"Evan Gatehouse" wrote in message news:

Third, it's been my experience (30+ years at sea) that almost every
merchant vessel at sea maintains a -very good- watch and lookout. There

Not in my experience. I've often called up passing merchant vessels at
sea on VHF 16 and it usually takes several calls for about 10 minutes
before _some_ will reply. I've asked how my visibility on radar is and
got the reply: "let me warm it up....".

Couple points here to keep in mind.
On most ships, English is not the "first" language and the quality of
"English" lessens as you go from Master to 3rd Mate.
If you run across a ship that doesn't have at least one radar running,
normally you will find that they will be on standby, which means no
"warm-up" needed. However, depending on the set, there's a good chance that
the set itself will not be set on a range where you will be seen if you are
close (at sea range, 12 or 24 mi.) so adjustments will be, or may be
needed.
Also, keep in mind that depending on the radar in use (10cm or 3cm) in some
conditions you may not be visible at all due to sea return or age and
condition of the set, plus the particular operators abilities.
Radar is no more foolproof than anything else, so just because one ship says
he has no problem or a great problem seeing you, doesn't mean ALL will have
the same results, even under the same conditions.


otn