Fog - To go or not to go

[Shearmyste]

We had planned this morning to leave our winter birth in Ouistreham and head towards St Vaast to anchor for the night (first move this season), we had wanted a smooth run even through we are a sailing vessel (occasionally) so light winds were OK (2's and 3's forecast). So picture this only available lock out was at 0700 hrs so arouse at 0530 to be greeted with pea soup with the light house which is 500 meters away from the marina not being visible, so what did we do! went back to bed, we don't have AIS but do have radar. so here we sit looking at beautiful blue clear sky's thinking if I had my time again would I have made the same decision. My particular answer is an unresounding yes. The reason to post this was for us during the planning phase had not discussed the fog question and what we would do, and it may help others to ask the question even if there isn't an definite answer.

 

[geem]

In the calm weather you describe we would have left. Radar would work well with no sea clutter to mistake for small yachts etc. In those conditions radar is king. AIS plays second fiddle in fog in my book as you see all targets not just the ones with AIS

 

[Fr J Hackett]

Yes definitely I would have gone my only miss giving would have been small pot markers but with 20M visibility should not be a problem, I assume that you did have at least some vis.

 

[GHA]

Great thing about cruising is not having a calendar

I recall rolling over and going back to sleep hearing the foghorn blaring every morning for a good few days in a row down the protuguese coast.

 

[fergie_mac66]

Was It Botham who went for a holiday oN Alderney next to the light house fog horn and had fog for a week

 

[jac]

I'd rather be in here wishing I was out there than out there wishing I was in here.

 

[KellysEye]

Jane and I would have left in fog one of us below watching the radar the other helming, we had a GPS repeater in the cockpit so navigation wasn't a problem.

 

[alant]

We had planned this morning to leave our winter birth in Ouistreham and head towards St Vaast to anchor for the night (first move this season), we had wanted a smooth run even through we are a sailing vessel (occasionally) so light winds were OK (2's and 3's forecast). So picture this only available lock out was at 0700 hrs so arouse at 0530 to be greeted with pea soup with the light house which is 500 meters away from the marina not being visible, so what did we do! went back to bed, we don't have AIS but do have radar. so here we sit looking at beautiful blue clear sky's thinking if I had my time again would I have made the same decision. My particular answer is an unresounding yes. The reason to post this was for us during the planning phase had not discussed the fog question and what we would do, and it may help others to ask the question even if there isn't an definite answer.

Leaving in pea soup fog, even with radar, is foolhardy, so you made the correct decision.

 

[Malabar]

Leaving in pea soup fog, even with radar, is foolhardy, so you made the correct decision.

Safety is all about building in layers of protection. Even with radar, one mistake could ruin your day. If you really don't have to go, then revert to Plan B and make best use of the time. "Pressonitius" has been proven on many occasions to be a killer desease.

 

[geem]

Jane and I would have left in fog one of us below watching the radar the other helming, we had a GPS repeater in the cockpit so navigation wasn't a problem.

We have stopped relying on instrumentation down below. We have 14" colour HD radar/plotter in cockpit under sprayhood plus 5 other Raymarine displays. We have all the data we need without losing a crew memeber to below. When in fog one gives a good lookout forward away from engine noise so they can hear anything ahead. The other is in the cockpit monitoring instruments whilst boat is on autopilot.

 

[[3889]]

I'd rather be in here wishing I was out there than out there wishing I was in here.

Me too, but the latter applies at some stage to nearly every trip I make over 12 hours. But, strangely, I keep going back for more.

Leaving in pea soup fog, even with radar, is foolhardy, so you made the correct decision.

So how do you get get experience of thick fog when it forms in less predictable circumstances? Or do you wait for that to happen and hope for the best at the time?

 

[alant]

Me too, but the latter applies at some stage to nearly every trip I make over 12 hours. But, strangely, I keep going back for more.




So how do you get get experience of thick fog when it forms in less predictable circumstances? Or do you wait for that to happen and hope for the best at the time?

If you meet a F10 whilst out sailing you have to deal with it, but would you set sail when a F10 is blowing simply to get experience?
No of course not, so why set sail when you cant see the front off the boat, just to experience fog?

 

[Fr J Hackett]

If you meet a F10 whilst out sailing you have to deal with it, but would you set sail when a F10 is blowing simply to get experience?
No of course not, so why set sail when you cant see the front off the boat, just to experience fog?

