" wrote in
oups.com:

...
Sitting at the nav station typing 500 word posts and looking at a
RADAR screen every 15 min violates COLREG RULE 5. Get out of the
office and sail your boat!

Yes but just about all vessels that go off shore are in violation of
rule 5 most of the time.

Neither agree or disagree

As nearly as I can make out fishing vessels
never keep any watch at all, but even commercial carriers are pretty
bad about watch keeping at sea.

Based on what first hand knowledge?

The "good news" for small boat
operators is that it is unlikely that we will damage the vessel that
runs us down so if we don't keep a good watch we probably aren't
endangering anyone but ourselves. Still, I'm not totally in love
with Skip's watch keeping system. Leaving the RADAR on 24 miles is a
mistake.

Yes and no..... for ships, one set on 24, one on 12 with occasional
shifts down is great.... offshore for small boats, leave it on 12 ( you
should still see any closer targets if you know how to use the radar)
with occasional shifts down in reduced vis.

Most targets will not show at 24 miles and closer targets
may be lost in the clutter. Also intermittent targets will only be
evident if you watch the ppi closely for several scans.

Again, yes and no.... depends on your system....etc.

Good practice
when only one set is available is to watch the screen for several
scans at long range and then repeat at medium and then short range
periodically. It is also very important to make a careful visual
scan on a regular basis.


Nothing wrong with this.

In clear weather I've found that we almost
always make visual contact on small targets before we see them on
RADAR.


G Again, depends on your system


otn