Donal wrote:
"Joe" wrote in message
om...

"Donal" wrote in message

...

"
Well, .... common sense suggests to me that your radar cannot see

below

your bow.


Your an idiot Donal, I can see everything in front of my bow, that
why we usually mount radars at the top of the wheelhouse, true I might
not see something 10 foot in front of the bow but I will know it's
there because I saw it from a mile to 10 foot in front of the bow.

No he's not, and no you can't, but considering the areas you are
running, what you miss will normally not affect your operation .... you
do take that chance, however.



Do you place a lookout on the bow in restricted visibility?

LOL He's on the bow, Donal .... the fact that he's in a wheelhouse, is
immaterial.




Common sense also suggests that, in a river, boats could come out from

the

side, suddenly.


Ever hear 4 or 5 detroit diesels running at full speed? you can hear
them a mile away. Only problems I ever had were duck hunters that
pulled flat bottom boats up on the bank. Some times they get upset by
a wake. Most the locals and the guides know commerical boats run these
rivers and expect huge wakes. And find protected places to pull the
boats up.



So you rely on the fact that locals will recognise the sound of your
engines??

Rely? I doubt it, but know that they will hear and understand it, yes
...... your point being?




I sail near the Houston ship channel all the time. Several time I've
been fog bound, I did not have radar at the time. Just got out of the
channel and wated it out. But all the ships keep running at full speed
and send huge wakes out of the channel. I know if Im near the channel
these wake will come after the noise of the ship passing. It's one of
those common sence things.

Check out a coastal pilot for the Missippi delta area and you will
see that they have thick fog around 110 days a year on average. Is all
work suppose to stop?


No. The Coll Regs don't say that you have to *STOP*. However, they do say
that you should proceed at a safe speed. I cannot see that 25 kts could be
consifered a safe speed in fog.

\
For most recreational boaters, I wouldn't consider 3k to be a safe speed
( for Neal, anything above 1.0 k would be excessive), but for the
guy/gal doing it, day in day out over the same route on the same boat, I
would, with the understanding that sometimes, it wasn't.


How long do you think you would stay employed
for an oil company if you stopped every time fog blew in.


It depends on whether the oil company believed that it is acceptable to
observe the Coll Regs.

LOL Don't be so naive. Most companies are run by accountants or
engineers who have zero concern for anything but the bottom dollar.



You stop for
24 hours to wait out fog you cost your customer 45,000 dollars to
100,000 dollars depending on the rig. And the
most expensive rigs are in the mississippi canyon area were the water
is 1400 foot deep. The companies knew my boat would do the job. That
whay I always worked the big money rigs like Bull Winkle.


Aaaahhhhh! Now, I understand. .... Coll Regs have a price????

LOL COLREGS may not have a price, but employment in different fields does!!!
Once again, you both are arguing the same issue from different
perspectives.....ain'tagonnawoik.... there's no excuse for a
recreational boater to be running 25k in fog .... there's a valid reason
for a commercial guy/gal to do so, but he/she needs to fully understand
the consequences, and accept them.
You also need to understand that for the average recreational boater to
try to do so, is totally stupid, but for the commercial guy who is
running constantly, day in and day out, it's a calculated risk.




Why in the hell do you think radars are put on boats? Is it just a
gadget to impress people like Bobspirt uses his?

Or is it a tool to help you complete a task?


Radar is a tool. However, Radar is only *one* tool.

Regards



Donal
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