With our current transition of the seasons; conditions are right for there to be some foggy days on the horizon. I firmly believe that if they have never been disoriented on the water in a heavy fog before, well then you simply have not been on the water in a fog enough. This past fall I was fishing in my flats boat in the back creeks of Clarkes Sounds when a fog rolled in from ocean and eclipsed all visibility beyond 10-feet. Since I use this particular boat for strictly inshore fishing it is only equipped with a depth sounder, no GPS. Thank goodness for smartphones and Google Earth as this technology provided me with a road map back home. Obviously GPS and radar add a level of comfort to navigating in the fog but at the same time I am reminded of a March fishing trip offshore a few years ago when a thick fog rolled in. I had my position pinpointed on the GPS Chart plotter, I tuned in my VHF to Channel 16 and fired up the radar. I was tracking two very large container ships on the radar about 3-miles out when I passed a 50-foot plus sailboat within a 75-feet that went totally undetected!
This months’ Boat US Online Magazine goes into great detail on how to operate in a fog. I would encourage you to check it out here as sooner or later you will find yourself socked in!
Captain Tim Pickett
CharlestonFishing.Com</font id=“blue”>
http://www.boatus.com/magazine/2017/february/navigating-fog.asp