caught in fog

[patrickbryant]

I had a similar - though far less intense - experience years ago.

A few suggestions: An AIS class B transponder will broadcast your position, speed and course over ground, vessel name, size and type. And unlike radar, it works around corners and obstructions like bridges. Larger vessels are required to broadcast their position via AIS and have a navigation display for AIS. You an run an AIS transponder standalone with no display at all so at least you can be seen, but if you connect it to a chart plotter, you can also see the other vessels that are broadcasting their position and get a warning if one's headed toward you. AIS isn't a guarantee that your boat won't end up making an insignificant smudge on some tanker's hull, but it does improve the odds.

I got very bored blasting: "beeeep, beep, beep" with an air horn. It took one hand away from operating the boat, and sounding one of those things a few feet from your ears can't be good for your hearing. So I installed an electric horn and a Fogmate controller that automatically sends the appropriate horn sequence at the correct intervals.

I'm a pilot, and I always make use of aviation weather services before I go out on the S.F. Bay. If there's an airport near the water, look up their Automated Weather Observing System (AWOS) phone number, or listen to the broadcast on a scanner that supports aviation frequencies. The reports are updated at least as frequently as once per hour (times given are "zulu," i.e., UTC). You can find the numbers and frequencies at AirNav. The number to listen closely to is the temperature and dewpoint (given in Celsius). If the "spread" between those numbers is less than 4 degrees C (7.2 degrees F) and the temperature is dropping, then my ears perk up. Less than a 2 degree spread with a descending temperature, and I assume things will get foggy very soon.

Flying IFR (on instruments) can be a challenge, but sailing in the fog is downright scary. In a plane, you can change altitude. In a boat, there's nowhere to go but down, and that's a not a good option.

[OtterGreen]

I am a former helicopter pilot as well and use the AWOS or ATIS information to my advantage as well. I remember being caught inside of VFR minimum in the Manhattan area on the Hudson and it is a VERY scary scenario when you arent properly prepared.

[OtterGreen]

Actually another boat in the vacinity is a buddy of mine who is also a pilot as well. he always knows its me because of my radio calls, a mix between aviation and Army radio. Mathis bridge mathis bridge SV impulsive how copy over? go ahead cap! This is SV Impulsive currently half click out to your north requesting a transition southbound via the bridge en route to Island Heights.. Roger cap all clear maintain your course and ill get her open.. Mathis bridge SV Impulsive transition complete all clear have a nice day over out..you too cap!

[jimjazzdad]

Up here in Nova Scotia, the old timers used to say: "The fog here gets so thick that you can sit on the gunnel and lean your back agin it...but you gotta be carefull 'cause if the fog lifts, you're in the water quick!"

While that may be a slight exaggeration, sailors in Maine, New Brunswick and Nova Scotia get used to the fog. And it can be blowing 25 knots and still thick of fog.

The basic rules are: put up a radar reflector, slow down, follow a safe compass course, watch the depth sounder, and listen (sound carries really well in the fog, so whistle & bell buoys and engines are easier to hear). Have your horn and VHF handy. And if you have GPS and radar, you are really well prepared for the fog. It can be very exhausting sailing in fog for prolonged periods - keep the watches short. The dangers are not usually geographic but rather other vessels.

[captbillc]

up here in lake superior we get pea soup fog. i don't have a radar yet, but use the gps & depth finder. on the rocky north shore depth can go from 400+ feet to none in one mile so we have to be careful.

[PorFin]

Originally Posted by Maine Sail

The scariest thing about fog are the yahoo's guided by nothing but a GPS doing 30 knots in their Sea Ray's..

Amen, Brother Maine!

At the end of a Gulf crossing from Pensacola couple of years back, we were almost T-boned by a knucklehead exiting the Clearwater, FL channel -- friggin' hopping mad I was.

[OtterGreen]

i have a waterballast with swingkeel so the depth, while it was a concern was not as critical as a fixed keel. since i can operate keel and rudder up in 12 inches, i was able to get closer to shore than other boats. i agree about other people. i know my limits and was not worried about the fog itself, but hearing other boats and seeing wake while no one responded is an uneasy feeling.

[OtterGreen]

these photos are before it started to get really bad. after a certain point i stopped worrying about photos and more about the boat.

[jrd22]

"depth can go from 400+ feet to none in one mile so we have to be careful."
Here in the PNW it can go from 400' to zero in a few feet! In the book "Curve of Time" about a woman and her kids exploring this area in their small wooden powerboat they were shouting to judge how far off the rocks they were by the echo in thick fog when the bow bumped into a sheer rock wall.
I think Mainesail mentioned Sea Rays going fast in the fog, we have the same crazies out here. I've seen countless speed boats emerge out of the fog doing 20+ knots, with no radar dome (Don't worry honey, I've got GPS, I know where we are). You can't count on any targets on the radar being able to see you. I avoid going out in the fog on any major holiday weekends if at all possible.

[capecodda]

Strangely, I kinda like it. With radar and chart plotter you can enter your own little world and mostly be pretty safe. Certainly a lot easier than the way we used to do it with compass and depth sounder.

In Maine it's better, because Darwin culls out the ill prepared. In Vineyard Sound, where fog is rare by comparison, the number of clueless sea rays running 30kts, open arrays spinning (but no one looking down at the display or able to understand it), increases. Had way more close calls at home that in Maine. Of course, Maine does add the challenge of lobsta pot toggle avoidance, which can make for a long day when its blowin and thick.

Still, we just got back, wishing I was still down east.