"Harlan Lachman" wrote

Roger, I don't remember who it was who responded to me, but his point,
expressed more succinctly and powerfully than my summation was that it
was irresponsible to boat off the coast of Maine in a fog and hope
others spent the money and developed the expertise to prevent accidents.

Actually, what is irresponsible, according to the rules of the road and
centuries of common law, is proceeding at a speed that will not allow you to
stop in half of your visibility. Radar, which is only an aid to navigation,
lets people do this at a lower level of anxiety so they do. It has not yet
been established that radar is a substitute for visibility but law and
reality diverge as is usually the case.

Even in Maine, I have seldom seen it so thick that I could not do a complete
U turn at normal speed in half my visibility. I'm out in the open cockpit
where my vision and hearing are not attenuated by a pilothouse. Operating
without radar, I'm actually technically responsible whereas the guy in his
trawler yacht with all the bells and whistles over running his stopping and
maneuvering distance by three or four times is not. GPS, of course, has
made the situation much worse. Lots of people out there following the
little cursor around and full speed. How many of them do you think actually
know how to use the radar in a way that would let them correctly analyze and
respond to a crossing situation? Paradoxically, as vessels get larger and
safer for their occupants, they become more of a hazard to others.

I'd certainly agree with you from the vantage point of a larger, faster,
heavier, and less maneuverable boat but I don't present much of a hazard to
other boats likely to be out there. Any irresponsibility issue arises out
of hazard to my passengers and possibility of needing rescue from the many
who are being technically and actually irresponsible by using navigational
aids to proceed with too much speed and too little look out. I have a radar
reflector, they should see me.

Practically, radar is of much more limited use on a sailboat than a
powerboat. Proper use requires constant plotting and tracking. That would
put me down below relying on a generally inexperienced guest to take the
helm and lookout. Sure, it would tell me that other boats are out there but
I generally know that because I hear them.

There are fogs and there are fogs. Visibility is usually a lot better than
it seems. There are days, times, and places, where I wouldn't go; just as
there are weather conditions that would keep me anchored or tied up. The
mere operation of a boat in restricted visibility is not, by itself,
irresponsible.

Sure, there is a level of risk, and that level of risk would be lower if in
installed radar. The argument that someone is irresponsible simply because
there is a an available way to lessen risk is spurious. At any level of
vessel size and complexity there will always be more equipment and more
safety that you can build in. The ocean is a dangerous place and yachting
is optional so, by that standard, just being a cruiser is irresponsible.

--
Roger Long