How Radar Improves Safety Aboard

In June 1992, I was on a test run of a 50-foot Scarab performance boat powered by quad Caterpillar diesels off the coast of Long Beach, CA. The boat was purpose-built to attempt to break the Around-Britain endurance record for the MacKinnon family who owned Drambuie liquor. Typical for the California coast in early summer, we suddenly found ourselves engulfed in heavy fog. We slowed to an idle and listened closely for other vessels. First, we heard a horn, but didn’t see anything. Suddenly the driver put the drives in gear and launched us forward to avoid what turned out to be the Catalina Express ferry bearing down on us. Fortunately, the Scarab had — what was at that time — some advanced electronics, including radar. The only way he could see that 100-foot-plus vessel was on the screen. If there was no radar on the boat, I might not be here — and the boat, Drambuie Tantalus, wouldn’t have broken the record. Today, radar is available from myriad suppliers in the marine electronics realm, including Raymarine, Garmin, B&G, and Furuno. Moreover, companies like Watchit and Tocaro Blue are using artificial intelligence to further advance safety aboard. “You can have radar on any kind...