Marine radar antennas rotate and sweep a narrow beam of microwaves around
the water surface surrounding your boat to the horizon, detecting targets by
the microwaves reflected off them, and then displaying a picture of the boat’s
surroundings on your Lowrance screen.
Marine radars are the best collision avoidance system ever developed for the
recreational boater. Radar systems let you “see” through darkness, fog and
stormy weather conditions. Once used only on large vessels, radar units are now
compact, draw little electricity and are sized to fit boats as small as 5.5m in length.
Combined with AIS (Automatic Identification System) and a modern electronic
chart plotter with up-to-date digital charts, radar can be a real lifesaver.
As we all know, being aware of your situation at sea is of vital importance. You
always have to consider the following:
• Where am I?
• Where am I going?
• What is around me?
There are many tools that contribute to situational awareness at sea: your eyes
and ears, your skipper, your marine electronics, marker buoys/navigational aids
and maps. But over-reliance on any one of these things can result in catastrophe.