I have long felt that the main goal/direction of the Rules was to address
the interaction between ships and how they are expected to be operated.
Because of this, when you get to applying the rules to recreational
vessels some things can and do become murky due to the differences as to
how the groups can and do operate (Radar use being one ..... SOP nowadays
that shipboard radar be on at all times underway)
Naturally these points can and will be argued until a particular case
goes to court and they decide the outcome.

otn





Jeff wrote in
:

Capt. JG wrote:
I thought SF Bay was quite foggy. Am I wrong? Back when I was
saying I could do fine without radar in Maine I would also think,
"Now if I was someplace like SF Bay..."

You're right, but it's really not necessary for a couple of reasons.
First, if you have it, you have to monitor, which takes away from the
enjoyment of sailing.


This is a curious point in the rules. Since it says "if operational"
then the requirement to monitor only applies if you have it turned on.
For short trips in clear weather, I generally leave the display
stashed down below. For longer trips, I will mount it, but whether
its Off, on Standby, or Active is determined by circumstance. When
I've run this by CG "rules experts" I've always got the same answer
(which is curiously the same as the answer to other "gray area"
questions I've raised): "Your logic sounds reasonable, but remember,
if there is an accident you will have to convince the court that you
did everything in your power to prevent it."

I've long been a fan of radar and feel its required to cruise Maine,
and useful in Massachusetts. One problem now is that while in the
"old days" (before low cost radar and loran/gps) the only fools out in
the pea soup were being ultra cautious, tooting horns, going slow etc,
nowadays every rich bozo thinks he can run his sportfish at 30 knots
because the radar and GPS will keep him safe. Almost every year I've
had a close call, the worst case happening a mile off of Cape
Elizabeth.
If you sail in fog, radar is needed now for defense.