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seaboater. Sorry can't quote as posting from phone but sea fog is not always avoidable and can exist even on the nicest of days. If you have run from lowestoft to Harwich you are not going to turn round and go back when you run into a fog bank for the last half a mile.

Ian

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Hi Mark, as far as I am aware it is compulsory for any vessel to carry a radar reflector if practicable as it is compulsory to show a black ball when at Anchor during the day and show a single all round white light while at anchor at night. so a black ball would also be a worth while piece of kit.

I bought a Seago M2 tube type radar reflector for about £25 but if you read up on these things you will find that the cheapest are almost as good as the best for passive, that is the aluminium ones with lots of bits sticking off at about £15, they just don't look pretty. If you want to make sure you can be seen though get a SeaMe at about £450. I couldn't justify the SeaMe for the amount of time and the depth of water we run in but as with everything else, when that ship suddenly appears 20' off you port side then £450 seems very good value.

Ian

Ah, I didn't realise the passive ones were that cheap. I have infact seen these on boats, I now realise, but didn't know what they were. Is this the type you have http://www.marinescene.co.uk/product/1835/tube-type-radar-reflector-powerboat-version? Do they just mount on top of the radar arch?

ps Sorry for all the questions, but I do want to make sure we are covering the important points :oops:

edit: Just noticed the same reflector in Norfolk Marine for over £54! :o

pps: Where do you hang your ball, Ian :naughty:

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Radar reflector as high as physically possible Mark, but my own rule of thumb is to use my Radar to keep from under the feet of big stuff if Mk1 eyeball is limited in any way. As I have Radar I have not bothered with a passive version but may look at an active one as a future project.

Anchor ball should be mounted in a prominent position normally towards the pointy end (yachts use the wiry bits they have) but Radar arch would be a good place on a MOBO.

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A little tip that helped me out there with stand on and stand off vessels was treat it as you would an island on the road.

If it has a stick on it you dont have to worry as it is so slow it won't get near you and no need to worry about wash with them either, if you speak to their skippers on land they will tell you how much better they deal with rough water than yours. :naughty:

If it is big you are supposed to hold your speed and course so they know what you are doing. I prefer to make as early as possibe a big adjustment so they know I am scared and running. If it is big and has hung a load of balls on the front don't go near it. Either it cant move out of its trench or it's moving but the captain can't be bothered to watch where he is going. :o

Ian

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This is all you need Mark

http://www.tcschandlery.co.uk/7063/Plas ... gn=pid7063

They cost little really and you could have a motoring cone in case you want to pop a sail up while motoring :grin:

Ian don't worry just get a ball fender put it in a Black T Shirt and hang it from your Radar Arch........ when you have forgotten your Anchor Ball improvisation is the name of the game :oops:

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When fitting your reflector make sure it is not in the same plane as the radar fit it higher or lower to prevent interference. Crackerjack has an active reflector from time spent in the Humber.

We have had a couple of sea safty checkes by the RNLI will have to see if I have the check list. I know the only thing we did not have was a throw line. We now have a floating line attached to a floating dog ring on the fly bridge.

Jonathan :Stinky

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god damn all this expensive safety equipment!!!

I am just relying on senator and mariotech to come to my rescue when i get into (inevitable) trouble!!!! :naughty::naughty::naughty:

hopefully flanked by mbird too!

adam... :pirate :pirate :pirate

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What a coincidence, David.

I said to Col last night, that by the time we had all the safety equipement on board, there wouldn't be enough room for us :lol:

Lou xx

Yeah, but you can throw all the safety equipment overboard Lou, cos it'll all float! :)

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Senator wrote : seaboater. Sorry can't quote as posting from phone but sea fog is not always avoidable and can exist even on the nicest of days. If you have run from lowestoft to Harwich you are not going to turn round and go back when you run into a fog bank for the last half a mile.

Agreed, but the tenor of my post was meant to be more about caution, rather than specifically turning back or not. If you're going to do journeys such as the one you're talking about, radar (and knowing properly how to use it!) is an essential.

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“It is recommended that poorly performing radar reflectors are not fitted as it

is possible that the user could be lulled into a false sense of security believing

that their chances of detection has been enhanced.â€

I agree wiv wot that MCA bloke said. :bow

And for that reason I have never fitted one, as AIS transponders are now coming down in price to the level of a seame which would be the only one I would give houseroom to I am begining to see that they might be a viable option, particularly in open water.

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Agree Mark and the reason Kiki does not sport one.

I read the report when it came out and reached much the same conclusion.

David's point on AIS is a well made one.

I think for keeping yourself from under the feet of big stuff Radar and AIS is a very good option (apart from keeping out of where big stuff will be as much as possible). Clearly the reciprocal is that big stuff will be able to see you but I am pretty certain if you were in very busy waters that the usefulness of this for commercial skippers must be somewhat diminished by the amount of targets on their screen, but at least you would know you are showing as a 'target'.

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Ah, but we know for certain that we both give a good signal return just as we are Perry, even with relatively small bandwith and low KW scanners, even when presenting the pointy end. It's all a bit acedemic as far as I'm concerned anyway as I would rather I see the target than be seen by it anyway and will concentrate my efforts to that end. :grin:

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