Pea Soup Fog - COLREGS

[eastcoastbernie]

We came back from the Deben on Sunday. Crossing the Bar was OK as we could see from the green to the red, but shortly after that the fog became really dense.

Monitoring channel 71 we learned there was no commercial shipping operating due to the fog, but still felt it prudent to navigate to Beach End then ask permission to cross to Cliff Foot. By the time we could see Beach End we could have shaken hands with the bouy the fog was so thick.

We had our nav lights on, and so did others, but you could clearly make out boats before you could make out their lights.

Motored across deep water channel as fast as possible then carried on to Guard, then called up 71 again for permission to cross the Stour. Got told to watch out for lifeboat. Came up onto deck to see Lifeboat appearing out of the gloom and just behind and to port. Heard lifeboat man on radio telling Harwich VTS he'd just spotted us. Exchange of cheery waves.

Was quite surprised how many other yachts we saw, most of them coming in the opposite direction. Didn't see anyone doing anything I considered to be unsafe, or stupid, though. Heard a few distant foghorns.

By the time we were safely tied up in SYH it was brilliant sunshine.

 

[Gargleblaster]

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At least we know what the tin trumpet probably sounds like at a distance but I have my doubts as to the audibility when a pleasure fishing boat came up rapidly from astern.

[/ QUOTE ]

I was caught off the US coast last year for 3 days in no wind and thick advection fog from the Labrador current [cold] and Gulf Stream [hot]. A whole night in the middle of The Great South Channel which carries the shipping from the Great Lakes down their East Coast. I was surprised by the number of ships which seemed to answer my fog horn with an extra blast just to let me know that they knew I was there. I was very thankful that I had replaced my football siren with a plastic trumpet, as the gas cylinder would certainly not lasted three days of one long and two short every two minutes.

The fishing boats [or some sort of smaller vessel with engines] were amazing. I could hear their engines going quite slowly somewhere around me and gave them a long and two short and next thing you could hear their engine revs increase and they would go somewhere else but no fog signals made.

I was very impressed with the big ships being able to hear my puny little plastic fog trumpet and their willingness to acknowledge that I was there and worried whether they could hear me. I assume in those conditions they have watchkeepers on the bridge wings listening for puny little fog signals.

 

[davidfox]

Must have been about the same time as us, as i saw the ILB disappearing into the murk towards the entrance, the distant hooting must have been me! and one other I heard.

 

[MoodySabre]

I was also going up the Wallet on Sunday with Alan onboard, Shotley bound on the way to the Deben. We were sailing along on a starboard tack when suddenly someone shouts "STARBOARD". We looked around and then espied a mobo anchored with bods fishing and someone waving us away. "There's another one 400 yards along" he said. We never saw it - or anything else until well up the Medusa channel.

Being called "starboard" by an anchored fishing boat was a first /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

Alan of the Azores has now been to the Deben and was mightily impressed on a beautiful Monday. Thank goodness you were all at work /forums/images/graemlins/tongue.gif