Do you have a radar reflector on your mobo

[Gumpy]

I have to say no,
Where is the point where you need one?
By that I mean how big does a steel boat have to be before it gives a reasoable blip?
Parglena is 18m x3.5m and is at least 2m above the waterline (wheelhouse is more but that is wood).
If I added a reflector then it would only be 1m above the deck or 3m above the surface of the water.
Will this make a practical difference or will it just make me feel safer?
Cruising area is west of a line from Walton to the Swale

J

 

[duncan]

[ QUOTE ]
I am slightly puzzled by a comment that one of our RYA instructors made recently to me about navigation though (in light of this post ) he said that it is possible to navigate sandbanks at night using only your radar and no charts - he has done it many time

[/ QUOTE ] whilst you may well be able to make out the sand bank if it's dried you are stuffed if it's covered by 1'-2' of water in calm conditions!

pretty poor advice overall - RYA are at great pains to point out that you should always use 2 seperate forms of information for navigating, especially where hazards (such as numerous drying sandbanks in the Thames) exist!

Funny how 6 months of course work can be substituted for a single clear memory that ruins the rest!

 

[clivew05]

[ QUOTE ]
Funny how 6 months of course work can be substituted for a single clear memory that ruins the rest!

[/ QUOTE ]

Well I must admit that although that particular comment must have been implanted in the memory it only just surfaced when reading this post ..... I have never yet (although I have tried) spotted a sand bank on the radar ..... however I do always have both paper charts and plotter out for passages, double checking on both for any differences .... you can never be sure, and on one occasion service battery dropped below the voltage required for the plotter and I thought that I would have to use paper only - as it happens when I started the engines and the alternators kicked in it all came up tickety boo .... just that I had been running a large cooler box off of the battery all weekend (battery charger was plugged in but obviously the power drain was more than the charger was putting back ) ... just goes to prove .......

Anyway - just to put your mind at rest - the courses I have done have all been firmly and permanently engraved in the grey matter ....... /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

 

[Frontier]

[ QUOTE ]
If you have your radar on does not that a;so act as a reflector?

[/ QUOTE ]


A lot say it doesn’t but I think it must do to some degree. Just by being metallic and up high. (but not to do with being turned on) If it’s metallic it will reflect, it’s almost the same size as the small reflectors anyway. Mine is mounted on a whacking great lump of steel as well.

What with all the other metal bits mobo’s have such as the hot water tank, seat and table legs, metal sinks, ovens, fridge radiators, all those steel rails, the anchor, yards of chain, cans of beer, all those tools, the enormous fuel tanks, (not me though mine are flexible) all those Frey Bentos pies forumites seem to like, crikey it’s like a floating scrap metal yard, if a radar cant pick up that lot a reflector wont help much. /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

Now the raggies probably have less metal, apart from the big stick, oh and the pies!! /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

 

[tcm]

Big floating engine and stuff reflects loads, tho. I can correctly count seagulls from the radar behind the boat up t about six seagulls. Whereas EME counting by eye missed one

Most def in open water you see sumink on radar and *then* start looking for it by eye.

I have a reflector just cos it is rules. However, as more vulnerable saily boat i probly wd get one. Summink to buy in the chandlery as well which has the advantage of never breaking down....

 

[jcmmarine]

Strange question - its illegal not to have one

 

[Frontier]

Not a strange question really, just wondered how many found it impractical to fit one. Looks like it’s more impractical than not.