What would you do? Fog & shipping lanes

[TLouth7]

You are returning to the East coast from Holland at the end of June, and find yourself approaching the shipping lane with two hours of daylight remaining. It will take you an hour to cross under normal conditions. The amount of shipping is not great (you are North of Rotterdam), but you might expect to alter course or change speed to avoid one or two ships. The weather forecast is for Northerly F3-4, with fog patches; this puts you on a beam reach.

Earlier that day you tried the engine and it did not start, your subsequent efforts have not revived it. This is a problem because you will be stuck if becalmed, and because you cannot run your (rather basic) radar without it, at least without risking flattening the battery very fast.

As you approach the shipping lane visibility is good, and the sea is clear to the horizon. What do you do?

Further detail: 3 competent crew all able to navigate, working VHF, no AIS, decent passive radar reflector at the spreader, life raft in the cockpit (this is presumably irrelevant to the decision).

 

[Bru]

I wouldn't be there

That is not a facetious answer!

A> because a non-functioning engine earlier in the day would have had me heading back to the nearest safe haven for repairs (yes, in days of old when men were bold they sailed all over the world without an engine but that was then and this is now. They didn't have to contend with under-manned huge cargo ships with a service speed of getting on for 20 knots or more which are not dependent on the wind)

B> because if I did decide to press on I have enough battery power to run the radar for hours before I even have to worry about flat batteries (assuming batteries fully charged before leaving port, easily long enough to run it for the entire passage across the North Sea with judicious use of standby mode when it's not needed

And lest you think I'm answering a hypothetical question with a hypothetical answer ... I have been there and had to make that decision for real (disabled engine off the coast of Belgium on passage to Harwich. We had other issues as well but had the engine been usable we'd have pressed on. As it ws the safe and sensible option was to sail back to within a mile or so of a safe harbour and request a tow in. It hurt my pride and my wallet, boy did it hurt my wallet, but it was the lowest risk option. BTW, that boat didn't have radar and we could have run the engine out of gear even if we had although visibility was not going to be an issue anyway)

The above notwithstanding, if the sea is clear to the horizon in good visibility I can't really see what the problem is anyway!

 

[mainsail1]

I must say that these days I would ensure I had a working engine before going near a shipping lane. If not I fear you are an accident waiting to happen. Of course you will get away with it nine times out of ten but with fog patches forecast I think that would persuade me to get the engine fixed or have an outboard that I could lash up to a dinghy alongside.

 

[alant]

You are returning to the East coast from Holland at the end of June, and find yourself approaching the shipping lane with two hours of daylight remaining. It will take you an hour to cross under normal conditions. The amount of shipping is not great (you are North of Rotterdam), but you might expect to alter course or change speed to avoid one or two ships. The weather forecast is for Northerly F3-4, with fog patches; this puts you on a beam reach.

Earlier that day you tried the engine and it did not start, your subsequent efforts have not revived it. This is a problem because you will be stuck if becalmed, and because you cannot run your (rather basic) radar without it, at least without risking flattening the battery very fast.

As you approach the shipping lane visibility is good, and the sea is clear to the horizon. What do you do?

Further detail: 3 competent crew all able to navigate, working VHF, no AIS, decent passive radar reflector at the spreader, life raft in the cockpit (this is presumably irrelevant to the decision).

The standard reply, would be to remain in shallow waters & stop annoying the big boys.

 

[mainsail1]

You say the visibility is clear to the horizon. A modern container ship will travel that distance in 15 minutes.

 

[KellysEye]

I would sail back to get the engine fixed.

 

[{151760}]

I would press on. You have wind and visibility. Your engine may fail when motoring anyway. You need an hour or so's good luck, if you're becalmed after that it shouldn't be too serious, though it's never much fun.
I might not have set off with fog forecast, though.

 

[lw395]

These are shipping lanes where the ships can alter course to avoid you? Not the very narrow channels where they cannot?
If you have reasonable trust in the wind not dying, then it's reasonable to press on.
Most of the boats I sail do better on a beam reach in F3 than under motor.

 

[Paddy Layback]

Some thoughts, in no special order, which would be running through my mind, in no particular order, having entered Harwich (from Holland) in zero wind and super-thick fog.. but with a working but slow motor...

Where on that bit of East Coast can you safely, or even legally, sail into with no engine, bearing in mind the risk of losing the wind?
Lowestoft or Gt Y, both quite tight, cross-tide entrances I seem to remember.

Harwich the simplest, perhaps, with helpful HM launches if needed.

You could anchor in the Stour, or borrow a buoy in the Orwell, and get towed into somewhere to get your motor fixed. If you can time getting in on the flood, hopefully.


But if you are going to pay for a tow anyway, why not do it in Holland before setting off? (probably cheaper to get it all done in Holland anyway..)

Coming from where exactly?

It's a tricky one, I would probably try and get back, but the tides would be the deciding factor.

