I bought radar before this past season for the first time. Real "eye
opener". Found it very useful, even in clear weather -- we only get
fog 4 day/month in the Northumbeland Strait. If I was venturing out
on a longer range trip I would not be without GPS, sounder and radar.

Jim
http://jimthompson.net/boating/ECharting/JRC1500.htm

On Sun, 23 Nov 2003 09:07:50 -0800, "Lloyd Sumpter"
wrote:

Hi,

Thinking of getting radar for Far Cove, mainly for this planned trip to WCVI,
which has lots of fog.

Now, I've survived 20+ years of sailing Georgia Strait, etc. without radar.
If it's really foggy, I just stay put. If I venture out, I use several nav aids
including GPS to determine my position, blow my horn and listen.

I'm thinking that, even WITH radar, I wouldn't venture out in unfamiliar
waters in dense fog. And if I was out and the fog rolled in on me, I would think
that GPS, sounder and a good chart would be better to find that anchorage than
radar, assuming I could see at least 100 ft or so.

Comments?

Jim Thompson wrote:

I bought radar before this past season for the first time. Real "eye
opener". Found it very useful, even in clear weather -- we only get
fog 4 day/month in the Northumbeland Strait. If I was venturing out
on a longer range trip I would not be without GPS, sounder and radar.

We have a radar set on the tugboat. A bit old, and doubtfully installed by DPO, but
it seemed capable of working. The return was very garbled and unclear, it would not
even pick up large buildings on shore from more than 1/2 mile away. I was convinced
that we should buy a new one, but going through the tuning & timing procedure in the
owners manual (at least the DPO saved them) improved the return picture a LOT.

Over the past year I've tweaked the thing a little here and there, as time &
opportunity came along, and after some coaching by a retired Navy OS Master Chief, we
get a great return picture out to about 16 miles. It will pick up a floating soda can
in calm water, show rain squals, outline marshy shore, etc etc.

Our radar has proven to be a really good tool for use in marginal visibility and for
tracking ship traffic. When we first bought the boat I was not convinced of it's
usefulness, especially not that particular set. But now it works great.

BTW thanks Jeff for your comments about magnetron life.

Fresh Breezes- Doug King

On Tue, 25 Nov 2003 09:50:07 -0500, DSK wrote:



Our radar has proven to be a really good tool for use in marginal visibility and for
tracking ship traffic. When we first bought the boat I was not convinced of it's
usefulness, especially not that particular set. But now it works great.


One last thing I forgot to mention: Here on Lake Ontario many summer
storms appear as "pop-up" cumulonimbus thunderheads, with 50-60 knot
line squalls that can lay you flat if you have, as most do most of the
time, a full hoist...

There's only 20-30 miles to the west end of the lake here (Toronto)
and squalls that develop at that end (south to west, usually) can get
here in minutes.

A properly tuned radar will show squall lines quite sharply. If its
blasting at you at 48 knots and you catch it on radar aft at 12 NM,
you can shorten sail in a timely fashion and ride out an otherwise
very unpleasant, possibly expensive and potentially dangerous 15
minute surfing session.

And of course, if you can see rain bands, you can sail between them,
if the wind and waves allow.

R.

On Tue, 25 Nov 2003 09:50:07 -0500, DSK wrote:



Our radar has proven to be a really good tool for use in marginal visibility and for
tracking ship traffic. When we first bought the boat I was not convinced of it's
usefulness, especially not that particular set. But now it works great.


One last thing I forgot to mention: Here on Lake Ontario many summer
storms appear as "pop-up" cumulonimbus thunderheads, with 50-60 knot
line squalls that can lay you flat if you have, as most do most of the
time, a full hoist...

There's only 20-30 miles to the west end of the lake here (Toronto)
and squalls that develop at that end (south to west, usually) can get
here in minutes.

A properly tuned radar will show squall lines quite sharply. If its
blasting at you at 48 knots and you catch it on radar aft at 12 NM,
you can shorten sail in a timely fashion and ride out an otherwise
very unpleasant, possibly expensive and potentially dangerous 15
minute surfing session.

And of course, if you can see rain bands, you can sail between them,
if the wind and waves allow.

R.

Jim Thompson wrote:

I bought radar before this past season for the first time. Real "eye
opener". Found it very useful, even in clear weather -- we only get
fog 4 day/month in the Northumbeland Strait. If I was venturing out
on a longer range trip I would not be without GPS, sounder and radar.

We have a radar set on the tugboat. A bit old, and doubtfully installed by DPO, but
it seemed capable of working. The return was very garbled and unclear, it would not
even pick up large buildings on shore from more than 1/2 mile away. I was convinced
that we should buy a new one, but going through the tuning & timing procedure in the
owners manual (at least the DPO saved them) improved the return picture a LOT.

Over the past year I've tweaked the thing a little here and there, as time &
opportunity came along, and after some coaching by a retired Navy OS Master Chief, we
get a great return picture out to about 16 miles. It will pick up a floating soda can
in calm water, show rain squals, outline marshy shore, etc etc.

Our radar has proven to be a really good tool for use in marginal visibility and for
tracking ship traffic. When we first bought the boat I was not convinced of it's
usefulness, especially not that particular set. But now it works great.

BTW thanks Jeff for your comments about magnetron life.

Fresh Breezes- Doug King