Sailing in Soup

[mike merrithew]

follow the leader

Several of us were sailing back to our home port from Canadian waters. The fog was so thick that an eighth of a mile would have seemed 'forever.' I was the only one with a functioning Loran, so the other boats lined up following my wake. They were then fanned out on my port side each captain staying just inside my wake. We were about 5 miles from shore when we heard what sounded like a 'Cigarette' type boat making way at a very high rate of speed. I never saw him, but he roared across my stern, between me and boat number two. I have no idea if he had radar or saw any of us. I have sailed up on boats going the same direction, and others on the opposite course. 'Nobody saw nobody' until we were side by side. Sailing or motoring one must adjust one's speed commensurate with the visibility and keep a constant vigil.

 

[John H.]

Fog in the forecast

In 1978, I was the quartermaster/navigator on a NOAA ship just starting up the inside passage to Alaska. It was very early and still dark when we exited the Johnstone Strait and entered the Queen Charlotte Straits and Sound, I noticed the dew point was approaching the temp. at a very steady rate. I announce to the bridge watch that someone may want to get ready for the fog watch. An experienced AB, was incredulous. "No way!" he exclaimed, "look how clear it is. Fog watch, my foot!" He even went as far as to question my sanity.Well, an hour later, he was up at the bow, hugging the bell. Damn, I love being right.Which bring me to another thought about fog. Ships are suppose to post fog watches, but I doubt many do, and let their lookout(s) remain in the pilot house rather than at the bow or at least on the bridge wings. Advantage, big ship. With all the noise, an inside lookout would never hear a bell, horn, or engine from a smaller vessel.Never think a large commerical (or private) vessel is following the rules of good seamanship. You must assume they cannot hear or see you. Another good rule to remember is to vary your fog horn blasts. If both vessels are blowing every two minutes, well...that's a problem and collision waiting to happen.

 

[Fred Ficarra]

Paul, would you turn down the volume please?

My ears hurt. 'Caps Lock' is on.

 

[brucecaptain]

Foggy bottom

Very Slow; radarWithout radar, get ready for it with compass bearings on nav aids in good water, go to nearest and then from one to the other using compass and chart; very slowly, pray for no cross current. Use fog signals more often than rules require.Post lookout on bow with a hand horn.Stay home three days drinking rum.

 

[Jim]

Stay calm, use radar/MARPA,

Entering NYC harbor at night from Cape May/Jersey coastal waters in June, 2003, visibility dropped to zero. The radar/MARPA was working fine and we tracked all surrounding traffic, answered foghorns and navigated to Liberty Marina without incident. Technology saved the day...night!!!

 

[Brad Newell]

blotto operations

With my GPS/radar equiped vessed sitting at the dock, it seems unreal to think back over forty years of sailing in the Pacific Northwest, mostly without the magic instruments. Summer fog is a fact of life out here. I always plotted a course and ran a good DR. It's amazing what you can do with an accurate compass, a knotmeter and a depth sounder. (Not to mention curent tables.) Sailing across traffic lanes was avoided as much as possible. Before GPS and LORAN, small boat traffic in the fog was limited; today there are so many small boats racing around in the fog it nearly defies belief. To operate in the fog with any degree of safety you should have radar AND KNOW HOW TO USE IT. (The law requires that knowledge if radar is installed.) Someone must keep an eye on the radar because samll craft without reflectors (hard to believe, but they're out there) are seldom seen with radar beyond a mile. A visual watch is also required because some boats are just invisible with small-craft radar. Operation in reduced visibility is best if you have an autopilot because you MUST have someone that can hold a course. When the vessel is turning it makes it very difficult to keep track of who's doing what on the screen.Don't let a little fog deter you from sailing, but acquire the skills to do it safely. The Power Squadron and the Coast Guard Auxilary both offer good courses and many of the members have the skills that they are willing to share.

 

[Robert Neville]

Honduras Experience

The year was 1983, the occasion was our honeymoon, the location was The Bay Islands off the coast of the Honduras. We'd chartered a CSY 37 from Caribbean Sailing Yachts. We struck out from Roatan for the Cayos Cochinos (Pig Islands), a spectacular little group of islands between the Bay Islands and mainland Honduras. Just after departing, the fog rolled in, the ocean got mirror-smooth, and we fired up the diesel. Since this was pre-GPS, we steered strictly by compass heading, knowing if we missed our goal we'd simply run into the mainland. Luckily, after about a 3 hour blind run that seemed like 6 hours, the islands loomed up and we were home free. It was VERY spooky.

