New Boat. We now have radar. But no radar reflector.

[macd]

MASH, I fear it may be you who's lacking the common sense approach you favour.

It was you who posed the question "Says who whether anyone is "supposed to" use radar or not?"

That's been answered by several posts. The commonsense reality you seek is manifest in many of the above posts and is that:
1. radar, if fitted and operational, should be used in conditions which make it appropriate. To be operational in any meaningful sense, radar needs a competent operator.
2. In the normal run of events no one checks or cares whether a leisure boat is using its radar even to the above standard.
3. However, in the event of a serious accident and subsequent investigation the issue of radar (and AIS etc) may well arise. It's non-use in circumstances where it may have helped avoid the accident would most certainly be of interest to an inquiry or court.

A coroners (or any other kind of) court may equally take the view that the skipper of such a vessel where radar was fitted had a duty to ensure someone on board was competent to use it and that the absence of such a person was to some degree negligent. After all, as you well know, no sailing qualifications are required for small leisure craft in the UK. But that's not quite the same as saying you all have the green light to run your vessels ineptly.

Which all sounds to me completely logical...or commonsense, if you prefer.

 

[jbweston]

. . .
No court could find against a person for not using equipment that is neither mandatory to fit nor to be trained and proficient in the use of. There, I think, lies the difference between small pleasure boats like ours and larger commercial vessels in this instance.
. . .

I'm sorry to have to say this but this is completely wrong. I hope no inexperienced skippers think this for a moment. To test the proposition, you only need to think of two trivial examples:

- Voluntary fit gas alarm where the skipper ignores a red light and buzzer because he's forgotten that spells danger and what to do about it.

- Voluntary fit liferaft and lifejackets stowed in the locker where the skipper fails to deploy them during a slow relentless sinking away from land.

In other words (except in the most unusual circumstances) lack of training isn't a defence to an action for negligence.

... Once again, whatever happened to common sense?

Well, good question. Most sailors show it most of the time. In my view much of the Colregs is based on sailors' common sense developed over the centuries. That's one of the reasons careful yachtsmen know them and follow them. Of course, we all hope not to meet on a dark night someone who thinks they don't apply to him because his brand of 'common sense' means that he can ignore them! Unfortunately, such people do seem to exist . . .

 

[onesea]

Of course, we all hope not to meet on a dark night someone who thinks they don't apply to him because his brand of 'common sense' means that he can ignore them! Unfortunately, such people do seem to exist . . .

Or the people who think that the rules are so unbend-able that they stand on unnecessarily putting other vessel into difficult situations. Or decide as a potential give way vessel they do not let the situation develop enough to realize there was never a risk of collision, leaving other vessels perplexed as to there actions.

Like all life there is a balance...

As far as I am concerned there are 2 types of driver on the road:

1. Those that drive faster than me =raving loonatics.
2. Those that drive slower = dithering idiots.

 

[wotayottie]

So are we supposed to use the radar any time the weather looks a bit hazy? How visible is the scannery thing up the mast to another radar?

The scanner is no more visible to other radars than any other mast fitting. And you arent "supposed" to use it at any specifi8c time - its up to you. Personally I reckon I use it more times out of boredom than anything else. Its handy at night and near the traffic seperation zones but the rest of the time eyeball is amply good enough. I dont include fog since I dont ever go out in it.

I hadn't envisaged having the radar on all the time, (like a reflector is) as I assume it chews up batteries for a pastime.

On standby , not a lot. And even working its less than the fridge.

I too have a radar but no reflector. Conventional reflectors are near enough to a waste of time and I havent yet put my hand in my pocket for a transponder which is the real answer.

 

[wotayottie]

As far as I am concerned there are 2 types of driver on the road:

1. Those that drive faster than me =raving loonatics.
2. Those that drive slower = dithering idiots.

True. Except that when in the family car, those who drive slower than me have stopped.

 

[lw395]

....... Conventional reflectors are near enough to a waste of time and I havent yet put my hand in my pocket for a transponder which is the real answer.

That really is not true.
Radar reflectors tend to fall short of the desired level of effectiveness, but that is really quite different from not working at all.
It's strange that they've been in common use for fifty years on buoys, posts etc etc, but suddenly a few magazine articles pointing out they are not perfect has everyone believing they are useless.
It would be a great shame for someone to get run down in fog, because they chose not to bother with £30 worth of octahedral.

Don't let me stop you buying a transponder when it reaches the top of the pocket money list, but in the meantime a basic reflector can be a lot better than nothing.