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Equipped Boats: Radar is an excellent means of marine navigation and is used on vessels of all sizes, down to boats of about twenty feet in length. Although not installed on all recreational boats, its capabilities and limitations should be known to all boaters for their own safety when cruising on waters navigated by radar-equipped vessels.
The most important channel is 16 (156.8 MHz), designated for distress communications, but also used for initial contacts. Voluntarily equipped boats are not required to maintain a continuous watch, but if their radio is turned on, it must be tuned to this channel when the set is not actively being used for communications on another channel.
For the channels and their authorized uses, see.See Also Many Boats Are Used:The prudent skipper will have a thorough knowledge of the Rules that apply to all types of boats and ships that operate on waters that he or she uses. The official text of the Rules are in the Coast Guard publication Navigation Rules, International-Inland, which is available at most chart outlets. The major requirements that apply to recreational boats are listed briefly here.
There are two electronic navigation systems available to skippers of boats as well as to navigators of large ships. The cost, size, and power requirements of these systems have now been reduced to the point that they are feasible options for boats of almost any size. The newer, and now the more widely used, system is the Global Positioning System (GPS). Also used by Many boats are used boaters is Loran, an older system still in operation. Almost all new installations, however, are GPS.
On The Other Hand See Recreational Boats:To receive VSC approval, all recreational boats used on coastal waters or the Great Lakes must have a minimum of three Coast Guard-approved day and night visual distress signals that have not reached their expiration dates. Some signals, such as red flares, can serve for both day and night requirements. Boats operating on inland waters should have some means of making a suitable day and night distress signals.
American Boat and Yacht Council, Inc., 3069 Solomons Island Road, Edgewater, MD 21037-1416; www.abycinc.org. This nonprofit technical society develops and publishes voluntary safety standards and recommended practices for design, construction, equipment, and maintenance of all types of recreational boats.
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