M1 radar addition

[boomerang]

Ever since we bought our model 1 Mainship, we've planned on adding a radar so weather or darkness wouldn't hamper our cruising enjoyment. I was having a hard time deciding where & how to mount the antenna and scrutinized every picture of similar styled boats & how their antennas were mounted. We finally settled on mounting it on the aft starboard side of the bridge wing, using the flybridge railing for fore & aft stability & a 48" piece of tubing fastened to the seating & 2/3 up the mast for athwartship stability. We had the stand fabricated locally out of heavier gauge 3" aluminum conduit that's very rigid unlike smaller diameter ,thinner tubing with too much flex that I've experienced in the past. We incorporated the anchor light & TV antenna onto the mast & the whole thing is still less than 17' from the water , which lets us pass under most every bridge from our dock to Jacksonville ,Florida that wouldn't have had to open for us anyway.
I squirreled the radar away when a I took it on trade from a customer. It's not Garmin's latest color unit but we're just interested in using it for navigation. I don't care what color the blob in front of me is in the fog, I just want to see it!
Anyway, here's what we have & personally, we really don't think it looks too bad where it is. Maybe the pictures will help others who are in the process of adding a radar to a small cruiser decide where or where not they want to put it.

 

[boomerang]

Have I mentioned lately how much I dislike the way an Iphone puts pictures up all wonky? Oh well, I'm sure everyone is just looking at the pictures of the radar antenna and not my pretty helper...

 

[Comodave]

What radar antenna???

 

[Mrwesson]

That looks pretty darn good. I had my big dog on the boat and find loading her onto the flybridge from the front ideal.. I removed one of the braces for my radar arch/mount and it came loose onto the deck in rough seas the same day.

I spend more time at the lower helm than above and it's nice to have the increased visibility.

Doesn't matter much because my older furuno unit bit the dust recently and i'm starting to question if I need it... The Mainship is very much a coastal cruiser and the waters on and off FL are pretty good with cell service.

Thread derail because truthfully it's because i'm cheap and don't wanna pony up for another one.

 

[boomerang]

Hell, we're both cheap or we wouldn't have old Mainships!
We use the lower station when it's cooler in the winter/fall months but both my wife & myself are warm weather peeps & love the flying bridge without an enclosure to enjoy the warm breezes!