I’ve never seen this before

Jun 14, 2010
2,081
Robertson & Caine 2017 Leopard 40 CT
I was sailing in fog and happened to look up to see this fog shadow of my sail. My vantage point was in line with the shadow, and it couldn’t be seen from other angles.
869CD4F7-FCBD-4A51-ADC3-B008B416A225.jpeg

edit: Updated the image to show the mast upright
 
Last edited:
Jun 14, 2010
2,081
Robertson & Caine 2017 Leopard 40 CT
Gotta love the BI Sound fog!
This is yesterday in the middle of BI Sound. We could see at least 30 yards at this point. When we got back to Stonington it was down to about two boat lengths. That made picking our way through the mooring field kind of interesting. It helped that I had a mark set for our mooring on the CP.
DCD9C88F-892F-4FF7-B933-E016B4F34F23.jpeg
 
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Oct 24, 2010
2,405
Hunter 30 Everett, WA
Fog is interesting. We get it every so often here. We don't have radar so we do try to avoid it.
You don't want to get caught in a shipping channel like that. In theory, a mooring field should be a good place because if anyone is moving it should be dead slow.

Ken
 
Jun 14, 2010
2,081
Robertson & Caine 2017 Leopard 40 CT
Fog is interesting. We get it every so often here. We don't have radar so we do try to avoid it.
You don't want to get caught in a shipping channel like that. In theory, a mooring field should be a good place because if anyone is moving it should be dead slow.

Ken
Radar and chartplotters make a huge difference. AIS is also very helpful, especially in areas where ships and large trawlers operate. Years ago when I only had paper charts and compass (in the 70's) I remember getting caught out on a moonless night in Long Island Sound (off New Rochelle, NY) and a dense fog fell. The area has 7-8 foot tides, ~1 knot currents and is littered with granite reefs, which are marked or charted. I lost sight of shore lights, which were my only visual references. It was a scary learning experience. I made it back safely by going slow and ded-reckoning, navigating from buoy to buoy (listening for bells and watching for flashing lights). The next time I went out in fog was years later (around 2001) and a very different experience with radar and chartplotter. Since then we've become veterans with countless experiences, but I admit: Without a CP and Radar it would be just as scary as the first time.
PS - In my experience, the newer radars are far superior and might be worth the upgrade if your system is 10+ years old. I really like my B&G 3G radar, for its ability to show small targets at close range.
 
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NYSail

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Jan 6, 2006
3,048
Beneteau 423 Mt. Sinai, NY
Installing my new Garmin radar and chart plotter this weekend..... hope to have ais up and running before we leave mid July....
 
Jun 14, 2010
2,081
Robertson & Caine 2017 Leopard 40 CT
If you haven't decided on your AIS unit, you should look into SOTDMA (also called AIS B+) . It transmits more frequently and with slightly higher power than AIS B. This is a big technical improvement that can help you be seen by ships.
This Spring I installed a new AIS SOTDMA transceiver made by AMEC (the Widelink B600W with Wi-Fi). It has a built-in hotspot so in addition to NMEA 2000, it also enables me to connect to mobile devices and show AIS targets on my Navionics app (on my phone and iPad). Also, FYI, this was my first experience buying from Milltech Marine, and they were great to deal with. They provided competitive prices, and immediate (competent) tech support when I called. They really know their products.