[Paddlewise] Radar, Kayaks and Visibility Study

ve posted here several times about the visibility (or, more accurately, the
lack of visibility) of a kayak on the radar screens of ships and boats.This
morning I was reading an article by Ta mia Nelson over on Paddling.net (
www.paddling.net if you need the link) as part of their feature "In the Same
Boat" that addresses this issue (for the second time in a couple of months).
Mike Euritt, who also posts here on Paddlewise, is quoted in the essay and
he and I have shared thoughts on the issue back-channel several times.

I particularly liked Mike's pithy comments on the three main requirements
for being seen on radar: (1) Is the radar on?( 2) Does the operator have a
clue? and, (3) Is anyone looking at the display? You would be surprised at
how seldom all three of these conditions are met. And then you get into
issues of whether the radar is tuned properly, how far the target is, if
it's raining or there are wind waves, and so forth.

Mike also thinks that the newer digital radar systems might be better at
picking up kayakers but remains a skeptic. I think, by and large, skepticism
about being seen on radar is a good thing but I'll have a much better slant
on this after I install my Garmin 3006 GPS/Sounder/Radar system on the
Muthah-Ship. I bought everything but the radar scanner from a guy on
Craigslist for $700 but since the boat is in the water and 200 miles away I
haven't actually installed it (or bought the scanner) yet.

One of the more salient points of the article was a link to an actual test
done by the USCG and some kayakers on the east coast in which they tried to
find out how well kayaks show up on radar and whether reflectors help much.
That study can be found in .pdf form here:
http://www.maineseakayakguides.com/radar_report.pdf

Their results are pretty interesting and it's well worth a read. One of the
most surprising results is that one of the more effective radar reflectors
is just a tin-foil hat. So if you already wear one to keep the space-aliens
or the Government from reading your mind then you are ahead of the rest of
us. Rejoice! I'm about to install one myself as a liner to my paddling
helmet. Tin foil is, I'm pretty sure, water resistant.

Some of the results are just common sense. Kayaks show up better when
broadside than they do when end-on and show up better as a group than
singly. And any more than about 1/2 mile away from the radar unit means that
your "return" will be pretty faint. Still, highly recommended reading for
anyone who paddles where there might be vessels equipped with radar.


Craig Jungers
Moses Lake, WA
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