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Fog Today
"Scott Vernon" wrote in
: What would you have done differently, if anything, without radar? Did you ring your bell? We really don't want to know, Scotty. Bertie Scotty "Jeff Morris" jeffmo@NoSpam-sv-lokiDOTcom wrote in message ... "otnmbrd" wrote in message news:y9GWa.1579 I got a glimpse of a bridge, tooted, and hugged the side of the channel - it turned out to be a Coast Guard boat - I never picked it up on radar even though I knew it was there, and they never signaled. I would give someone serious thought as to why you never saw them on radar.... wrong range? not tuned? blended in with the shoreline? Have a feeling there's something to be learned here..... Much to be learned ... The radar is a 4 year old Ray SL 72 on default settings, auto gain. The range was 3/4 mile because I was using it more for navigation - finding the buoys and ranging the islands. I was also more concerned with what might be out in the main ship channel that lay ahead than what was immediately in front of me in the side channel. At that range, the three pairs of channel buoys were all fairly tight on the screen - I really should have been at 1/2 or 1/4 mile range in the channel, and doing a knot less so there'd be time to actually analyze the screen. Also, working some of the time distance, 10 minutes earlier there was no fog, 5 minutes later it was patchy, then within about 2 minutes it went to 1/4 mile. It was only when I realized how close the CG boat had come before I identify them clearly that I realized it was down below 200 yards. It that point, I reduced the range and would have picked up the second boat but heard its engine first. The fog stayed thick as I rather nervously crossed the main channel. Another reminder - its exceptionally difficult to hold a course when there are no landmarks at all. I should have used the autopilot so I could focus more on the radar while my wife was the visual lookout. In about 10 minutes we were closer to the airport in shallower (warmer) water so the fog thinned a bit - 1/4 mile visibility seems easy after a whiteout! I had the time now to play with the radar - with the flat seas I could have had the gain higher than "auto" BTW, the flood tide had started about an hour earlier - is that what brought the fog in, or was it just due to the rain stopping? The spot where this occured was right at the entrance to the harbor. Perhaps a coincidence - on several other occasions over the years the fog has clamped down on us quickly in the same area - always with interesting results! As we exited Nubble Channel at about 5 knots (4 on the GPS) I heard another engine and tooted, we got a reply and a small ferry (100 feet, 100 tons) emerged, about 150 yards to our left, doing maybe 6-8 knots. For a few seconds I thought they would let us go ahead (we were crossing from their right) but they held speed and turn to the port. We had no choice but to use reverse and let them pass closely in front of us. From the time we |
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