A foggy day

[Tom]

Maine Fog

A few years back I sailed (motored) from Belfast to Bar Harbor Maine. I'd been in fog before but never this long (about 45 miles). Did not encounter many boats, few lobster ones but using GPS (also have spare), compass, reflector, good chart, horn, slow speed, and charting a course buoy to buoy it went ok. Prefer not to but the experience makes it easier when you're required too.

 

[Steve Zito]

Gulf Coast Sailor In Fog On Magnetic Deviation

In my years sailing out of Mobile, Alabama, most recently on my '94 Hunter 37.5, or previously my '79 Hunter 30, around the northern Gulf Coast of northwest Florida, Alabama and Mississippi, navigation in fog or other weather limiting visibility is not a big issue. It just does not happen that often. Having little fog, mostly in the spring, it affects me minimally. Thunderstorms can be just as blinding as fog can be, more intimidating and often require more urgent attention.We do have a unique advantage navigating in this area. From our location, the magnetic and true north poles basically align. Therefore, looking at the charts, north is always straight up and the boat compass matches. At a glance, bearings are easily estimated. I have GPS on board, even navigational software with electronic charts on my laptop that I occasionally bring on board. It even interfaces with my autopilot. I could literally (but I don't), sit below and steer my boat with a mouse, from looking at the computer screen. This is nice stuff to have, but rarely "have to" use it. Mostly I have fun with it, or just be lazy.Even having chartered in the Caribbean, I have only used visual navigation techniques, rarely looked at the compass and have never encountered fog.The story here comes when this complacent sailor from the Gulf Coast charters from Anacortes Yacht Charters, in Washington State and takes off into the San Juan Islands for five days. We chartered a Hunter 33.5. What the heck was this stainless steel thing in the cabin with a vertical flue and metal cap on the deck? I had never seen a built in heater on a boat like this.These five days in August had to be the most beautiful days of the year with sunny skies, no rain and unfortunately, no wind. Nevertheless we enjoyed the ease of visual navigation the islands afforded us.On the third day however, we were casually motoring up the west side of San Juan Island hoping to see whales. We were paralleling the shoreline, only a couple of hundred yards out. We were amazed at the depth sounder noting hundreds of feet of water below us. At home, this distance from shore meant certain sand bars, shoals, crab traps, etc.Upon one scan to port and aft, I noticed the other shoreline had disappeared. At first, my experience told me it was a squall line. However, the gray line stretched the entire length of the horizon, north to south. Observing its uniformity, it suddenly occurred to me it was fog, and it was approaching us.Approaching the lighthouse on the westernmost tip of the Island's west coast, I left my 15-year-old son at the helm and went below to turn on the GPS and get out the chart kit. The instructions I gave him were to keep us parallel to the shoreline.I already had a grip on where we were headed, and the route further north. I now wanted to locate us on the chart and be safe because this shoreline looked rather ragged and unforgiving. At home, the shoreline shows up first as a little drag on the keel by the silty and sandy bottom. Here, it would be a boulder on the bow.As the fog rolled in, it was so thick that the shoreline disappeared. I peered up from below and told my son to maintain his course and not to veer to the east.As I located our position on the chart, it was clear that "up" on the chart, north that is, was perfectly safe. I stepped up the companionway and told him just to keep us going north. He looked down at the compass and said "Dad, that means I need to turn right and that would run us in to the Island". By then the Island was no longer visible. I unfortunately hardly ever give my son the benefit of the doubt, and certainly not under these conditions. We exchanged our differences of opinion several times, and then I just said, "Stop the boat". He slowed the throttle and put it in neutral. I did not believe his reading of the compass, so I jumped up to view it myself. We were steering about 30 degrees west of north. I claimed he had steered away, he said he did not.Being really confused now, I went down to re-evaluate the situation. Why would the chart and compass disagree? I was getting confused. Luckily it was calm and there was no panic.After being perplexed, I glanced at the compass rose and noticed the deviation arrow bent hard to the right. I do not remember exactly, but it was about 30 degrees that magnetic north was to the east of true north. Thus the compass was being pulled nearly 30 degrees east of true north, giving the appearance of sailing on a northwesterly course. Never before have I had to deal with magnetic deviation before. I knew about it, but never had to apply it. Yes, I did apologize to my son for doubting him.I stayed confused for the rest of the journey whenever I had to rely on the chart or compass for headings. Thank goodness for good weather days, good old visual navigation techniques, and zero degrees magnetic deviation.

