Radar pedestal and inflatable dingy

C-Dawg

I need to mount a radar dome soon and I'm trying to decide on an arch or pedestal. Part of the decision hinges on whether I outfit the cabin roof to carry kayaks or not, but that's another issue.

My question is whether or not I can use a forward-facing pedestal and still store an inflatable dingy on top. I honestly haven't a clue how deep an inflatable is, so I don't know if the pedestal will even clear it.

Anyone have this configuration, or is an arch mandatory with a dingy?

ppriest · Guest

One of the potential issues you might need to investigate is whether or not the area where you are considering mounting a pedestal provides adequate support. I would expect that any arch with four individual mounting points would impose less concentrated strain on the roof than the base of a pedestal, particularly when you encounter steep, high frequency waves (ex., someone else's wake).
Just food for thought.

Paul Priest
Sequim

colobear · Posted: Sun Feb 24, 2008 7:33 pm Post subject:

I think most of us that have radars and dinghies have arches. The tall arch is sized to allow an inflatable 8' dinghie (tubes about 18" in diameter), underneath. I think some people have inquired about putting the radar on a mast that is short enough to allow a dinghie to be stored upside down on top of it. The dinghie is radar transparent or nearly so. The consensus was in favor of arches. Most masts I have seen are located on the forward portion of the cabin top. Check albums, many will have pictures of setups.

thataway · Posted: Sun Feb 24, 2008 8:20 pm Post subject:

We have used short pedistals on all of our boats--put dinghies either behind or on top of the radar, with no problem.

The radar is light enough that it imposes no problems on any of the C Dory roofs.

You have your choice. I choose to have less height off the road/sea which I feel is important. The arch is harder to wire, seems to have more leakage problems and puts more weight aloft. The major advantage I can see of the arch is that you can put "rocket launchers" on the arch. Another feature is that the arch acts as a hand rail when you first come up on the side deck--we put a low profile hand rail (which is also used for lashing the dinghy) on the outer part of the top of the roof.

Both will work well.

Wandering Sagebrush · Posted: Sun Feb 24, 2008 9:46 pm Post subject: Pedestal or Arch

Like Bob said, I think either will work, but you may want to factor in whether or not you have a camper back. That might (????) limit the length of the inflatable that goes behind the pedestal mount. We have the tall arch, and it works well with a small Zodiac.

jlsparks · Posted: Sun Feb 24, 2008 10:02 pm Post subject:

My concern was how tall the radar will be when trying to stuff it into my garage. I will have a 10 ft. door so if I stay with a wedge type I can still get-er in there.

Jim

C-Dawg · Posted: Sun Feb 24, 2008 10:15 pm Post subject:

I didn't realize a radar could easily see through an inflatable. If that's the case, then I could use a short mount, put the dingy over the top, and not worry about the length interfering with the camper back (which I hadn't thought of).

True?

thataway · Posted: Mon Feb 25, 2008 12:09 am Post subject:

There may be some attenuation by the wooden transom aft, but we have put hour inflatables over the radars with no significant loss of signal. If you have an aluminum plate on the transom, that will reflect the radar beam--and cause some problem. We also often keep the rolled up dinghy on the roof, and that has got given us any problems.

colobear · Posted: Mon Feb 25, 2008 1:43 am Post subject:

With a tall arch and radar C-Cakes is more than 10'. My recollection is just under 11' so be sure you get some accurate height figures. I have posted accurate data on the site within the last six months or so but can't remember the thread. Searching for "height" might yield results.