should you get radar? YES

[starcrafttom]

There has been a lot of discussion here at the pub about radar in the past. Is it worth the money? Should I get a stand-alone unit or an integrated unit? Which brand is best? Well after cornet bay this weekend I am really glad that I have it. Here s the story that unfolded for us.
The Susan E crew got up early on Saturday to a sunny clear sky and no wind. So we headed the truck and trailer to twin bridges. We had some fog on the highway north of Arlington and once we turned off the highway it started to get really thick. By the time we turned off at twin bridges we could not see twin bridges, the big blue building or the two bridges themselves. We launched under the bridge and fired up the radar. Now I am not a seasoned radar operator. In fact I have never had one on a boat before until the Susan E., which I have only had for a month. For the last month I have been running around in clear weather with my radar and over laid on my chart plotter. This has allowed me to get use to seeing what the radar is showing me and how it looks on the screen. I was not doing this to be prepared but to have another toy to play with. Well we ventured out of twin bridges and headed south to La Connor. The chart plotter will show you a lot and is very accurate when zoomed in all the way, but it will not show you what’s not on the maps. You know big boats. I have not used the radar by itself and don’t see a reason to. The system works the best with the radar over laying the chart plotter. As we headed south in the ever thicken fog I was warned of three different boats coming down the channel. By using the target acquire feature, I was able to track and project their course, speed, and distance with out really thinking about it. To make things even better I was able to hit the autopilot so I would stop wandering around from side to side in the fog. By looking at my track on the chart plotter I noticed that I was going back and forth while looking out the window for boats, logs, and shore. We made the far end of the la Connor channel. As we motored out he long channel at the south entrance to la Conner I was able to se on the plotter were the last marked was before turning north. If you turn north at any point before the last marker you are going to run aground. After the last buoy the fog cleared up and we headed to cornet bay. We got to bay in time to follow the group to lunch
. On the way back from lunch we stopped to fish at thatches. The group was on the radio talking about the fog in the deception pass area. Several boats with out radar had to follow the ones with it. By the time we got to the area the fog was all the way north to Anacortes Park launch. At first the fog was 100 yards of visibility, then 50 yards then 25. During this time I was able to track several large boats and one group of kayaks. By the time we entered the pass the fog had gotten so thick that the fog and water just kind of flowed in to one green, gray wall. As we passed under the bridge we could not see either bank or the bridge. As soon as we crossed under the bridge the fog lifted in 50 yards and was clear the short run to cornet bay and the c-pod. In the extra half hour it took for us to fish after the group had gone thru the fog had changed to a wall. If it had not been for the radar I would not have tried to go and would have turned back for the islands. So if you are thinking about buying a c-dory and don’t know if the wife will go for the 4 grand it takes to have the integrated system have her talk to my wife, because this was the best money we spent on the boat. Fog in the northwest is a year round problem. In the Sacramento valley, my old home, it can come out of nowhere even worse then the bay area. In the south I would want it for the rain. I have pulled to the side of the road on my motorbike in the south just to wait for the rain to stop and the road to reappear. Best thing I own besides the downriggers.

[CaptMac]

Hi, nice story regarding the benefit of having a radar. I have found that radar is useful for staying out of the way of other boats who don't have radar, as well as being able to navigate successfully. I like the way that you describe your radar as overlaying the chartplotter. What kind of radar and chartplotter combination do you have?

Capt Mac Daniel
www.floundergigging.com

[starcrafttom]

i have the raymarine c-80 system,and i don't know if its better then the garman or any other system as i have not used them . before this boat all me fishfinders where humming birds and i have enjoyed them a lot. they are a over looked product by salt water types. they started and are most often found on bass boats and freshwater trout boats, but work very well. they now have a line of chartplotters and i hope one day radar or at lest radar compatible units.

its the way that the new systems work and over lay on top of the chartplotter that i like and see as a leap forward in the field. I know that they have been around in one form or another for a while but at a great cost. the 8 to 15 thousand dollar range . its just now that they are in the range that smaller boat owners will consider buying them. as the price comes down it will make the water a safer place to be. And i know that a lot of people will not want to see this happen. charts and calipers and a watch is all they have ever needed, but they where probably against "window" to. basic was always good enough for them. and pin ball games too , and candles work just fine.

[starcrafttom]

I just checked out your web site. nice boat. I have never been flounder gigging but have caught many in n.c. with shtinp fly riggs dragged across the bottom of the I.C.W. behind the base. just have to watch out for the gators.

[Alyssa Jean]

Captmac, the Raymarine C-80 with radar is the system both Daydream and Anna Leigh are putting on our new 25's. I have played a little with them at various boating stores, but it was really nice to have Tom show us a little of what it can do while on the water.

[Chuck S]

Keep in mind that radar use is mandatory if you have it on board, it's not a convenience item. You must monitor it 100% of the time. You have legal liabilities just having radar on board that you don't have without it.

-- Chuck

[Luna C]

I have the raymarine c-70 system. Screen is big enough, radar is great. Are you legally responsible for those that follow you?!?

[Aiviq]

My early experience piloting boats was in a commercial fishing boat in Cook Inlet Alaska. This was in the late '70s, early '80s, and our 35 foot inboard diesel boat didn't have either radar or loran (there wasn't any such thing as GPS back then). I navigated by "pilotage" (i.e., map, compass and landmarks), mostly, but several times when fog came up suddenly while underway, I had to navigate by dead reckoning. Since the boat didn't have a log (speedometer), either, this is something less than accurate, even if you didn't have to account for large tidal flows (which you do in cook inlet). Quite a few times, I saved myself from grounding by listening for the sound of breakers, and steering away from them. When you have a large Perkins diesel with a dry exhaust stack directly beneath the pilothouse floorboards, you have to get pretty close before you hear them.

Anyway, I never really came to enjoy what we call in the medical field a "feeling of impending doom" (that's the feeling that people are supposed to get when they're having a heart attack). I'm having radar with integrated chart plotter installed on my C-Dory. I get all the anxiety I need on my day job, and don't care to go looking for it on vacation.

Jim

[Falco]

Just a plug for both radar and the Raymarine C-80 system. I have the C-80 on my 22 and have used the radar (2kw) rather extensively in Puget Sound and environs, including Neah Bay where I led a guy into the harbor in pea soup -- albeit only about 200 yards away. Perhaps the greatest benefit of radar (as intimated by another poster) is to watch the "other guy", plenty of whom have no clue how to proceed safely in fog conditions. It's also great for night boating, not to mention no longer having to pull up the gear and "run" when a fog bank approaches. As to having an obligation to monitor my radar, so be it. It's nothing more than another "window" on what's going on around the boat. The more such windows, the better. Just remember to power the transmitter down when docking (or foredeck fishing/sunning) to avoid microwaving critical body parts...

[Sawdust]

This is kind of a plug for some Radar information I wrote a while back. Located in the SEAMANSHIP area, I've done 4 chapters on radar and radar navigation. Might be worth browsing a little. Any questions? I'm here.

Dusty

[Da Nag]

[El and Bill]

Dusty's articles sure brought us 'up to speed' regarding radar and it's use -- best radar info we've seen anywhere. So, another thanks to you, Dusty, for taking the time to put together excellent info to share with us all.