Radar on the ICW

Tim that is correct. I do have the 2 big 10' displays right in front of me. The one not seen is on the left, and I run radar on it. The one visible is on the right, and I run the chart plotter on it. I can put the chart on the left for radar overlay. I can also run the same chart at two scales. That really comes in handy for the ICW to see large scale close by and what is coming up at a distance. I know that this technology is a couple of generations behind, but it works so well I don't feel the need to upgrade. The radar is 72 mile. Really good for tracking thunder storms and weather fronts.

You should recognize the location. By the way check the SOG 25.5 knots. We must not have been in a hurry.

Back to the original question ... It's not just fog you have to worry about on the ICW, the following were taken in Georgia. most of the "land" shown on the chart was inches under water, showed up on the radar but couldn't see it from the wheel.

That's a new one on me...whenever the "marsh" is under water and there's no grass showing...usually there's no RADAR return....anything special you tweek?

Nothing special, short range low FTC, high STC, higher than usual gain.

I've taken shots like this several times. here are two more ...

are you bouncing off a bit of grass I don't see in the pictures?

If you have big deep full pockets, radar is a must have.
If you have empty pockets, radar is a luxury.
If you don't have any pockets, radar is a waste of time.

It's all relative.

For us bottom feeders, a little common sense goes a long way and the increase in safety (and/or convenience) is infinitesimal compared to the cost. It's like I'd have to reduce my time on the water by 90% to be 1% safer with radar.

Here's one of an approaching storm.

psneeld said:

are you bouncing off a bit of grass I don't see in the pictures?

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It may be picking up a little grass but the beam also penetrates the water to a very small degree and that is the bulk of the signal you are seeing. Throw in a little chop on the water or some rain and there is a good chance the signal would significantly degrade or perhaps disappear.

In perfect conditions like the photo below I have picked up pop cans and floating birds. Once you have radar and understand it I don't think anyone would ever want to be without it again.

boatpoker said:

It may be picking up a little grass but the beam also penetrates the water to a very small degree and that is the bulk of the signal you are seeing. Throw in a little chop on the water or some rain and there is a good chance the signal would significantly degrade or perhaps disappear.

In perfect conditions like the photo below I have picked up pop cans and floating birds. Once you have radar and understand it I don't think anyone would ever want to be without it again.

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I've been using it weekly at least for the last 35 years and always thought if it reflected of tiny little waves...that and ice particulates ....and that it certainly wouldn't penetrate the water surface...otherwise everyone would use it to detect deadheads, containers, etc..etc...

I'm still amazed and would love the tech explanation because all the research I'm doing says it can't yet you pics shows it can...

psneeld said:

I've been using it weekly at least for the last 35 years and always thought if it reflected of tiny little waves...that and ice particulates ....and that it certainly wouldn't penetrate the water surface...otherwise everyone would use it to detect deadheads, containers, etc..etc...

I'm still amazed and would love the tech explanation because all the research I'm doing says it can't yet you pics shows it can...

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It can be done but in very limited conditions, Think about a radar reflector under your flying bridge coaming, some of the beam will get rhough and back. Think about X-ray at the airport being able to detect metals and different densities (bags of cocaine) being hidden inside liquid baby formula.

Radar is either X or K band in other words ... an X-ray. I would not be without one and have used it to enter very narrow break walls when you could not see out the windshield due to the ice.

We've got trawlers on the ICW that need to see an approaching storm? What are you going to do, dash into the safety of the ICW? Oh wait, I'm already there.

You're in the Bahamas and you see a storm on the screen. It's probably no surprise because you've heard about it maybe yesterday on the radio, but now that it's on your radar, what do you do...try to outrun it?

For us folk who always anchor, storms are a way of life, and if you're smart, you always have a plan.

Oh, did you know you can get storm radar on your phone on most if not all of the ICW?


Radar is definitely fun and handy if you've got the green, but it's certainly not necessary on the ICW.

jeffnick said:

We've got trawlers on the ICW that need to see an approaching storm? What are you going to do, dash into the safety of the ICW? Oh wait, I'm already there.

You're in the Bahamas and you see a storm on the screen. It's probably no surprise because you've heard about it maybe yesterday on the radio, but now that it's on your radar, what do you do...try to outrun it?

For us folk who always anchor, storms are a way of life, and if you're smart, you always have a plan.

Oh, did you know you can get storm radar on your phone on most if not all of the ICW?

