A silly question: Do I need a radar?

peterjaw

peterjaw

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Good day, guys,
As a recreational boater, only go out in good weather, very rare to stay out side of marina after between sunset and sunrise, in this condition, do I need a radar?

I expect some of you will reply "it's all up to you", but I would like to have your real-world experiences and advices.
If anyone of you initially did not have but end up with buying one or vice versa?

Thank you very much for any inputs.
 
I have used radar in anger three times in 15 or so years.

1 just bought first boat. Unforcast fog at Dover
2 not long after. At anchor in Sark. Headed back to St. Peter port to meet a wall of fog
3 in the dark coming back to La Rochelle

I am now in the med and only use it on long crossings ( Sardinia menorca ) so I can see other boats in case I have an issue and to be honest an ais receiver would do 99% of the same thing.

In my experience fog is the enemy and in the med we rarely get that so personally I would say no. If you are U.K. based fog can and does strike but not often.
 
The boat came with a radar. I used it once in 7 years. That was in fog during the daytime close to the coast. The radar has since died due to water getting into it having had the outer casing cracked by the jib wacking it in a storm. It won't be replaced.

We are also in the med. On all the long crossings we have done, visibility at night has been eerily superb - easy to see all the other boats and ships miles off. Only once have we ever been in a situation on a long crossing where we might have needed to change course! (We didn't - we were under sail and the cargo shipped changed course a few degrees to avoid us, but we were ready to tack out of its way)
 
You don,t “ need “ radar for the use described.

Second part of your post trying to answer
My personal experinace similiar usage for 9 years our first mobo a Sunseeker had a nice Furuno set up .
I learn,t by playing with it in good condition s sight wise how to use it .Based in the Med we went all over ,Corsica, Elba , Italy E and W from Cannes etc when I sold the boat it had 24000 miles on the plotter .
With ports every vertually feels like a stone through ( reality 20 miles apart ) passage making was easy ,to the extent like your planned useage we never actually went out at night - no need to .
How ever it was a gadget and I would occasionally exercise it .
When I was using it naturally you have to look at it - so in fact you are taking your eyes off the road for longer than normal .
Travelling at speed that boat sat on 26/27 knots all day .
Main concern close in was and still is pot dodging .
How ever having said that there was one and only one time I think I used it in anger in 9 years consisting of 8 weeks / year on the boat .
We were in Bormes in the Var on the last sea day of a two weeker heading back to Cannes ( flights home booked next day )
Woke up to dense fog !
Ok we will wait by noon the ( June ) sun will burn it off I thought .
11 am comes still dense in fact it had not changed one bit from 8 am.

How ever boats were going out, ski boats speed boats etc and if you stud on the sea wall one could hear engines , outboards giving it some !

So I managed to talk the wife — “it’s ok luv we’ve got radar and I will go slow 5 knots” etc .Honestly :)

Off we went , could,t see a thing solely relied on the radar .
Thing is about 3-400M off shore - Stark 8ollock sun shine and clear blue ski ,with it being a Saturday every man and his dog out enjoying boating .

So I used it for 400 M once in 9 years in anger .

Some funny local weather thingy about cold air dropping down into the bay from the mountains every where else was fine .

So my current boat is sans Radar and used similar,There’s never been a time ( Yet *) where lack of radar has changed my plans .
As said imho my biggest risk is pots potentially knackering stern gear ,which all you need is a mk1 eyeball or as many as many pairs as you can muster combined with sensible speed .

There’s a lot of ship movements in and arround the Cote d Azur , and small boats yachts etc it must be a mine field for them as they get in nearer , 100,s of super yachts every day in the season you never hear of any collisions.

Answering your 3 rd last question ,no I won,t be buying one a radar

I think it boils down to the word “ recreational” in your 1st sentence .
interesting to see how others interpret that word

As a tongue in cheek bit of humour for real radar useage :) see below :encouragement:
How ever once on the del trip I did stray @ speed into an Italian naval out of bounds excerise area and ended up hassled by a plane and a ship from respective armed forces — Got a 8ollocking like these guys .Still figuring out the new to me plotter ,a radar would have helped re our position with the land I suspect
https://m.youtube.com/watch?feature=youtu.be&v=P_C1m0CS_Ow

* retired now so have all the time in the World to sit out bad Vis these days
 
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I agree with the recommendations above.

You don't say where you are based but if in the UK you can get caught out by fog unexpectedly even in good weather. Don't think that because you only go out in good weather you won't need it.

A few years ago we went up to Scarborough for our main holiday, out from the Humber.
We had fantastic weather and the day we picked to come back was also fabulous. In July.
It was calm and sunny. But on the way back, a bank of fog enveloped us for several hours and visibility was dramatically reduced.
I had radar fitted and as I use it infrequently I checked it the week before setting out on holiday. It worked perfectly. However on our outward bound trip I turned it on along the Humber and the display was blank... As it was an ancient 1980's Kelvin Hughes I had a look for any obvious faults but couldn't find any, so there wasn't much I could do.

So in this fog on our return trip we had no radar to assist. As our boat only does 7kt anyway we didn't reduce speed, but suddenly out of the murk appeared a great big structure, dead ahead about 50 yards. I switched off the autopilot and steered hard to starboard to avoid it. It was the base structure (bright yellow) for one of the wind turbines they were erecting, not yet charted at the time. A scary experience.

I replaced the radar with a more modern (and hopefully reliable) one later that year.

Whenever I go out to sea even in fine conditions I always turn on the radar.
Apart from maintaining familiarity with how to use it, it's a requirement of the Col Regs to keep a good lookout "by all available means" - if you have it, use it.
 
