Is radar like the extinct typewriter?

[S/V Alchemy]

Originally Posted by Kenomac

When is radar not only necessary but crucial to have? Just watch this video and look closely at 1:05 when my wife locates a huge channel marker at a time with poor visibility that's only 500 meters away. I doubt we would have avoided hitting it without the radar. It also helps to know how to use it and practice frequently. You can't count on AIS, more than half the boats don't have it, and besides that... our new AIS unit broke down for over half the season.

I fully concur with this. AIS buoyage is still rare, and things like low cliffs or rocks are never going to be tagged. Radar can also be used to thread a path between squalls or thunderheads; if I can see something 30 miles ahead, even on a moonless night, I can prep far more effectively. Radar and AIS aren't steps on a stair; they are brothers-in-arms. They work well in tandem.

[DotDun]

Originally Posted by S/V Alchemy

AIS buoyage is still rare

Plus, as being reported now, AIS ATONs on the AICW are reporting the wrong position since Hurricane Matthew moved the buoys around. This, IMO, is a more dangerous situation for those that believe AIS to be the whole story!

[Adelie]

Originally Posted by MarkJ

Stupidly the OP doesn't say where he is, nor his intentions.

First you imply he's a troll. This post you call him stupid.

Play nice please.

He's new, he'll learn.


A house is but a boat so poorly built and so firmly run aground you would never try to refloat it.

[foojin]

We did not have radar on our previous boat. On a three-year cruise through Asia we not once found ourselves wishing we had it. We encountered many cruising sailors who had it, but did not turn it on. They, like us, relied on AIS. Crossing the Bashi Channel, separating Luzon from Taiwan, is ship soup.

Our current vessel came with radar. It is nice to turn it on when sailing into heavy fog banks, though if it coughed and died tomorrow I don't know if we would replace it.

For generations, cruisers sailed without radar or AIS or SSB radios. With every technological innovation, some cruisers will declare it to be a "must have".

I'm not arguing one way or the other. If it is your intention to sail the world, ask people who have done so (in person) to share their experiences with or without radar. Then make your own decision.

[roverhi]

Have sailed for 60 years without radar and I'm still alive. Wonder how I managed survive. Radar is a nice to have addition to your boat but easily gotten by without if you use a little common sense and patience. GPS will safely get you offshore of most any destination and into most harbors in the blind. If you are nervous doing that, hang around offshore till the fog lifts or the sun comes up.

[Stu Jackson]

Originally Posted by roverhi

If you are nervous doing that, hang around offshore till the fog lifts or the sun comes up.

Doesn't always work that way. When going into Havens Neck in Northern California, the fog obscured the two large dangerous rocks at the north side of the anchorage. Woulda liked to have radar back then.

I'm not arguing one way or the other. If it is your intention to sail the world, ask people who have done so (in person) to share their experiences with or without radar. Then make your own decision.

Good advice.

[Rorzech]

That was a great video ! Thanks for sharing it !

[Goosebumps]

Of course sure it is possible to cruise and survive without radar. You have to be prepared for if you loose electrical power. Then be able to navigate without any instruments! In terms of listing what I consider the most important instruments, nr1 sonar/deoth sounder/fishfinder for obvioys reasons of not hitting the bottom, finding out what bottom type you have to anchor, navigate with depth, then nr2 radar......

[Numawan]

Originally Posted by S/V Alchemy

I fully concur with this. AIS buoyage is still rare, and things like low cliffs or rocks are never going to be tagged. Radar can also be used to thread a path between squalls or thunderheads; if I can see something 30 miles ahead, even on a moonless night, I can prep far more effectively. Radar and AIS aren't steps on a stair; they are brothers-in-arms. They work well in tandem.

Frankly, I don't need AIS buyoage at all. Neither do I need to see buoys on a radar. I only need good charts which tell me where to find the buoys.

Personally, I have been sailing around North-West Europe and a few other places without radar, AIS or even chartplotters for 20+ years without any problem. I have had electronic charts for about 8 years and an AIS transponder for 3 months. Radar offers a bit more than AIS, but not that much. I don't find the balance between the benefits of a radar and their cost and hassle sufficiently attractive.

[Cadence]

I won't express am opinion on the need or not for radar. Just wondering what the display looked like? Cobbling something together with old and new sounds like folly. New low power units a relatively cheap. The one thing about radar, it is autonomous with its own display. JMHO

[zboss]

Originally Posted by packeteer

imo, radar is nice to have, but it's not a panacea. a mate of mine has a newish b&g 4g radar, it still misses many things

It takes a while to learn how to adjust the radar and use it properly. It's taken me three years to really understand how to get the most out of our radar.

Originally Posted by Numawan

Frankly, I don't need AIS buyoage at all. Neither do I need to see buoys on a radar. I only need good charts which tell me where to find the buoys.

Unless of course the markers are off station by miles after a hurricane in that case you better not just have ANY chart but THE chart. ATONs are the future for at least the US coast guard (and I am sure others as well) who is being asked to manage more markers while receiving less budget. Electronic aids using AIS fills that gap.



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[George DuBose]

Skylark came with a radar setup from the early 70s and one would have to be an MIT professor to figure out how to use it correctly.

The new generation of radar/chartplotter combinations take all the math out of figuring out what a target is doing and which direction.

I would keep a radar setup before AIS. Best is to have both.

[alansmith]

Kenomac, that was a fabulous video. Really was a proper snotty day wasn't it? Nice to have the length and build of a great boat under you on such a day. thanks for sharing.

[conachair]

Originally Posted by zeehag

ais doesnt see pangas and small fishing boats nor storms...
radar does.

Unfortunately not at the same time....
Though, that one day a year when it really comes into its' own it's like "Oh you really earned your keep tonight Mr Radar, you can stay!"

Why do people keep comparing AIS & radar - they're different animals altogether.

[Cadence]

Originally Posted by conachair

Unfortunately not at the same time....
Though, that one day a year when it really comes into its' own it's like "Oh you really earned your keep tonight Mr Radar, you can stay!"

Why do people keep comparing AIS & radar - they're different animals altogether.