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Vessel detectors - radar visibility of your own vessel
Subject: Vessel detectors - radar visibility of your own vessel
From: "Armond Perretta" Date: 08/24/2003 14:04 Pacific Standard Time Message-id: Shen44 wrote: Again .... never approach closer than two miles at sea, and if you miss the ship and it's close aboard or within that distance, figure it's up to you to avoid .... worry about some rule later. Always a sound approach, but consider this. I have a 4 to 4.5 knot sailboat. Offshore the commercial traffic I encounter (neglecting for the moment commercial fishermen) typically maintains 16 to 24 knots. Even should I pick up a target at 8 miles on radar (or otherwise), there is in a practical sense very little I can do to _insure_ a CPA of 2 miles or better. I am speaking only from the perspective of quite a bit of offshore cruising in a small sailing boat, which is not to say I don't realize that "big boat always wins." Oh, fiddle faddle. To begin with, not all ships you see out there will be heading directly at you, so, for the most part, even at 4k, you will have plenty of time to adjust. Secondly, on a clear day you should be able to see a ship at 8mi plus and have a good idea as to it's heading, which means you can take appropriate action to give it as wide a berth as possible. Hey, if you don't make 2 mi., you tried..... at least you worked to maximize the passing distance. From my own standpoint, the "small" boat has a better chance of seeing the"big" ship sooner (especially at night) and starting to maneuver to maximize the passing distance .... especially, considering your slower rate of speed. Don't get me wrong, I don't condone poor watch keeping on ships (visual and radar) any more than I do so for small boats, but varied experience has taught me that both have things which must be dealt with/ worked around, when dealing with the other, and overall, small boaters should always act as if they are not seen and maneuver accordingly ..... use the radio, shine a bright light on your sails, use a strobe (short periods) .... do what it takes, never assume. Shen |
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