Doug Dotson wrote:
I can't believe anyone is even responding to this wacko.

"D.B. Cooper" wrote in message
news:Qf0Gd.82025$6l.53359@pd7tw2no...
Hahaha... what are you doing.. smuggling drugz..? They're the only
people
in that region of water
that don't really want to be found.

"Hypothetically" you'd have to take under consideration all types
of radar
(military ones pick out
small boats without much problem due to the different wavelengths
of radar
they use), SAR (Synthetic
Aperature Radar), infrared heat signature (hot engines flare
brightly on
sensor displays against the
cold black ocean).

Emission Control (EMCON) you'd have to ensure that you do not
transmit
anything by radio, turn off
your radar, cell phone, etc.

Since stealth technology is generally priced out of range for the
average
person, it helps by
removing the radar reflector. Greenpeace did this in the early
1980's and
while keeping radio
silent, managed to sneak up and penetrate over 350 km into a
restricted
region in the south Pacific
that the French used to test nuclear bombs. They got close enough
to the
test site to see the bomb
suspended under the balloon. The moment they hoisted their
reflector,
their presence was detected
and the French navy reacted fast (and brutally).

I'm not sure how to use visual camoflauge.. perhaps to reduce
visual
detection by other ships would
be to paint the hull and sails a dull light gray. The "go-fasts"
that
regularly run that region are
painted black or dark green and operated at night for the most
part. They
use speed as their
primary way of avoiding interception.

Sail due east for a while then angle south. Unfortunately, OTHR
(over the
horizon radar) which can
accurately measure wave height and direction accurately works
pretty well
at detecting vessels of
around 10 metres in length and larger from over a thousand miles
regardless of the hull material.
And there are at least two stations that provide blanket coverage
of that
particular region.

Hopefully a random search by regular drug interdiction patrol units
in the
south Gulf area won't
stumble upon the person. That is one of the most heavily
surveilled areas
of the USA and it
surprises me that people manage to get thru undetected. (actually
many
are detected but they are
unable to intercept). In the end, a certain amount of luck is
required.
And hopefully, no one will
call in a sighting when an "APB" goes out for such-and-such person
and a
sailboat matching some
description.

wrote
Here is a hypothetical question:

If somebody on a sailboat did NOT want to be found and had a 36
hour
head start leaving someplace like say the N. Florida Gulf coast,
how
difficult would it be to find him.



THIS IS PURELY HYPOTHETICAL. I have nothing to hide, jeez. Really,
all this is about is my belief that some people are so reliant on high
tech stuff that they forget about elegant low tech solutions. Would
covering the entire boat with an aluminized "space blanket" with no
exposed edges or folds reduce the radar cross section much? I assume
the metal shrouds produce significant radar return so they are a
problem unless he somehow replaced them. We can assume that he either
doesnt run his engine or that he floods his cockpit partway to hide the
engine IR signature.
Go fast boats are probably easier to see than a small sailboat as their
power output is so high.