Subject: Vessel detectors - radar visibility of your own vessel
From: "Armond Perretta"
Date: 08/24/2003 14:04 Pacific Standard Time
Message-id:
Shen44 wrote:
Again .... never approach closer than two miles at sea, and if you
miss the ship and it's close aboard or within that distance, figure
it's up to you to avoid .... worry about some rule later.
Always a sound approach, but consider this. I have a 4 to 4.5 knot
sailboat. Offshore the commercial traffic I encounter (neglecting for the
moment commercial fishermen) typically maintains 16 to 24 knots. Even
should I pick up a target at 8 miles on radar (or otherwise), there is in a
practical sense very little I can do to _insure_ a CPA of 2 miles or better.
I am speaking only from the perspective of quite a bit of offshore
cruising in a small sailing boat, which is not to say I don't realize that
"big boat always wins."
Oh, fiddle faddle. To begin with, not all ships you see out there will be
heading directly at you, so, for the most part, even at 4k, you will have
plenty of time to adjust.
Secondly, on a clear day you should be able to see a ship at 8mi plus and have
a good idea as to it's heading, which means you can take appropriate action to
give it as wide a berth as possible. Hey, if you don't make 2 mi., you
tried..... at least you worked to maximize the passing distance.
From my own standpoint, the "small" boat has a better chance of seeing the"big"
ship sooner (especially at night) and starting to maneuver to maximize the
passing distance .... especially, considering your slower rate of speed.
Don't get me wrong, I don't condone poor watch keeping on ships (visual and
radar) any more than I do so for small boats, but varied experience has taught
me that both have things which must be dealt with/ worked around, when dealing
with the other, and overall, small boaters should always act as if they are not
seen and maneuver accordingly ..... use the radio, shine a bright light on
your sails, use a strobe (short periods) .... do what it takes, never assume.
Shen