Do I need Radar

[JAC]

Hi Guys I spend about 8 days a year on the ocean with my boat its rigged with all electronic but no Radar. In your opions do you think its safe to be out there with out it or is it a must. In the past four years I have had 2 really foggy days when I wished that I had Radar. It seems hard to justified but I guess Safety first.

Thanks
Jordan

 

[spring fever]

There is nothing so lonely as being 8 or 10 miles off-shore when that fog rolls in. Yeah GPS is great but it can fail. Nothing like a good chart plotter with a good looking course in and a radar picture plus compass course to confirm everything. If it can go wrong it will!!!

 

[King_Cod]

I have been thinking about getting it myself. I head out several times a year and have run into fog a few times. In Nootka and in the Campbell River area. GPS tracking has got me out of a bind but Radar would be a nice addition to back it up. I have seen some nice systems for around $1500 in the past. Not a bad investment for the additional safety it provides.

 

[trophywife]

should be some interesting posts or stories of fog encounters,,,,,yes,safety and caution first,,, if you can afford it, get it,,,when it was really fogged in i would always stay inshore and follow the shore lines of areas i new well,(thus watching everybody else heading out) always watching the compass,, i started going off shore but never in the fog unless we had a leader with radar (thanks to many) and of course radio contact and stay out of the shipping lanes. i just got my radar now and always never felt safe out in the fog without it.. it is necessary if going out in the fog IMO. keep your keys in the ignition and an ear open for fog horns. close calls and death out there are not very far apart

 

[casper5280]

I always wanted a radar for my boat after almost getting T boned one day out in Sooke. Came across a used Furuno unit for cheap and installed it on my 17 ft malibu. After installing it and using it I would never have a boat without it. I can go out in any weather and feel safe day or night. I fish about 20-30 days a year and of those about half are foggy. I have since sold that boat and my new Hourston will have a new Lowrance system installed in the new year with duel moniters, broadband radar and VHFs w/AIS all interfaced together. I would say how much is your safety worth, I know there is tons of guys who say and go out in the fog all the time and say it's safe(only going slow,close to shore).If you can afford it I would go for it. Once you dial the unit in you can see the weather fronts moving in and go in before it hits.

 

[wolf]

Local in sooke water hmmm maybe, going out in renny or further north when you can be near freighter traffic,ferries barges etc HELL ya. I use mine maybe about 10 times a Year do I need it probablly not as in sooke all you have to do is look for other fisherman and I give wide turns past the fishing grounds. But will tell you ill have a fleet behind me somedays as guys will follow me up to otter if a guy asks ill take him to there no big deal, had one buddy follow me about 5 times this yrs just to get him there as the fog usually lifts in time for the ride home.
Just looked on my records 14 imes last yr 2009 only 3 tims had it on.. guess it depends on how much money you have.

Good luck Wolf

 

[Last Chance]

It's like any safety device. If you plan on spending a lot of time on the water, get one. It doesn't matter if you are 10 miles offshore or 20 feet, all it takes is smacking another boat to make you wish you had one.

Being in a pack of 20 boats using their canned air sounding away can be very disorienting and downright unnerving.

 

[profisher]

The area you fish with the hazards you may encounter and your level of navigational experience should determine if you need one or not. If you are feeling uncomfortable about the fog rolling in on you, maybe you need to look at radar. Listen to your instincts. Back in the day around Sooke, we felt not having a compass along was nuts. Back then we hugged the beach and never ventured more than a couple miles from home. I guess pocket compasses were expensive back then because many didn't have them...we always had someone coming over to ask us which way to shore.

 

[TenMile]

I try to live with 4 rules -- make sure you can see (radar) and make sure you can be seen by others (radar reflector, lights etc...) make sure you have a backup plan (compass, handheld GPS, redundancy), and never rely on the "other guy" to see you (assume you are invisible).

End of a fishing trip last season we were on Swiftsure Bank, and heading back towards Sooke. Fog rolled in very thick and visibility was probably 100-200 yards. Had the radar set up to warn us of approaching traffic at 1.5kms. As we are headed across the shipping lanes, the proximity alarm sounds and we recognize we are approaching the oncoming path of a very large, fast moving vessel. I throttle down and out of the fog a large research vessel blasts across our bow about 200 yards out. Without the radar, we would have been directly in his path and hopefully he would have seen us....

 

[Halilogger]

Do a risk assesment, the more time you spend in higher risk areas, the stronger likely hood you will have a close call or a incident. That's not to say that 1 trip a year doesn't involve any risk, if you can afford it or find a good deal I would buy one.
If you took 2 fiends out with you in the fog, and some thing happened where 1 or both or all of you died and it was determined that culpability lied with you. One you better being carrying lots of insurance, because of one of the deceased, widow or siblings decides to sue you, your putting your family at risk. This applies to a lot of things, but you may over look this when your boating with friends.

 

[beemer]

Go for it JAC. Radar has been around for a long time for good reason , it works! If you get a unit there is lots of good info on this site about setting it up. Try using it on days without fog to get used to what you are "seeing" so when the fog rolls in you understand the image and have the unit tuned properly. Radar assisted collisions happen just as frequently as flying blind collisions usually because the operator does not understand what is truly happening compared to the image on his screen . The Radar Book by Captain Kevin Monahan is a really good primer for Radar use.

Merry Christmas to all!

beemer

 

[searun]

I think TC should require any vessel out in foggy conditions to be equipped with both GPS and radar. The problem we see on the water are guys running only using GPS. They run at full throttle and never consider they could run into someone doing the same thing. I've had a few close calls over the years, and each one was a guy using his GPS and not having the ability to locate other traffic. Similarly, I've also seen a few guys who have the proper equipment that have no clue as to how to operate it, so even bringing on rules can't legislate good sea sense.

