"Roger Long" wrote in message
...
I think, if you poke around in the archives of this group, you'll find
a post from me about a year ago pontificating about how I couldn't
justify the cost, weight, and power draw of radar cruising in Maine. I
got along just fine with it even before GPS. I was confident of my
navigation to get in close where I was unlikely to encounter traffic,
etc., etc.

My plans for last spring's science cruise were to take me up into the
Bay of Fundy where radar was clearly required so I installed a Garmin
set up that has worked great except for one time. In August the radome
wouldn't show up on the network. No idea why and the problem never re-
occured. I was far up in Penobscot Bay when this happened and the
first thought that popped into my head was, "How am I going to get
home?" As soon as I realized what I was thinking, I had a good
chuckle. I hope it gives you a chuckle as well.

The radar has become one of my favorite things on the boat. While I
could always get from A to B reasonably safely without it, my route
was dictated by traffic avoidance . I'm now have much more route
flexibility as well as being safer. And, wow, I never realized how
many boats there are out there in the fog Besides, just working
with it is a lot of fun.

I went from Portland to Roque Island singlehanded seeing nothing
except for a couple hours of scale up around Matinicus. Last trip I
did another completely blind solo non-stop from Eastport to the Cows
Yard. First thing I saw was the cliffs at the Head Harbor Island
entrance. Worth every penny to be able to do that stuff.

BTW the Seaview mast mount for the Garmin 18" radomes is too long. My
jib hangs up frequently; especially downwind. I'm going to make an
adapter this winter to move it back. Look for alternatives if you are
planning a mast installation.

I think Garmin is the only way to go for small radars at this point.
If anyone is interested, I'll explain.


Sure... explain away!

I'm not a huge fan of radar... certainly don't need it on the bay. I suppose
if I were going up/down the coast, I'd consider it. But, we have far fewer
spots to stop/go to than on the east coast.

--
"j" ganz @@
www.sailnow.com