 

[Steve Zito]

Same place, similar problem

Bruce, please visit my article I just sent today about fog in the San Juans, nearby to where you were. Its called"Gulf Coast Sailor in Fog About Magnetic Deviation"

 

[Roland Ludlam]

Long Live the GPS

I've sailed on Maine's Penobscot Bay in heavy fog on several occasions. Two times we sailed in the fog. One time we were forced to motor due to little and adverse winds. At all times the GPS was our guide. I definitely prefer sailing to motoring -- you hear everything around you even if you can't see. There's nothing like finding your first buoy in a thick fog by following the lead of the GPS.One thing, though: you must know how to use your GPS before getting out there. It is easy to get disoriented and confused unless you know your machine and have good waypoints to go by.

 

[Liam O'Rourke]

Foggy

I am the owner of a hunter 310 (called Legend 310 here in europe) and sail mostly in the Irish Sea being based at Dun Laoghaire.On bank holiday weekend in 1990 I was returning alone from Arklow to Dun Laoghaire a journey of some 40 miles when just off Wicklow head I was enveloped in the most awfull fog ! I do not have radar and so it was alittle "sporty " to be alone in these conditions.I left up my sails ,put on my engine, went alittle futher out to sea and using my GPS set a course. I also called up the coastguard and advised them of my intentions.They advised me that I should be safe on that course. I put a whistle in my mouth and blew it at regular intervals !! The only "hairy" part was just off Bray head where a lot of dingies were RACING !!!! The fog lifted about 6 miles from home and I was relieved to settle onto my moorings safe.Liam O'Rourke."Tereblee"

 

[Frank Arndorfer]

Caution is advised

Debate on this topic could go on until doomsday but I think most would agree it's a topic to be approached with caution.As mentioned in many of the responses, I think the "prudent mariner" would not go charging out into fog/low/no visibility conditions without at least some basic knowledge of navigation, be it simple compass, LORAN, GPS, or whatever. And the key is to TRUST THE INSTRUMENTS.I've been a pilot for 27yrs and the onset of "spatial orientation" is something that has to be experienced to be believed. A lot of pilots (as would be sailors) would say...it won't affect ME." but believe me, it will. Once you lose outside reference to the horizion or left-right, disorientation will soon follow. That's where one must force oneself to rely upon and BELIEVE the insrtuments, regardless of what your body "senses". In aircraft, often times the results of ignoring this phenonom are fatal. In boats, maybe not quite so severe. But troubling and confusing nonetheless. Not to mention the hazard created to those on board or other boaters. Go out and try it. With someone experienced. And gain confidence before you find yourself forced into the situation.

 

[Steve Dion]

It is a very strange experience!

Frank:I would have to agree. When we were sailing home from Hawaii in the summer of 2000 we had 3 hour watches at night. These nights were without any orientation except for the bow light. Doing 8-10 knots in total darkness and only steering by a compass is an experience that can only be explained by doing it. Most of the time I did OK. But once you get disoriented it was a bitch getting back on course. I found that I did better if I was out in the cockpit for a while before I took the helm. You really do not have the oppurtunity to do this in an aircraft, ouch!

 

[frank arndorfer]

To further expand

Rob also brings up an excellent point. While the FAA mandates pilots maintain "Currency" in their various ratings, there's no guarantee that being "current" is the same as being "proficient". One can be current but not necessarily good. it merely means he/she has complied with the regulation.In some respects, we sailors have an ideal situation. There's less risk involved and there's no regulation dictating we possess/maintain specific skills. We're pretty much self-regulated.But be assured that if enough boaters go out and start banging into one another (and other objects), the regulators will step in and dictate for us.Get out, try it, and enjoy it. But stay good at it also.

 

[Bill Burkhardt]

Cape Lookout Fog Bank

My wife and I lived on board full time for two years (a Tayana 37). During that time we delt with fog a number of times in the new england area. We now live on land again and sail a Venture 21 (Draco) out of the Beaufort, NC area. Our most recent experience was about 2 weeks ago on a day sail to the Cape Lookout lighthouse. A Sudden fog bank rolled in off the quickly cooling Atlantic ocean and reduced visibility to a boat lenght within a ten minute period. We were able to make it to our first channel day mark before visibility was lost completely. Normally we would reduce sail and follow a GPS input return course, but the inside return to Harkers Island took us through a winding and ever-changing shallow channel. Using the chart for the area and the depth finder we were able to motor our way from mark to mark until we could sail a compass course parralell to the coast and our final "home" GPS coordinate. In all a heck of a day.

 

[Bruce C. Stone]

Santa Monica Bay

Please read second submission with correct reference to the proper sailboat.

