Well That Escalated Quickly. FOG!
A sunny day!
This weekend, the Boatress and I decided to go out in Sweet Pea for a slow ride into the Chesapeake Bay. It was one of those days as reported. Sweet Pea is great for a slow ride with the dogs up in the cabin, some tunes and just gliding along.
What beauty
But, all of a sudden, yes a sudden. We were up close and personal with a fog bank.So of course I grabbed the camera.
Click
click
click
SLOW CLICK. The Boatress was at the helm not amused
And before I knew it, we were in the middle of it. I mean I think we were in the middle of it. Cause I had no reference points. And gotta say. That is a scary thing. So I stopped. When in doubt, stop. Not on a highway BTW, but in the water. I turned on the navigation lights, and stopped.
SCREECH
Then decided to look at the SUN and turn around slowly. Sonner or later I would see something. Right? WRONG! The fog was moving in the direction I was trying to turn around in. And then it hit me. WAIT. I have a navigation thing! I forgot. And looked at it. And YIKES. I had turned right into a shallow area of Oyster Beds. I had on the rocks flash backs, BUt the navigation gave me a window of sanity.
Yikes
And slowly but surely, it all came clear and I ran home and thought, Dang, Woohoo, I have a story!
Fog kept us an extra day on Fire Island this summer. Definitely worse places to be stuck at.
What a great photo
I find it beneficial to turn on the Garmin when leaving the dock, even on a beautiful sunny day. Should something go a-rye quickly (as it often does) Sandi or I can follow the cookie trails that are already in place.
Near home we have so many cookie trails the river looks like a paved road.
When most of you bailed on us this spring in Dora our goal was to try to pave Lake Dora and the whole Harris Chain of Lakes.
Image was too big. Now try this.
We even went placed I didn’t know you could go.
What else can 2020 bring ? We had an earthquake in Mass on Sunday.
Brimstone is missing, but we still have a month and a half left.
For many years we cruised Lake Michigan and Huron, the Georgian Bay and North Channel where radar, GPS and a good depth sounder were a necessity. Like you had experienced you can be in bright sunshine one minute and then you can hardly see your bow in the fog. Normally you would only get fog with no wind but on several occasions we would have fog, strong winds and waves all at the same time. Fortunately lake freighters make one gigantic blob on the radar – hard to miss!
After one nail-biting trip one of our boating buddies reminded us that boating trips are not a vacation – they are an adventure.
The fog looks like the Covid conundrum. We here at Smith Mountain Lake, VA are going ahead with our scheduled Nov. 14th ACBS workshop following CDC guidelines. It’s time to break out of the fog and look for some rainbows.
Weather is cooperating so we can social distance doing some presentations outdoors if needed.
Hey Mat….good nav lesson. Radar and a radar reflector are good things also.
I too got fogged in here in ole Va . Had to stay on the hook in Jackson Creek for several hours. Had to watch for others seeking shelter as they would just appear as if from a grey curtain…scary.
John in Va.
When in IMC, trust your instruments!
Used to drive out on Lake Huron to fish. Luckily it was never foggy. That 56 Olds didn’t have radar or Garmin, but it had a good heater!
Speaking of navigating in bad weather. Today is the 45th anniversary of the sinking of the Great Lakes freighter Edmund Fitzgerald. Those of us that grew up on and around the Great Lakes, remember this incident like it was yesterday. These giant freighters are like friends to us. This was the last major tragedy on the Great Lakes. Let’s hope they’ll never be another one. “The legend lives on”.
Recommended to https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t451Ruf4XDI
‘Bert and I’ and an experience with fog! Ancient but poignant and funny at the same time.
Bert and I
Chronicles a fog-bound adventure, tongue in cheek, off the Maine Coast.
We will always remember the great “Fitz” and her crew!
click here and listen to the great song by, gordon lightfoot:
bad ass song – i play it every 11/10.
as a kid – growing up on the south channel of harsens lsland i remember this boat going by the cottage.
Be careful. Fog is scary stuff. Consider adding a simple radome to that boat.? You can’t exactly outrun fog that swoops in. Not too $ for a basic setup.