 

[mike]

anchor your way to bliss

When i was caught last summer in a sudden fog bank at 2 in the afternoon i just decided, hey this is a vacation! We pulled into a cove on the north side of san juan island and tossed over the anchor...We vegged out for a while and could have stayed the night but didn't need to... in an hour or so the clouds floated away...As it is, even on a clear day the idiot power boaters set their auto pilots and go below... i have almost been rundown by these morons numerous times... they just don't care... I wish the rocks would get a little more aggressive about thinning them out of the boating "herd".

 

[Becky]

Compass reset

My husband and I got caught in the San Juan Islands once right after we moved from Portland, OR. We hadn't needed the compass on the rivers of Oregon so had never really checked its reliability. We were heading home from a great weekend in the islands when the fog came in. Jim was smart enough to take a few headings and learned our compass was way out. He reset it and then we headed across the strait. This is a major shipping channel so we listened and sounded our air horn every few minutes. We were able to take a heading with the compass aimed at the top of Lummi Island. During our passage, the island disappeared and the water was rough. About the time we started to worry that we were really off course, the top of Lummi appeared and we were just a few hundred yards from the island itself. We were able to ghost our way around into Bellingham Bay and get home. We vowed to never even venture out when it becomes foggy again. We did okay but it's not worth taking a chance that some ship or other boater can't see or hear you when it gets this thick. We'd rather hole up somewhere and traverse these areas when it's much safer!

 

[Dan Jonas]

Fog

Not to long after we learned how to sail we were sailing towards Sausalito (home port for the boat) from just off the ferry building in San Francisco. As we started across the bay we noticed some fog forming just outside the Golden Gate. Within a matter of minutes it was streaming through the gate and would soom envelope us. We took a sight on a few landmarks and plotted our position. We plotted a course, and sailed to the other side and wound up impressively close to where we wanted to be. Ded reckoning does work. We did not have a GPS or radar back then in this chartered boat.Coming from years of flying where knowing where you are, and who is around you is important, this whole process, while confidence building, left me feeling as helpless as I've ever felt in a boat.We were caught in an area with several traffic lanes. It was abundantly clear that there was other traffic out there, because we could hear them. We never did see them and we did navigate to minimize any exposure in the traffic lanes.When we bought our first boat, my one requirement for equipment, beyond the standard VHF, was radar. And, we learned how to use it.On a recent trip to Ensenada in a 376 we had no autopilot but we did have radar. We entered the fog while still inside San Francisco Bay and we got out of the fog down in the Channel Islands 2.5 days later. The radar was much more useful and reassuring than any autopilot would have been.Dan Jonas (S/V Feije II)

 

[ike]

depth finder

If near land You should have a good idea of your postion. Pull out the charts and find a depth line that will lead to a safe location, harbor enterance Etc. motor or sail to the depth line and then follow it till you get into that safe location. Then break out the rum. I was on a 42 footer in Montery bay and this is how we got into port. Dont forget to post a look out on the bow with a air horn.  If you have no depth finder use a lead line

 

[Don Krause]

Green Pea Soup

Amazing you should bring this up. We purchased a "new to us" Hunter 31 approximately 70 miles South of us about 2 weeks ago. Only been out once on it at the sea trial with a hired captain. We left the port for approximately 13-14 hour motor/sail to our home port at 9:00 on a Saturday night. Only time we could be away was an overnighter. Anyway, approx. 8 miles into the Journey going out of Tampa Bay and into the Gulf the fog rolled in thick and heavy. Honestly couldn't see hand in face. I have sailed extensively but not in these conditions before. I lowered sails and rpms to 12-1300 and watched intensely to the surrounding areas for any glimpse of blinking reds and greens. No radar only the seat of my pants and GPS in the Tampa Bay Shipping channel!!. I had the route loaded into the Garmin and felt comfortable with it and had to trust it, of course. We came to the Sunshine Skyway Bridge, according to the GPS coordinates, and knew we were very close. Only when we looked up and saw a black eerie looking black strip looming overhead did we realize that there it is "The Bridge". We were under it without ceremony. Sort of disappointing but I at least knew that coordinates could be trusted. Just wouldn't know if were about to collide with something until after the fact. From there a short distance...deep waters of the Gulf and Northward bound until the home channed into Gulf Harbors. We moved along at a snails pace trusting the Compass and GPS homeward bound. We were in the soup for a total of 15 hours, tense, intense but, of course, that is what sailing stories are made of!! We made it, we were uninjured, boat was sound and we slept for more hours than ususual once in our home beds. Probably should have anchored but didn't know if it was even safe and no going into the channels for safe harbor due to draw bridges. Anyway, experience chalked and filed.

