Furuno First Watch

[cuthbert]

I spent ages looking at options when adding a radar. I did not want to go the route of upgrading all the ST60 Raymarine system and seriously considered a second hand E80 display with a new Raymarine radar and also a multitude of other manufacturers options.

In the end I went with buying a Furuno First Watch Wifi radar and a new ipad. I also spent some time looking at where and how to mount the radar and went for the Garhuer solution of a 7ft radar pole connected at two points to the port side of the pushpit stainless with a single bracing strut to the hull (the owner of Garhuer has 350 hull #1 in Marina Del Rey Ca and I went and had a look at his setup).

It was easy to drill a single transom hole for the wires and put a clamshell cover over the hole and run the wires to the panel.

Just got back from a trip to Mexico, it all worked really well, the ipad solution means you can sit anywhere in the boat and have a radar screen with you. Very happy with the radar, mounting and ipad.

[cuthbert]

Here are a few pics of the radar pole if any are considering the add on. Part of the reason I went with the radar on a pole is that I wanted an engine lift as I tow my dinghy or tie it down on the coachroof and lifting the engine on to the dink when its a bit choppy is best done with some mechanical assistance. The Garhuer solution is a radar pole that mounts to the pushpit rails and has a support strut that projects forward. The pole came with an engine lift arm that is perpendicular to the pole with a 45 degree bracing strut. As is that will not work on a C350 as the bracing strut would hit the pushpit seat rails. With a bit of cutting and rewelding I raised the angle of the arm and put a dog leg in the bracing strut so that now the arm can be swung across the top of the seat and lifting the outboard off its mounting point is easy.

[Olivia Mae]

Thanks for the pics. I was also looking into getting a Garhauer pole when / if we install radar on our 350. I'm assuming your setup is the same as the one Garhauer used on his boat?

I was hoping for a stern mount on ours for a couple of reasons. We are putting a complete canvas surround on our boat this winter (the reason the radar is getting pushed back at least a year). The stern part of the enclosure will be inside the catbird seats, so putting the pole back there would interfere with the canvas less. I also need it to be removable for launching and pulling the boat out for winter as we have to back the boat into the lift at our marina, and the pole would be in the way if I mounted it on the stern. Garhauer shows an adjustable base mount on their web site that would make removal of the pole easy.

Do you have any thoughts on a stern mount? Did the folks from Garhauer mention this as a possibility?

Thanks,
Scott

[cuthbert]

I seriously condsidered a stern mount, It was just the garhauer option being local, less expensive and having the chance to see the end result before commiting that made me lean towards them. I don't recall talking to them about stern mounting I just replicated the owners setup on his C350

FWIW the other option I looked at was Scanstrut as I have a boat near me with a tidy looking stern mount from them with curved motor hoist.

https://www.scanstrut.com/marine/sail-b ... pole/sc101