If you couldn't see the end of your boat then absolutely it is prudent not to go but with visibility a little better and radar there is no reason not to, after all what dangers are there that you could not detect. It may not be the most pleasant of experiences.

 

[geem]

If you couldn't see the end of your boat then absolutely it is prudent not to go but with visibility a little better and radar there is no reason not to, after all what dangers are there that you could not detect. It may not be the most pleasant of experiences.

+1 and its no where near as stressful as a F10......

 

[michael_w]

Sailing in Nova Scotia killed the fog demons for me. To wait till it cleared would have taken 3 months ...

Never saw Whitehead Harbour even though we went there twice.

 

[vyv_cox]

It occurs to me that some of the people advising going have not sailed in extremely thick fog, in which it really is not possible to see the bow of the boat. I took a short trip in these conditions, from Hellevoetsluis to Middelharnis, spar buoyed every few metres for half the way following the 2 metre contour. It was utterly disorientating even with radar and we found it almost impossible to steer a sensible course.

 

[BobnLesley]

Go back to bed, every time.

Sailing in fog like unpleasant wind is what weekend sailors are forced to do, for livaboards/cruisers there's always, tomorrow, the day after, next week...

Our radar gets a test/check every month or two, but we've only used it for fog twice in five years; both occassions were towards the end of a multi-day passages.

 

[Robin]

With radar AND confidence in using it and a relatively innocuous route ( ie not in and out of rocks, sandbanks etc. I would have probably left. The fog may well have been mostly prevalent on and/or near land rather than over the water farther out and might well be expected to burn off as the sun rises higher in the sky. However there should have been some indications in the local forecasts and outlooks and if your time is not critical 24 hours delay may not be a big hassle. In the past we have carried on in really thick visibility with fog 'patches' forecast that stayed with us all the way home across Channel But then too we have decided to stay put because of fog that cleared just as soon as the departure window had closed. The decision is complicated and individual and never the same answer every time. First and foremost is having confidence in the radar and gps/plottter and the ability to use them correctly for both navigation and collision avoidance, merely having a display out in the cockpit is not enough as it takes practice to interpret radar for collision avoidance correctly. AIS is useful but not alone in my opinion. MARPA too is also useful but not perfect especially without being interfaced with very rapid and accurate course/heading sensors. In thick fog an autopilot beats a helmsman hands down especially if said person is trying to steer by looking at a radar screen

Moral here, is use radar etc in clear visibility often to test, practice and gain confidence for when the real stuff arrives.

 

[jordanbasset]

Sailing in Nova Scotia killed the fog demons for me. To wait till it cleared would have taken 3 months ...

Never saw Whitehead Harbour even though we went there twice.

It was the fog horn in Povoa de Varzim that did it for us. We were there for 5 days and the fog never seemed to lift and the fog horn, which was an air raid siren type, never stopped. It was like mental torture, almost impossible to sleep. In the end we left in fog, we had radar, about 3 miles off shore it was completely clear.

 

[alant]

With radar AND confidence in using it and a relatively innocuous route ( ie not in and out of rocks, sandbanks etc. I would have probably left. The fog may well have been mostly prevalent on and/or near land rather than over the water farther out and might well be expected to burn off as the sun rises higher in the sky. However there should have been some indications in the local forecasts and outlooks and if your time is not critical 24 hours delay may not be a big hassle. In the past we have carried on in really thick visibility with fog 'patches' forecast that stayed with us all the way home across Channel But then too we have decided to stay put because of fog that cleared just as soon as the departure window had closed. The decision is complicated and individual and never the same answer every time. First and foremost is having confidence in the radar and gps/plottter and the ability to use them correctly for both navigation and collision avoidance, merely having a display out in the cockpit is not enough as it takes practice to interpret radar for collision avoidance correctly. AIS is useful but not alone in my opinion. MARPA too is also useful but not perfect especially without being interfaced with very rapid and accurate course/heading sensors. In thick fog an autopilot beats a helmsman hands down especially if said person is trying to steer by looking at a radar screen

Moral here, is use radar etc in clear visibility often to test, practice and gain confidence for when the real stuff arrives.

You get a lot of fog off Daytona Beach then?