 

[Bruce C. Stone]

Santa Monica Bay

I was sailing on a beautiful sunny day last fall on Santa Monica Bay (just offshore from Los Angeles, CA). My friend suggested we sail farther north because we were making good time, but as I surveyed the surroundings, I noted a very silent fog bank settling in to the west of us. We turned back to the marina but got caught in the fog. I had my GPS with chartmap at home to fix a broken tab and the GPS onboard was an early Garmin model which would give me my position but I had no maps onboard because we were just coastal sailing. We dropped sails and motored over to the shore where we could see the breakers and follow the depth profile until we ran into the Venice Beach pier and then a chipshot inside the breakwater from there. I was amazed at some "idiot" who broke out of the fog in a power boat at full throttle as we neared the marina. We still had 100 foot visability and so it wasn't as bad as it could have been. I was also amazed that the marina fog horn was difficult to hear and to orient toward. But I learned some lessons with this experience.I now never go out without my GPS with chartmap (Garmin 176C which will guide me right into my slip with zero visabilty); I have official Coast Guard maps; I have installed a Raymarine Radar and a Trilens radar reflector; I am learning how to use my radar.Does this sound like overkill? I was planning on equipping my boat this way but my motivation was speeded up by my experience in the fog. I plan on sailing to Catalina Island in the future and have to cross the merchant traffic lane to the very busy Long Beach Harbor.I told this story to my retirement fund manager and he related an experience on his power boat where he and a friend were planning on scuba-diving off Santa Cruz Island, South of Santa Barbara, California. They entered a fog bank believing that they could navigate by compass to the island which they thought could not be missed. They became so lost they stopped and cut the engine and drifted. They heard a very loud and very large fog horn sounding and coming in their direction. He felt they were going to be overrun by a freighter when just in time a good-samaritan came into the fog using his own radar to identify my friend and guide his boat to safety. My friend said he would never again go into the channel without his own radar!

 

[Reekman]

Fog Racing

When I owned my first boat a Catalina 22, a local marina had a big race weekend sheduled. Saturday was an absolutely fanatastic day of wind and sails. But Sunday, the first race was off early in soupy, rainy, but windy weather. Usually the fog would have blown away quickly, but not today. It hung in a thick blanket from the water to up about 10 to 12 feet. Wierd and surreal looking to say the least. All you could see of the other racers where the tops of their sails and and on the larger boats you might see a crew members head and shoulders. None of this was even visible unless the other boat was on top of you.  This would all have been of great interest to my crew IF THEY WERE THERE but they had'nt been counted amoung the survivors of the after race throw down Saturday. So I'm single handin'it. Hell it was only a Catalina 22 and was fairly well tricked for singlehanded racing. But only up to a certain wind speed. Well, long story short, I ended up rounding up from a preety good gust. Still floating and not too wet, but with only half a rudder. Was a nice little merry go round untill it could douse the sails. Fun Fun Fun. A helluva experience though. Ahh, the good ol'days. Now I drive a Pearson 26. Not a lot larger but a lot more meat and potatoes.

 

[Rick D]

Bruce Stone's Reply Brings Memories

I was day sailing in Santa Monica Bay in spring near the Santa Monica bouy when the fog came in RIGHT NOW very thick. No radar at the time. I pulled up the chart and checked the loran location and noted the bottom contour which would take us in the north (narrow) jetty. Sounded the horn, but it was a waste. Went to power with the main up and made the anchor ready. Put one of the crew on the foredeck. Basically just proceeded slowly using the mag compass, loran coordinates and gut-checked with the depth to bring us to the harbor entrance which was no more than 100 feet away before we could see it. Also barely could hear the horn until almost upon it.Biggest problem was believing in ourselves when a 35ish foot sport boat went in front of us at 90 degrees with a guy and a blond gal, radar antenna rotating, at about 15 knots or more. Our heading made his the beach. We were right. He was grounded. Anyway, just had something similar bringing a boat up from San Diego to MDR. 0400 hours northbound at about Alamitos Bay, the fog hit, naturally, just as we were to enter all the shipping traffic. No radar. No chart plotter. Took GPS positions from two units every 15 minutes and maintained course and speed. Hoped they would see us. Came out about two hours later. Ugh.In general: fog is nerve-racking but not that big a deal in open ocean if you have a good course and know where you are when it arrives. Crossing shipping lanes is awful, and I don't trust they have a watch or see me if they do. Radar is well up among must-haves of boat equipment even though I went most of my life without. Another point: I personally think the accuracy of todays GPS/autopilot combinations bring a lot MORE risk to the average boater travelling to or from a popular destination in limited visibility conditions. Simply put, boats are crossing consistently within 50 yards of the rumb line over 50 miles! In fact, a neighbor hit a bouy dead-on that he had dialed in the GPS. (He and the Mrs. had a passionate moment that was rudely interupted...Rick D.