really should have been at 1/2 or 1/4 mile range in the channel, and
doing
a knot less so
there'd be time to actually analyze the screen.

Also, working some of the time distance, 10 minutes earlier there was
no
fog, 5 minutes
later it was patchy, then within about 2 minutes it went to 1/4 mile.
It
was only when I
realized how close the CG boat had come before I identify them
clearly
that I realized it
was down below 200 yards. It that point, I reduced the range and
would
have picked up
the second boat but heard its engine first.

The fog stayed thick as I rather nervously crossed the main channel.
Another reminder -
its exceptionally difficult to hold a course when there are no
landmarks
at all. I should
have used the autopilot so I could focus more on the radar while my
wife
was the visual
lookout. In about 10 minutes we were closer to the airport in
shallower
(warmer) water so
the fog thinned a bit - 1/4 mile visibility seems easy after a
whiteout!
I had the time
now to play with the radar - with the flat seas I could have had the
gain
higher than
"auto"

BTW, the flood tide had started about an hour earlier - is that what
brought the fog in,
or was it just due to the rain stopping? The spot where this occured
was
right at the
entrance to the harbor. Perhaps a coincidence - on several other
occasions over the years
the fog has clamped down on us quickly in the same area - always with
interesting results!


As we exited Nubble Channel at about 5 knots (4 on the GPS) I
heard
another engine and
tooted, we got a reply and a small ferry (100 feet, 100 tons)
emerged,
about 150 yards
to
our left, doing maybe 6-8 knots. For a few seconds I thought
they
would let us go
ahead
(we were crossing from their right) but they held speed and turn
to
the port. We had
no
choice but to use reverse and let them pass closely in front of
us.
From the time we