Radar is definitely fun and handy if you've got the green, but it's certainly not necessary on the ICW.

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In the Bahamas many times there is no cell service. Thunderstorms can pop up most anytime. Radar gives enough warning to move to a sheltered anchorage. In crossing the Gulf Stream, knowing a thunderstorm is moving your way can give warning to move my hiney out of the way of it. In our case we can adjust speed.Big seas can build in the stream in a short time.

On the other hand a 16 mile Faruno is on my Blackfin. It will just tell you about when my butt is going to get soaked. Really, the more you use radar the more you discover you can do with it.

While not a necessity...reading weather in remote locations with radar CAN be a big deal...while I won't oversell it...I won't undersell it's usefullness either.

Jeffnic said it best, if you can afford it, it can make boating more interesting and perhaps more fun. For most of us recreational boaters that can pick the weather we choose to boat in, radar is a nice accessory, but really would any of us stop boating if we couldn't afford a radar?!

I'm going to the Miami boat show to hopefully pick up a good deal on a radar and chart plotter to replace my legacy Raymarine plotter and radar. I can afford it, but if I couldn't I certainly wouldn't predicate my enjoyment on the water with the affordability of radar. Nice to have but it's just been in the last 15 years or so that it's been affordable for most recreational boaters. Before that I still had a great time on the water without it.

"Thunderstorms can pop up most anytime.)

And can be seen for 50+ miles . surely long enough to rig the FW catcher in time!

Radar might let you track the storm to see if its worth the effort , WOW!

There were two incidents that made me determine that radar would be good to have. One was directly on the ICW, one was just offshore of the ICW.

In the first incident we were fishing just offshore of Beaufort Inlet when a fog bank rolled in. We heard the sound of the fog horn of a large freighter coming in to port. It was hard to tell the direction of the sound. I hoped my radar reflector would allow him to see us. After a while the huge bow of the freighter appeared about 100 yards from us. He made little noise other than his horn.

The second incident was directly on the ICW at Charleston. We had run a long day and were entering Charleston Harbor from the North. There was very limited visibility, but we could see to about 100 yards or so. We heard a horn but saw nothing. All of a sudden a bow wave was coming across our track. Then a big black submarine with one flashing yellow light appeared. He slipped by silently except for the rush of the water.

It was then that I determined that depending on them seeing me was not good enough. So, I started looking into radar. It's better seeing them.

My radar scope is at the lower helm station.... I normally operate from above on the flybridge... We left out of Charleston, SC with another boat...making an overnight offshore jump to Mayport/Jax FL ..... We were about 50 miles south of the outer marker for Charleston when a fog bank rolled....we were in fog for about 14 hours... After seeing a fool running at high speed..obviously with no radar almost broadside our friends, they saw the fool coming from the port side....and stopped dead. The fool just missed them by a couple of feet.... And it was good being able to see the commercial traffic....just wasn't sure if my radar would pick up a boomer coming out of St Mary's.....

You can argue to and fro...but having a radar, knowing how to use it...is an additional layer of safety when things get dicey weather wise .....

"Then a big black submarine with one flashing yellow light appeared. He slipped by silently except for the rush of the water."

Oh for a Green flare!!

The Green flare , sez , Mark my Attack from This Position!!!

In Antisub training.

Sure would have surprised the boat crew.

FF said:

"Then a big black submarine with one flashing yellow light appeared. He slipped by silently except for the rush of the water."

Oh for a Green flare!!

The Green flare , sez , Mark my Attack from This Position!!!

In Antisub training.

Sure would have surprised the boat crew.

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I love it, FF. Wish I had known that, and had one.:lol:

As you know today there would have been a swarm of security boats around the sub. No one would get near it.

A friend's son was commander of the Kings Bay and Groton sub bases. I would always e-mail him to ask permission to pass close by his Kings Bay base. I chided him once about security being lax. He replied, "would you like to see a picture of your smiling face taken through one of my Marine's sniper scope". I didn't think that would be necessary. He also said that they were naturally suspicious of boats with black hulls.

Moonstruck said:

I chided him once about security being lax. He replied, "would you like to see a picture of your smiling face taken through one of my Marine's sniper scope".

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My son is involved with securing nuclear weapons and has related similar stories to me. The purpose of the security you see is to remind you to go no further. The ones you don't see, saw you approach the ones you did. Get past them and the gloves are off.