single sailing

Hi Bill,
you´re not wrong to think so! It is easier to handle a bigger boat (especially motorboat) than a nutshell. Docking is a different issue of course. But the bigger the boat the more complexity of systems you encounter usually. And that lets the novice fail too often.
A bigger boat on the other hand is the boat which can provide sufficient comfort even in heavy sea conditions, keeping the crew fit. Fatigue of crew is a very much underestimated problem in making passages.

Regards
Richard

 

Singlehanding

Practical boat owners did tests on Radar reflectors, and found there was no advantage to active radar reflectors, or any of the so called "Improved" ones. In some cases the old fashioned ww2 versions did much better.
I found the crew fatigue level dropped drastically when I went for a pilothouse with inside steering. Exposed cockpit , outside only steering positions are dangerous, not only from the exposure they subject crews to, but from the drastically increased amount of crew fatigue. Dodgers are as protective as a lean to, nowhere near as good as a wheelhouse and inside steering.
Brent

 

Yepp.. a wheelhouse is a must for me. But I´m a stinkpotman anyway. see avatar.
And again, IMHO more losses during passages are caused by fatigue of their shorthanded crew than by technical failure alone.
To radar reflectors,
the best radar reflector is a big container carrier! So, do´nt worry, do´nt guess, do´nt fear if they see you or not! See them!
Buy a radar! Even the 2000$ Simrad is a much better lifesaver than every active or passive reflector. AIS is a nice tool, but see it as another sort of entertainment and never as a addition to your safety! You´ll be surprised how many thousand commercial vessels out there are dragging their lines through the oceans without taking notice of the radar for hours! Some are underway with a bridge unmanned (I had such encounter at the south entrance of the english channel), or the watch asleep.
And even if they see you, never NEVER believe, that they take care of you! (in busy waters a larger freighter will never give way, no matter if you are right, or the little sister of the pope, they cannot.
So, have a professional el. system aboard (or throw your beverage fridge) and run a radar!
not just my 0,02€
Regards
Richard

 

In fact they did. In 1999. Apparently there has been some improvement in the active reflectors over the cause of 9 years. And about the tetrahedral "WWII" reflectors. They are fine. They are the basis for the current standard. As long as they aren't heeled.