The Radar Book: Effective Navigation and Collision Avoidance

Author Kevin Monahan, an experienced captain and Canadian Coast Guard officer, presents the complete picture on how to maximize the use of a marine radar system for collision avoidance and navigation. By using practical examples, extensively illustrated with screen captures, the new comer to radar as well as the experienced mariner will learn how to tune a radar system, interpret the display under real-life conditions, and take advantage of all of the built-in features and functions to use radar effectively as a real-time navigational tool. The 248 page book includes step by step examples of an actual trip showing the radar display with the corresponding chart to show how to interpret the display in a variety of weather conditions. Today s next generation radar systems, which combine the chart plotter display, are also covered in this comprehensive explanation of marine radar systems as well as tips and recommendations for the purchase and installation of a new system.

Captain Kevin Monahan is a Canadian Coast Guard officer with over 20 years experience navigating the British Columbia coast as a small vessel captain. Born in London England in 1951, Monahan-now a resident of Victoria, B.C.-emigrated to Vancouver and attended the University of British Columbia. His articles have appeared in various magazines including Pacific Yachting, Northwest Yachting, and the Fisherman's News as well as in West Coast Fisherman which published a series of his articles on electronic navigation.

Captain Monahan was a fisherman for 12 years, after which he worked on ferries and coastal transports, before joining Canada's Department of Fisheries and Oceans as a patrol vessel captain. Captain Monahan is now an officer with the Canadian Coast Guard, having served the last five years in the Office of Boating Safety, first as Chief Investigator and then as Pacific Region Superintendent. He has testified in court as an expert witness in the navigational uses of GPS and is the principal author of GPS Instant Navigation, 2nd Edition and Proven Cruising Routes, Volume 1-Seattle to Ketchikan, The Radar Book and Local Knowledge-A Skipper's Reference.