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Do I need a radar?

Just like chart plotter,radio, depth sounder, if you can afford it and it makes economic sense, buy one.
The day may never ever come, when actually desperately needed , but you will be as pleased as hell with your foresight , if that day ever does arrive.
No need for 20" digital touchscreen lunacy, well proven Raymarine colour plotters/ radars frequently appear on ebay from owner upgrades at sensible money.
 
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It's not just fog. I once made a night passage through the Menai under a full moon that was so dazzling it was blinding. I could see the channel buoys but surprised myself every time by completely misjudging distance. What looked like 100 yards off was often just 30. I dont know if radar would have been useful but I dont think it would have hurt. My very first trip out in my boat a thick fog descended just outside the channel. I had yet to have waypoint markers on the new plotter to show the channel and Conwy estuary is not one to enter blind either. Unable to turn back I made passage in a peasouper 25 nm to the only safe anchorage I knew and had to sit it out for 3 days. As it turned out it was a magic trip.
 
You don't say what size or type of boat, or where you plan to cruise.

On a small manoeuvrable boat doing coastal trips I wouldn't bother, just slow down in fog and be ready to change course if you see something looming. You don't see many RIBS with radar.

On anything bigger, or if heading offshore, then I think it becomes more important as it's still the only way to spot non-AIS equipped boats in fog.
 
I've got radar fitted and use it occasionally, mainly using MARPA to check approaching vessels speed and course: it's often not easy to see which way the two ended ferries are heading.... But it's main use is two fold: poor visibility and night approaches to harbours and anchorages.

I've used it two or three times in poor visibility, where it's been invaluable in spotting small high speed craft and avoiding them. At night it's brilliant for making an approach into a confined space, especially where the charting isn't up to much. The radar image allows you to keep a safe distance from obstructions once you've identified landmarks on the display. Takes a bit of planning so you know what you're looking for before you make the approach but a really useful tool.

Would I fit radar if I didn't have it? Probably not, I use it so infrequently that it's not worth the comparatively high cost. A good AIS display would be more affordable and probably more use in collision avoidance.
 
Not sure if this is an answer but, for me, I hadn't had radar in any boat in many years of owning boats. Then I bought a boat that happened to be equipped with radar. It was an old thing like something out of a war film, with a green display.I thought I'd give it a try and managed not to be too daunted by terms such as sea-clutter, rain-clutter and chaff which reminded me of a Flanders and Swann lyric "... Try to bring that down through your pre-amp rumble filter to your woofer, what'll you get? Flutter on your bottom!"Anyway, what with one thing and another I started doing more night passages and the radar really came into its own. As someone said judging distances of marks by eye at night is very difficult. With radar it isn't. Also, in rougher conditions with water coming over the screen. (Wipers off and drive on the radar).So, when the analogue radar decided to call it a day, I did not hesitate to replace it with a digital unit. This was even better because the radar could be overlaid on the chartplotter screen (with or without AIS) or I had the capability to run any of these as a standalone.Radar would be one of the first things I'd want now on any boat I owned that I planned to use at all offshore, or in questionable weather, or in the hours of darkness.
 
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Hi

I have a radar always on when i go sea.

And this is how I learned and I can use it when there is a situation that I am in the archipelago and fog to surprise, here Maritime Safety The marks may be in a different place, as of the map.

Another reason nice to see the back and a round of the situation and the ships that quickly come over and I can prepare for the boat waves.

Thirdly, if the GPS / map (no fix) for some reason does not work, I can find my location and navigate by radar, eg Fair way pivot point, here is also needed a paper map and a strike.

The radar can also see some floating in the sea what should not be there and I can dodge. In addition, fishing buoys..etc.

NBs
 
Good day, guys,

Thank you very much for all the inputs.

I am based in north Taiwan, and my main boating area is north-east of Taiwan, roughly
between Taiwan and Okinawa (Japan). My boat is about 28'. (Not arrive yet.)

In this area, fog is not a big problem but this is a busy area, all kind of boats, cargo ships,
vessels ... These are my main concern. We all know that big ships don't go around the small
ones.
 
Obviously you don't need it, but it's nice to have. A few thoughts to add to above:

1. Necessary in darkness, but whether you sail at night is up to you
2. On big open sea passages in good vis, radar will see things before you do. I quite like to have a 12 ++ mile view of what's out there. Nice to have, not necessary
3. Good radars can see rain a long way away - say 30 miles. That info can be useful
4. At night on anchor, you can have a plotter by your bed that tells you if you're dragging, but flicking on the radar from that plotter also tells you if the boats around you have moved. Again, nice to have, not necessary
5. I don't agree that AIS replaces radar for collision avoidance. Only minority of boats transmit AIS. If you did a straw poll on here I bet it would be 25% or thereabouts
 
scottie said:
Is it requirement that if you have a collision and have not been using it you are considered at fault ?
Click to expand...

Hi,

One explanation, these rules apply to all boats and commercial vessels etc water vehicles.

COLREGS - International Regulations for preventing Collisions at Sea, 1972 -

Rule 7 / b

(b). Proper use shall be made of radar equipment if fitted and operational, including long-range scanning to obtain early warning of risk of collision and radar plotting or equivalent systematic observation of detected objects

NBs
 
I use my radar all the time when steering from the lower helm. For me its a second pair of eyes particularly when there's a lot of spray around and the MARPA facility is very useful for ascertaining whether you are in a potential collision situation with another vessel. One thing I would definitely not do is buy one and then not use it until you really need it because it takes a bit of practice to learn how to use it. That practice is best done on fine calm days when you can play with it whilst not under pressure and then the one time you really need it, you can use it without panicking
 
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