I think I will buy the fold up octahedral reflector - they are the cheapest and, it seems, the most effective. But probably just mount it when in low visibility. I'll put a spare block on the spreaders to hoist a radar reflector, burgee's, courtesy flags etc. That seems the best bet I think.
Rob. Yes, I have the VHF/DSC polling/AIS set up on my chart plotter too, also a PC based chartplotter, the excellent Open CPN running on a Panasonic Toughbook with Visit My Harbour charts and 'live' tidal streams, with Bluetooth GPS and AIS - I want to sort out wind into it too, when I puzzle out NMEA multiplexing. (For info, I still have paper charts on a yeoman plotter).
Dave. No mate, not Rutland! Our club shares a berth with two RoRo ferries and numerous other commercial vessels. I've attached a screenshot of a chart of the dock.. To give an idea, Alexandra Dock is about half a mile long, my berth is at the western end of the narrow connecting bit.
Incidentally, the largest wind farm in the world has just been given the go-ahead to be built on the Dogger Bank, with the consequent massive development started already in the area, which has already given us new dock gates allowing 24/7 access. Combined with the existing traffic, it's going to be busy I think.
I agree with Rob, those support cats are blistering fast, gone before you even realise they are coming up behind you. Best avoided.
Still, if all does go fat tum upwards, I got a McMurdo Fast Find PLB (Don't we all if single handing?).. I'll report back if I ever have to use it, or maybe not..!
Andy