Gps vs radar

[76Red18]

Yes I was. There were a couple of boats capsized but everyone made it. Coast Guard was on sight of the first distress call in less than 5 minutes. Hell of a job!

It was unbelievable how wrong the forecast was. 10 kts, seas 2-3 with a slight chance of showers!

Anyone have any tips to keeping their electronics' screens readable? I would think rain-x would damage the plastic.

[Fr. Frank]

I would consider radar a luxury item on a 23' boat in south florida, while I would say a gps is a necessity. I just got a garmin gpsmap 441s for my 18, which should suit my needs.

There is one more benefit of having radar no one has mentioned.
While conducting SAR and Drug Interdiction training with the Civil Air Patrol a couple of years ago, I got to spend a day on a US Navy patrol vessel. Here's what I learned.

Most newer commercial radar systems use a broad spectrum receiver; that is, while they recognize and process their own transmitted signal on bounce/reflection, they are also designed to recognize and plot other radar emitters and their time codes. So if you're emitting x-band or s-band with your little sport radar, it's like having a bright beacon show up on other commercial vessel's radars - they definitely know you're there. It's like hanging a 50 foot diameter radar reflector over your boat.

Please note, however, that most small vessel radar systems do NOT have this capability, nor do any commercial systems over 12 years old. But to most commercial shipping, having radar on your boat turned on at night or in the fog is a "Keep Away" sign.

[BigLew]

Fr. Frank,

That is a very interesting point, and I had never heard of it.

One of the boats we did see on our little "adventure" was a commercial high speed ferry that was running about 15-20+ knots through the fog that morning. He knew where we were and all the other boats, so he felt comfortable, be we and the other boats without radar had the @#%* scared out of us as he appeared and vanished in no time flat. Not a cool feeling!

PS. That winter he had a Raymarine C-80 installed with auto-pilot. We have a lot more confidence now, but we use it as an assist and not as a 'fool-proof" asset. It has exhibited a number of quirky behaviors.

[bigeasy1]

The one thing that can be a nightmare on the Great Lakes in the fog is the constant stream of freighters and ore carriers.
Some days it seems like they never stop.On the western end of lake Ontario where I keep the boat they're Usually coming from the welland canal and heading east.

Unfortunately,we often fish for Steelhead in the same area the ships are using,anywhere from 5-15 miles offshore.When the fog rolls in thick,as it often does in the summer,I'm always worried about being that statistic.You know,the one that gets run over by a ship.

My buddies are always busting me saying " oooh! lookout John,here comes a big scary ship".
They say don't worry these ships can see us on their radar.Oh yeah!? well, the Exxon Valdeze had sophisticated equipment on board,but they still managed to run aground.
I don't buy the premise that someone on these ships is constantly watching the Radar in thick fog.Humans frequently make fatal errors.

This is one of the smaller ones we have to deal with all the time.

[Fr. Frank]

I've seen some of those ore carriers exiting the St. Clair river into Lake Huron, and they look bigger than a supertanker. They'd run you down and never feel the bump...

[thedog]

personally I would take a radar and a compass over just a gps any day
so much more you can do and alot safer
once you get a good quality radar, you wonder how you did without one
chartplotter is nice, but not a necessity
radar I feel is a necessity on a boat,
the lower end units by JRC and furuno do a really good job
middle of the road furuno is a great tool to have.

[Fr. Frank]

personally I would take a radar and a compass over just a gps any day

But how many people know how to plot and follow a course using Dead Reckoning, chart, dividers, pencil and compass anymore? I had to learn it when I was 10, 'cuz my Navy officer grandfather taught me to do so to cross the Stream.

How many of you can?

[gss036]

You should navigate the San Juan and Canadian Gulf islands, then you really need radar with all of our ship traffic for the refineries and Vancouver B.C. traffic. I have 2 GPS units but no radar. I run very slow in the heavy fog, really don't go out in much anymore since I turned into a fair weather fisherman. My old fishing buddy had a Raytheon(?) on his 20 footer and we could navigate through the crab pot buoys. It takes 2 people to use one, one to drive and one to stare at the small screen.

[thedog]

But how many people know how to plot and follow a course using Dead Reckoning, chart, dividers, pencil and compass anymore? I had to learn it when I was 10, 'cuz my Navy officer grandfather taught me to do so to cross the Stream.

How many of you can?

ignorance is no excuse, trust a gps or any machine and it will let you down sooner or later.
used to run and fish 80 miles back in the late 70's and early 80's with a compass and paper machine.
funny story, two years ago, I was running home from an offshore trip in my big boat, wind came up other than forcast so I beat feet. hit the inlet around 1 am. there is a sportfish boat just outside the inlet big boat 60ft +, he is on the radio with the coast guard channel 16
his gps quit working, he had the gaul. to hail the coast guard on 16 and ask them what the compass heading to the hudson canyon was. he had no clue, yet was about to run 80 miles in the dark to reach a fishing destination and did not know the compass heading to take. should be common sense information but he did not know
then last year the state made it mandatory that any boater running in salt water had to take a boater test and class, do you know that on the test there is no reference to a compass, heading, buoy colors nothing, just info about no wakes and jetski's , absolutly nothing about how to read a chart, call for help, plot a course nothing.