 

[BarryN]

Electronics works sometimes

Fog happened last summer on my into Plymouth, MA harbor. The channel is fairly long, curves and must be followed to avoid grounding.The charplotter was a big help. Ever since SA was turned off, the GPS has been accurate enough to follow a channel blind.The radar, on the other hand, chose that moment to not work at all. What a surprise when a good size fishing trawler appeared like magic just a head of us. The closing speed left us plenty of time to move to our respective sides of the channel. Since we were motoring, we didn't hear him.We also used a real paper chart and our eys and ears. The chart gave us approximate headings and distances that added confidence thet the chart plotter wasn't lying. The chartplotter only shows a tiny area when zoomed in close enough to see the channel. We picked up each entrance bouy shown on the chart in turn. We also kept our speed down to give us more thinking time.

 

[Jose Venegas]

A target approaching at 12+ knots *yks

A target approaching at 12+ knots directly from our bow is clearly seen on the radar screen. We are sailing our 36 ft sloop for the first time alone with my 11 year old first mate from Newport RI, to Marion MA. Fog is so thick that it is hard to see our own bow. We sound long blasts every 2 minutes and are doing minimal speed under power. I ask my son to take the helm and keep our GPS course as I nervously run back and forth from the radar at the nav station up to the cockpit. The target is approaching so fast that I question whether it is wise to hold my course or make a sharp turn to starboard, and expose a larger area to the incoming traffic. Has he seen my radar reflector? No reply on channel 9 or 16 except from a hard to understand sarcastic comment saying "he moves away or we hit him". After a few seconds that lasted for ever, a large motor boat full of partying passengers comes out of the fog no more than 50 ft in front of our bow and makes a sharp turn just missing our port while they blow their horn for the first time in the middle of laughs and cheers. BASTARDS, I say to myself as I blast my horn back to them.

 

[Gary]

A neccesary skill

Assuming no radar, I would establish a good position before the fog and use soundings and GPS, chart and compass. I would stay clear of large traffic lanes and follow a sounding to a good anchorage. Following soundings is as old as boating. The GPS makes it even easier. Of course the most important thing onboard is your proper scale chart! You can always see it.

 

[jimihendrix]

Buzzard's Bay

The worst I ever eperienced was mixed with 25-30KTS on the bow in Buzzard's Bay, running with a 2 KT current, causing steep waves on the bow the size of your average bookcase. We DR'd our way from mark to mark which were great stone pillars that seemed to ominously emerge out of 50' visibility!!. Oh, and of course heavy weekend traffic commonly encountered on a Saturday in July.

 

[R. Herman Hall]

Sailing in Fog

In 1980, I was sailing a C&C Shark 24 on the Cheaspeake Bay near Norfolk Virginia. I was sailing back to the marina after spending the night afloat to watch a fireworks display. The morning when fog closed in on me as I was returning to the Marina. We did not have GPS in those days and no radar on a 24 ft sailboat. I was not in any shipping lanes, so I just dropped anchor and blew my manual fog horn if I heard any boats. Since it was morning, I just waited for the fog to lift before proceeding.

 

[Dennis Cherone]

FOG! WHAT FOG!

Fire up the radar, keep an eye on the chartplotter and thank god you were smart enough to enter waypoints that will get you home safely.

 

[newly anonymous]

offshore

Delivering a racing boat without a radar from San Miquel Island to Monterey we ran into fog thirty miles off Pt. Sur in the middle of the night. No wind. The soup was so thick we couldn't see the bow pulpit from the cockpit. There was no place to stop or anchor, and a major shipping lane stood between us and the beach. I swore I'd never make that run again without radar, and I haven't.

 

[Mike Pajewski]

Lake Michigan in October

Sailing from Kewaunee to Two Rivers, WI to take the boat out of the water for the winter. about 10 miles from my destination, the wind stoppped and the clouds surrounded me. I was sailing solo as well. Fortunately, there isn't any boat traffic on a weekday in mid October, so I was OK there.I sounded my air horn every few minutes, and started plotting my position every 15 minutes as I motored towards my destination. I used my GPS/Fishfinder and my autopilot to keep me on a steady course. I planned my approach to parallel the coast so that I would stay outside the shallows and come up on the harbor entarnce lights. As I approached the harbor entrance, I starteted to slow down to a crawl. It was starting to get dark.It was very eerie. My course and plot showed me less than a half mile from town. I could hear car doors slamming, but I could not see anything at all. All of a sudden, out of the mist off the starboard beam I began to see a shadow, and then a second one. There was the harbor entrance. As I entered, I noticed that both entrance lights and the foghorn were off.I entered the harbor and tied up to the dock. I was seriously pumped up. I was very staisfied with my seamanship and navigation skills.