 

[beemer]

I don't know about that. I see more guys running radar performing that move. Radar is good but it always depends on radar reflectors. Half the time most people don't have them at all, so you are actually no better off running at fast speeds. Radar or GPS. Mandatory TC- I don't know.... Also AIS in the the next 5 years may change navigating completely. Now what i could see is mandatory AIS systems on boats in the next ten years maybe. Once GPS has this capability/affordable it will be interesting to how radar competes.

Don't get me wrong radar will always have usefulness.

Smiley66

Hey Smiley , I agree that AIS is a good tool , but it is really the same as gps. Radar always tells you what is actually there when it is tuned properly, not what people want you to see. I do a fair bit of high speed night navigation and I see the odd boat going 40 knots with no lights and definately no AIS!

 

[searun]

AIS is a good tool for plotting large commercial vessels, but it does not allow you to see smaller vessels, so I concur with beemer. Radar is the most effective tool we have at the moment for collision avoidance if used properly. As for reflectors, they too should be mandatory. Name of the game here is collision avoidance, and anyone who ventures out in foggy conditions without radar is fool hardy and risking the lives of other boaters needlessly. I'm tired of seeing guys running blind at full speed. If we don't do something about it, then it is just a matter of time before we have a nasty collision.

 

[bigmeal]

I agree Smiley66. I've seen far too many guys in big boats with radar screaming through fishing grounds in fogged out conditions. Everyone should be going at a reduced speed in order to ensure no major collisions. Most of us without radar do not venture any where off shore when fog is a problem, so we stick to the "well known" fishing grounds. I agree that we should all have reflectors and I for one will pick one up for this next season to do my part, but I will not be going out to spend well over 1500 bucks on equipment I will barely use more than 4 times a year as I'm a weekend warrior. It always seems to be a pissing match between guys that have it and those who don't. It seems there have been a few of these topics discussed all leading to the same division. I would say if you want to go offshore ie, Constance, Swiftsure Bank etc. ect. Then yah definately you should have radar when Fog is in the forecast for your own safety and others as well. The only other question I have is, does radar pick up logs sitting in the water when you are moving along at 25 plus mph? That is my 2 cents, I hope I don't get shot down for my opinion.

 

[wolf]

Sometimes you can see a log depends on how sensitive it is set . I use mine a lot even when it isnt foggy as i like to really know how it works in relation to baots etc on the water.AND it will pick up other things as well learnt that one the funny way heading out to otter one morning saw a blip to my port side and its coming fast so im watching it on radar so i slow right down to a slow troll as this "boat" is going to hit me all of a sudden a huge flock of muirs pass in front of me yep i lookd dumb for stopping but couldnt tell if what it was coming at me better safe than sorry LOL LOL.
If I was at swiftsure I would have radar no matter what size of boat i had ...

Wolf

 

[juandesooka]

I got a cheaper used radar/chartplotter last year ... b&w older model, someone else's castoff as they upgraded to colour.

I got it mainly for Swiftsure trips, after a scary incident in the fog in the shipping lanes. Wherever it was, the horn on that fast mover was LOUD and sounded close ... but we never did see it to know for sure. <shudder>

Anyways, it figures that once you get radar installed, you then don't fish any foggy days! I only needed the radar once last season, coming back from Swiftsure ... we were out of shipping lanes, but we could not get up to plane without a better idea of what was coming up. The radar system paid for itself that day, would have been a long trip home without it.

Funny thing is, the unexpected part of getting this system was how much I now rely on the built in chartplotter. I've had a gps for years, but it is great having the big screen right there, both for navigating and fishing.

 

[bigmeal]

Forgive my ignorance on not knowing it could see things barely floating. I honestly would have never thought that would be possible with waves and such that get in the way. I guess as far as my budget goes radar is not in my near future and I will be a close to shore fisherman. I will still be picking up a reflector to aid in someone being able to see me, at least I will be doing what I can. I would just like it if guys would stop ploughing through the well know in shore fishing grounds in thick as soup fog where us guys without radar are trying to fish safely. Sorry a little off topic I know, I wish you luck JAC in deciding wether to purchase radar or not. Thanks Wolf and juandesooka for your experiences.

 

[Nelly]

When I run into any sort of safety question, I hold to a simple rule that and old skipper of mine shared with me:

"If you have to ask the question, there is no question."

In other words, if a situation has you concerned enough that you question it... You better do something about it.

If you have to ask the question about radar, you've recognized that there are situations at which you were at risk due to low visibility.
Bottom line: you need radar. One collision at sea can ruin your whole day...

 

[searun]

When I run into any sort of safety question, I hold to a simple rule that and old skipper of mine shared with me:

"If you have to ask the question, there is no question."

In other words, if a situation has you concerned enough that you question it... You better do something about it.

If you have to ask the question about radar, you've recognized that there are situations at which you were at risk due to low visibility.
Bottom line: you need radar. One collision at sea can ruin your whole day...

Couldn't agree more. Saw the comments regarding picking up logs, and yes in some conditions you can see them on radar. Mine is also sensitive enough to see birds, and I have experienced that same false positive target hit...but better safe than the alternative. I agree that if you are not getting out much in foggy conditions it likely does not make sense to have radar, but I also believe that no one should be out on the water without it when there is dense fog. That applies even more to well traveled areas, where there is a stronger possibility of collision. Bottom line is if you can't afford radar for those few times you need it, then you can afford to stay tied up at the dock to ensure you and others can live to fish another day. Also agree, when in fog (even with radar) always best to slow your speed. Things can happen quickly and it is disorienting to say the very least.