Duking it Out: Boat Against Fog
BoatMaine.us introduction. If you haven't experienced "a fog attack" on the Maine coast, chances are you will at some point. Think of what a Tsunami looks like as it approaches you from a distance; that's not too different from a Maine fog bank rolling in but at a somewhat slower speed. Keith Brovinski takes us on a fog-bound journey on Maine's Casco bay in his 24' Sea Ray.
By Keith BrovinskiThis past weekend we took a trip from New Meadows Marina, in Brunswick, down to Jewell Island to spend the night. We had been planning this for some time. We have made our list of things to do and checked it twice, even listened carefully to the weather guesser.
I took from work early on Friday for last minute packing (cold food) and to load the boat. Underway before 4:00, under clear skies with a full tank of fuel.
With all of the planning for this trip, we did forget a lifejacket, good thing that I keep a few spares on board. Past the no-wake zone, then we put the middle ground behind us and under the bridge at Gurnet Strait. Down through Long Reach; it can be tricky and shallow in there, really don't want to dredge for clams today (that is rough on the prop). Next came Ewin Narrows and another bridge. This one has a vertical clearance of 30', no problems here -- not like the 10' vertical clearance back at Gurnet Strait.
We are having a wonderful boat ride, a little concern over the weather though. We have had some strong weather in southern Maine last night, but the weather guesser had explained that the sea breeze (southerly wind) had spared the mid-coast from the worst of the weather.
Going Head-to-Head with an Approaching Fog
But, as we round High Head at the top of Harpswell Sound, there it is. When you have air temp, water temp and the dew point at the same temperature, you get FOG. And we ran right smack into the middle of it on our trip.Well, not many choices here and turning around and going home was not the choice that I opted for. Turn on the nav lights, reduce speed and keep following the route in the GPS. Electronics are a wonderful thing (expensive though) and a handheld unit as a back-up is a good insurance policy. Radar would be nice, I don't have one yet. And the final thing for running in the fog, in addition to maintaining a sharp lookout, is to sound one prolonged blast (4 to 6 seconds) every two minutes with a sound producing device (aka: horn).
So we continue our journey, you might call it an adventure. I have been in the fog before, so my confidence is high. I have faith in my Garmin GPS units. The time that I spent with Garmin's BlueChart program creating my routes is now paying off.
Now, electronics can fail, the satellites could be experiencing difficulty so one should always be prepared with a compass and a paper chart. We proceeded down Harpswell Sound, at times catching a glimpse of shore. We took the cut above Haskell Island (never seeing the Island) into Potts Harbor. Our plan was to have supper at Dolphin Marina. After docking we were greeted by the attendant. I did inquire about staying there the night, just as a fall back option, but I think that Jewell Island would be a more protected anchorage. My wife and I then proceeded to the restaurant for our long awaited supper.
A Bite to Eat at Dolphin Marina and Restaurant
I really must complement the Dolphin Marina Restaurant. We were greeted and seated with a wonderful view of the harbor. I did mention fog before, like 50 to 100 yard visibility, well it was still there. Then the fog lifted (partially) and the hulls of the boats glistened. I had to stop eating my salad and go back to the boat to grab my camera and snap a couple of pictures.I have yet to mention the great service. Our waitress did an excellent job, the food was superb (especially the muffin). Even the atmosphere was first rate, well worth the trip by land or sea. After our delicious seafood supper, it was off again to our constant companion, the fog. We departed Dolphin Marina into the fog with about 100 yard visibility.
Arriving Jewell Island
The final leg of our journey was uneventful except for the one time that the sunlight broke through a hole in the fog in the middle of Broad Sound.We arrived at Jewell Island without incident, a twenty nautical mile trip with better than half in the fog. We set the hook and shut the "Old Girl" down. Twisted the top off of our favorite libation and settled in for some much needed rest.
Signing off for now,
Keith
BoatMaine.us note: In addition to Keith's procedures outlined in his article, one other item for traversing fog you might want to have is a radar reflector. Costing between $20 and $60, and available in easily collapsible models for storage, these scientifically designed pieces of metal are said to reflect radar signals so that your small boat will show up on an approaching boat's radar.
