Foggy thoughts
16 August 2013 | Shilshole Bay Marina, Seattle, WA
Vandy
Some thoughts I've acquired about fog...
...What's the fascination with WHITE BOATS? Everyone seems to have one, and they're damned difficult to see in the fog. I'm really glad Scoots is dark green...I'll bet she's pretty easy to spot in the fog.
...The NWS has a skewed interpretation of what constitutes "patchy morning fog." They got the "fog" part right, but after sailing in fog all day, I can vouch that the "patchy" and "morning" descriptors could use some review.
...Radar works well in the fog. I'm trusting it more all the time. Which is good, because radar was the only indication we had yesterday of many of the boats and ships sharing the water with us.
...But it's not perfect. One sailboat appeared off our starboard beam, about a hundred yards away, without having given us any signal on our radar (at least none that we interpreted as a boat).
...It's important to have a compass, especially when you're navigating in fog. Once the fog closes in, and you're in your own gray bubble, it's really hard to know what direction you're going. The compass provides the link with reality that you need.
...I'm most comfortable, when we're traveling in fog, to have one of us watching the electronics (radar, AIS, GPS), and the other up on the foredeck keeping a lookout.
...Sounds--especially those from boat engines--carry a long way and last a long time. The noise from a boat you supposedly (according to the radar) crossed a half mile ago lingers longer than I'd like, before fading.
...Even big ships, like cargo ships, become invisible in the fog.
...People drive their motor boats way too fast in the fog. I'm not sure why they do this, unless they're hoping to get out of the fog faster.
...The fog is a cloying thing. It lifts and makes you think it's going away, and then down it comes again. Or, it clears in one place, and fills in another. Or, it clears in one area (Mackaye Harbor, for instance), leading one to believe that the fog would be generally dissipating (on the Strait of Juan de Fuca, for instance), but one would, in fact, be wrong and spend the next 6 hours sailing in thick, white, "patchy morning fog." I wouldn't be surprised to learn that Mackaye Harbor was the only non-foggy place in the area yesterday.