Questionable Safety Equipment

[Henning 4148]

Yesterday, I had a discussion at the club - a very very knowledgeable colleague there pointed out, that our radar reflector (a tube type, diameter roughly 2 Inch, mounted in our backstay - at an angle) probably does not do a lot to reflect radar. He had done some simple testing several years ago. I think I remember tests in one of the mags from the 90's with similar result. I just checked - they are still for sale, guaranteed to work for 2,5 miles ...

Our horse shoe lifebelt is made from foam. We bought it early 2019. Well known brand and so on. The boat is out in summer, but under cover in winter. The belt has a considerable number of cracks in the surface - without being mechanically stressed. Probably degeneration from UV light.

Flashing life belt light - the first, bought with the previous boat, had a liquid mercury switch which for some reason unknown to me was broken. On the second one (different brand), the catch that holds the cover in place broke when I closed it after putting batteries inside. I got it swapped for a new one, which was eventually sold with the previous boat. The third one (same as second) bought early 2019 got a stuck automatic switch already in late summer 2019. When the boat got hit by a wave, often, it would start to flash and only stop when given a slight slap. Upsetting when crossing shipping lines at night. Returned to supplier. The fourth one (different brand) bought early 2020 was fine in 2020 but when the boat was put in the water again early 2021, it very soon developed condensation inside. A closer look revealed, that water was standing permanently in the joint between body and top. Returned to supplier. The fith one (bought in spring 2021) seems to be more for the proessional market and still works, the surface has only turned a tad dull. Battery life is 5 years and apparently, it is glued together, so, possibly no way to change the battery. But at least it still works and has no condensation.

Rescue sling system which came with the boat - the part of the floating line that is attached to the pushpit needed to be replaced as it had deteriorated in the UV light so far, that it just dissolved when touched. Now, this short piece of line does not have to be floating line ...

GPS, Chart Plotters - It does not seem to be usual to have a single big red or yellow button for MOB position. On at least some gizmos, for MOB, you have to go into second or so menue level ...

Inflatable Danbuoys - also discussed with the colleague at the club yesterday - his status was, that when there is a lot of wind, they will lie flat on the water ...


Any similar experience from others?

[Garret]

Re: Questionable Safety Equipment

I too have a tubular radar reflector on the forward side of the mast. A friend once told me it made a very bright return from a little over 2 miles. He added that he was surprised to see it was me when we got closer, as he knew what I had.

[Henning 4148]

Re: Questionable Safety Equipment

Good to hear that the reflector might work. I will keep it on the backstay.

[WX]

Re: Questionable Safety Equipment

I made a cylindrical radar reflector out of some 100mm diameter PVC pipe and some rolled up Bubblewrap insulation. I don't know how good it was but I'd read about it being a good option.

[Geftb]

Re: Questionable Safety Equipment

It’s like most things these days… not made to last.

[Andrew Craig-Bennett]

Re: Questionable Safety Equipment

This stuff tends to be left in place rather than stowed below when we leave our boats so it deteriorates fast.

[Ian McColgin]

Re: Questionable Safety Equipment

Years back I made a run to the Vineyard that started late in fog, involved a night anchored in the fog on the Squash Meadow. The next morning we crept in verz dense fog towards Vineyard Haven where ferry traffic was thick. Mz new radar reflector was still in the mail but we had many baking trays. So about a half dozen of the crew were on deck squaring their tin to any deep engine noise while I worriedly got on VHF 13 to give my DR position and ask if their radar had be.

We showed up really grand.

[wizbang 13]

Re: Questionable Safety Equipment

i see boats with aluminum tubes for masts regularly
boats with spade rudders ...even fin keels
how many times i climb aboard a vessel and hear from below "Dont Grab Those Lifelives !"
gigantic battery systems
propane stoves
folks steering their zode from the rong side AND standing up in it!
and then there are people thar actually RELY on dorky "safety" equipment...an inflatable bra that is worn outside of clothing
pfffft

[willin woodworks]

Re: Questionable Safety Equipment

you gotta wonder how much more effective a store bought radar reflector is than an aluminum mast and boom. I fly one of those round segmented reflectors but have often wondered if its doing any more than the rig itself

[Ian McColgin]

Re: Questionable Safety Equipment

The round sections of a mast do not reflect a signal back, not a good radar target. The tubular units have their reflecting lens inside the tube. Chuck was an advocate, as I remember, of crumpled aluminum foil inside a hollow wooden mast. I don't recall his test results but I'm sure they were satisfactory. The inside shape of an aluminum mast would disrupt and render ineffective any return signal.

On Granuaile, my Marco Polo, I had the biggest Firdall. Ferry captains reported I looked clear and huge.

More and more AIS is supplanting radar.

It is important to test your gear. Getting a return call from a boat with radar that they could see me was a good thing.

My Life Sling was a great unit but I felt the directions for getting the person back aboard with a halyard were badly thought out. In my tests - I had myself as casualty - the process hurt as I was scraped on the hull. In the end I added a hook on the boom and a fore guy so the halyard could be held away from the hull till the casualty's feet were above the rail. This, by the way, meant cocking the boom up near the end of the lift.

Too many think recovery over the stern or just reach down and haul on the arms will work. Take a nice summer day and try.

[rbgarr]

Re: Questionable Safety Equipment

Our boat is small (24') and we will on occasion pass through sections of the coast where fog has dropped in. Ours is an inboard powerboat (see avatar), wood with little metal in it's construction so we got one of these to haul up the short mast intended for flags.https://www.echomax.co.uk/em180

We only fly it in fog or on hazy days. Otherwise we keep it below out of the sun since it bangs away a bit against the mast as the boat rolls (and the mate thinks it's ugly ;D). On a fogged-in passage across the mouth of Penobscot Bay last summer where barges, tows and sizeable ships have a marked fairway we radioed out to hear if anyone registered us on their radar. A small tug pulling a barge said they saw us from five miles off.

We'd like to have a Life Sling and have practiced with one on another's boat but there's no halyard high or strong enough on ours to make one work. We do have a permanently mounted ladder on the transom. DCS VHF is helpful and we now hope a new smartphone will back up our GPS, but cell service reliability may be an issue downeast. Since I occasionally move the boat from place to place alone a remote kill switch device for the inboard engine may be next.

[Ian McColgin]

Re: Questionable Safety Equipment

rbgarr, if you can get the Lifesling to the rail, try getting a loop under the knees and haul that up by hand. It does work.

I believe getting a casualty aboard is essential for any boat.

[Andrew Craig-Bennett]

Re: Questionable Safety Equipment

GPS, Chart Plotters - It does not seem to be usual to have a single big red or yellow button for MOB position. On at least some gizmos, for MOB, you have to go into second or so menue level ...

My boat has a mystery pull switch at the helm. It wasn’t connected to anything. A surveyor identified it as being the MOB button for an early B&G chart plotter (which she no longer has).

We seem to be going backwards

[David W Pratt]

Re: Questionable Safety Equipment

The best radar reflector in the world depends on the radar operator noticing it, which is antithetical to the self-sufficient ethos of a yacht.

[Autonomous]

Re: Questionable Safety Equipment

Years ago, one of the nautical magazines (Practical Sailor?) did a pretty thorough test of consumer grade radar reflectors and the tube versions generally didn't fare so well.
IIRC radar wave size may require minimum size reflective surfaces?