You mentioned risk of calms, that would cock up you tide timings anyway. Since you mention being becalmed, presumably you were expecting it!

I wouldn't worry too much about shipping, as said, they will be going round you, it's not that dense anyway.

You could have your radar warmed up on standby, and in case of thick fog, have a quick look every five minutes.

Did this happen, what did you end up doing and how did it work out?

 

[Uricanejack]

Hmm.

The weather forecast is for Northerly F3-4, with fog patches; this puts you on a beam reach.

I would have a doubts about the accuracy of the weather report and few concerns about the next hour or so crossing the TSS.
Not that you cant get fog patches in a Northerly 3 to 4. Just my experience it would be unusual. Particularly if I had a clear horizon and no visible.
F 3 to F 4, I am having far to much fun on my beam reach to worry about the engine. Of course it could end but that not in the fore cast.
Even so I am a sailor not a mechanic. I will sail to where I'm going and call a wee man to come and fix it. If I am becalmed upon my way I will whistle in the hope the wind will come. Put the Kettle on and have a cup of tea.
Why the heck would I turn back, same problem at either end.

I am also of the thought "there is almost never no wind". This annoys the heck out of my kids. I usually insist on sailing when there is almost no wind.
I do have a can of fog signal. A radio. Hopefully a nice big flashlight.

I suppose it depends on.

Do you have a sailboat with an axillary motor.
Or a motor boat with an axillary sail.

Would I set out from port? No. I would sort my problems out first.
Would I turn back? No I can sort the problems just as easily at my destination. I see no reason why I could not get to my destination safely.

 

[Fascadale]

Fog, shipping lane, little or no wind, no engine.........................scary indeed

This was the situation we found ourselves in after a long Pacific voyage

Unfortunately the engine had broken one of its mountings 6 days north of Hawaii

Particularly scary was listening to the big ships sound signals but not being able to see them other than on the AIS and radar. The local, Canadian I think, Coastguard was very supportive, broadcasting our position and condition at frequent intervals.

Ironically the wind picked up as we drifted clear of the TSS area and we were able to reach our waypoint and then make slow but steady progress up/down the strait

[

 

[GrahamM376]

As you approach the shipping lane visibility is good, and the sea is clear to the horizon. What do you do?

Call up the VTS operator explain your situation and ask what traffic is due/expected. Then make your decision if they are willing to keep an eye on you and alert any close shipping.

 

[TLouth7]

Did this happen, what did you end up doing and how did it work out?

It did, a couple of years ago now.

We went for it, and made it across with no problems.

You say the visibility is clear to the horizon. A modern container ship will travel that distance in 15 minutes.

Indeed, and we saw a few ships, so if fog had come in it would have been a little hairy.

Where on that bit of East Coast can you safely, or even legally, sail into with no engine, bearing in mind the risk of losing the wind?
Lowestoft or Gt Y, both quite tight, cross-tide entrances I seem to remember.

Harwich the simplest, perhaps, with helpful HM launches if needed.

You could anchor in the Stour, or borrow a buoy in the Orwell, and get towed into somewhere to get your motor fixed.

Luckily we were aiming for the Orwell, and were able to sail onto a hammerhead, no tow required. I agree that none of the other entrances on that stretch of coast really appeal without an engine.

Call up the VTS operator explain your situation and ask what traffic is due/expected. Then make your decision if they are willing to keep an eye on you and alert any close shipping.

This seems like a good idea. Given that this shipping lane is ~60NM off the coast, would you consider trying to contact a ship instead? I wonder if getting a friendly ship to keep an eye on you on radar would be a good move?

 

[TLouth7]

I would have a doubts about the accuracy of the weather report and few concerns about the next hour or so crossing the TSS.
Not that you cant get fog patches in a Northerly 3 to 4. Just my experience it would be unusual. Particularly if I had a clear horizon and no visible.

This was a while ago, so I may be misremembering. It was certainly a reasonable wind speed and direction to sail.

We knew there were fog patches as we had just spent the last 90 minutes sailing parallel to the shipping lane inside one.
The wind in the fog patch was significantly lighter than outside it.

F 3 to F 4, I am having far to much fun on my beam reach to worry about the engine. Of course it could end but that not in the fore cast.
Even so I am a sailor not a mechanic. I will sail to where I'm going and call a wee man to come and fix it. If I am becalmed upon my way I will whistle in the hope the wind will come. Put the Kettle on and have a cup of tea.
Why the heck would I turn back, same problem at either end.

...

I suppose it depends on.

Do you have a sailboat with an axillary motor.
Or a motor boat with an axillary sail.

Would I set out from port? No. I would sort my problems out first.
Would I turn back? No I can sort the problems just as easily at my destination. I see no reason why I could not get to my destination safely.

This is pretty much my thought process. Clearly I can't rely on my engine, so I don't. And that means when it does go wrong I haven't put myself in a position where that is a massive problem.

In 15 years it has only ever given up on somewhat lumpy North Sea crossings.