The Fog
15 July 2009 | Sequim Bay
Heidi
We left the beautiful calm anchorage in Garrison Bay, San Juan Island at 6:30 am under sunny skies. The only thing that marred the morning was when Terry was just about done hoisting the anchor there was a CLUNK -- then the electric windlass wouldn't work. Luckily, we were bound for Sequim Bay where I would be heading "home" to Gig Harbor and would be able to deal with repair or replacement.
We motored out Mosquito Pass with great excitement -- hoping to have some good wind to test the windvane (and ourselves -- crossing the Straits is the closest thing to traveling the open ocean, which we will be
doing in a couple weeks).
We found little wind to start, but some rough choppy seas -- a result
of the tugs and tankers plying the shipping lanes we had to cross.
In the distance we could see a layer of fog hovering over the water -- but
it was early and that would surely lift in the hours it would take us to get
that far. So on we went.
We were able to put the sails up and keep them filled, but winds were
light so we kept the motor on, too.
Then, suddenly, we were enveloped in fog!
We've traveled in fog before, and we had the radar and chartplotter with
the AIS (which displays info on ships that are required to transmit their position, heading, etc), to help us find our way. I also put a call into VTS,
which controls the large vessel traffic thru Puget Sound and the straits,
to advise them of our position as we crossed the shipping lanes. They told
us they had no traffic near our position at that time and they called the
Victoria Clipper to make them aware of our position in case they'd be
passing by. It was very reassuring.
We did have one large vessel pass that we could see on radar and hear
the engines, but didn't show on AIS, and he sounded his horn as he
passed by, completely unseen.
As we neared Sequim Bay we expected (and hoped!) the fog to lift at any time as it was approaching noon. But the fog hung on and we had to pick our way to the entrance with my eyes glued to the chartplotter and radar and Terry's watching for crab pots! It happened to be the 1st day of crab season and there were floats everywhere.
Once thru the entrance buoys we set a course for the State Park where we knew there were mooring buoys -- and just hoping one would be open. Soon, out of the fog we found an open buoy!
The fog didn't lift for over an hour after we'd tied up, and we were pleasantly surprised at the big beautiful bay that would become our new back yard for the next week.
It was an intense day of concentration working through the fog, but we were happy for the experience because chances are we will encounter fog again as we work our way down the coast.