SpringVelocity
Crew Member
After this conversation radar goes on in spring! Working on getting that done as winter project.
Fishing in the Fog.
- Thread starter Willyjim
- Start date
I dont know if this has been mentioned somewhere in this thread, but if not , my advice is this. buy a chart plotter!!!!My wife was getting so parinoid about fishing in the fog sometimes we'd just go back home..But not anymore the chart plotter works like a hot dam ... It shows you the land mass and where your boat is .just like a g.p.s. system in a car shows you your vehicle in relation to the street your on and as well once you,ve gone out to fish it leaves a trail to follow....you always know where you are and where your going.............C.A.
hambone
Well-Known Member
But you don't have the slightest clue where anyone else is...
This is true and especialy if you where to venture into the shipping lanes............But we sure find it comforting to know where we are and where we are going in the fog........C.A.
SpringVelocity
Crew Member
I have two chartplotters...And will now have radar as well.... The places I fish are too heavy with fog in summer sometimes I am tired of almost ramming into idiots out there.. Especially running out of harbour out in Sooke.... Seems like a few like to go out with no compass or even a plotter and they all stack up in there when you first run out so its scary as I can't see them.. A little extra insurance plus I may be taking my boat up to renfrew and bamfield more next year... Good luck waiting to fish those areas when there is no fog..Could be waiting a while.
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As someone who has radar now, I wouldn't leave port without it on a foggy day or many days (as what starts out clear can become foggy in a hurry on the west coast). That said, I did venture out in the fog in my previous boat without radar and just a GPS. GPS didn't give me a false sense of security but it did increase my safety level relative to going out without it as it let me get back and avoid the fixed obstacle (rocks, land). When I was out without radar, I always went very slow and didn't "overdrive my headlights" - e.g. I never went any faster than the speed that would allow me to stop within the distance that I could see. Even with radar, I still don't go any faster than that as radar won't pick up deadheads and other debris in the water. HOWEVER, without radar, I can't make my moves far in advance to avoid others by a large margin NOR can I see the others that are out there running fast with/or without radar. So I'd go slow and keep the windows open so I could potentially hear other boats approaching. Still that's obviously not as safe as having radar (which I've had for the past 7-10 years).
Sr SQ
Well-Known Member
Agreed!
There simply is no tool that can replace radar in the fog, period………….
If you want to kid yourself and play Russian roulette trusting a chart plotter to navigate in the fog I hope there are no innocent passengers in the boat with you.
There are fatal incidents every year involving boats with radar so I'm not sure how one could expect safe passage without it.
Like anything though, the tool is only as good as the operator.
I run my radar a few hundred hrs a year but only need it for a few, I feel very confident in my ability to navigate with it but still find it a little daunting when I have to.
There simply is no tool that can replace radar in the fog, period………….
If you want to kid yourself and play Russian roulette trusting a chart plotter to navigate in the fog I hope there are no innocent passengers in the boat with you.
There are fatal incidents every year involving boats with radar so I'm not sure how one could expect safe passage without it.
Like anything though, the tool is only as good as the operator.
I run my radar a few hundred hrs a year but only need it for a few, I feel very confident in my ability to navigate with it but still find it a little daunting when I have to.
SpringVelocity
Crew Member
The trick is though how many of you can come home with a compass and a paper chart if you had no electronics. That is another safety problem..There should be fines given out with people without a compass onboard... its insane how useful they are...
I took manual plotting on my boat courses and its saved my butt a few times..
I took manual plotting on my boat courses and its saved my butt a few times..
I have a handheld compass but no paper charts. It's 2014 not 1970. HOWEVER, I have multiple GPS - 2 fixed mount (both powered off the boat's batteries), 1 iPad (has it's own battery), one in my phone running navionics (another independent battery) and a handheld garmin (with it's own batteries). When my buddy is on board (which is most of the time), we also have his iPhone with Navionics installed and sometimes his iPad (also with Navionics installed). I haven't actually used my compass for more than 10 years. When I do need to really know what direction I am pointing (in the fog, drifting or going slower than the current), the heading sensor on the autopilot (an electronic compass) works just fine. I've got money that says I'm safer than most out there (including those who regularly use their compass).
I'm never going to be lost due to the lack of paper charts and a compass unless nuclear war knocks out all the satellites (and if that happens, I'm staying out in deep water and fishing until the radiation poisoning kills me).
searun
Well-Known Member
By regulation each vessel must carry paper charts for the area they transit. I carry them as back up. I also always check my compass heading while going off shore and make a point of navigating as much as possible without undue reference to the gps. Probably explains why I drive like a drunk. But helps keep my navigation skills sharper.
banger17
Well-Known Member
so here is the situation...
16' aluminum that has nothing other than a compass and handheld GPS - just wanna get to some fishing grounds so i hug the bank from Sooke basin out to Otter point... what do you suggest in the fog?
sounds like i should stay off the water according to most responses on here?
ps. boat owner has no desire to buy a reflector or anything else.
16' aluminum that has nothing other than a compass and handheld GPS - just wanna get to some fishing grounds so i hug the bank from Sooke basin out to Otter point... what do you suggest in the fog?
sounds like i should stay off the water according to most responses on here?
ps. boat owner has no desire to buy a reflector or anything else.
There is not an explicit requirement to have paper charts on board.
(2) The master and owner of a ship of less than 100 tons are not required to have on board the charts, documents and publications referred to in subsection (1) if the person in charge of navigation has sufficient knowledge of the following information, such that safe and efficient navigation in the area where the ship is to be navigated is not compromised:
(a) the location and character of charted
(i) shipping routes,
(ii) lights, buoys and marks, and
(iii) navigational hazards; and
(2) The master and owner of a ship of less than 100 tons are not required to have on board the charts, documents and publications referred to in subsection (1) if the person in charge of navigation has sufficient knowledge of the following information, such that safe and efficient navigation in the area where the ship is to be navigated is not compromised:
(a) the location and character of charted
(i) shipping routes,
(ii) lights, buoys and marks, and
(iii) navigational hazards; and
Dave S
Active Member
Call Victoria Vessel Traffic Services ( http://www.ccg-gcc.gc.ca/e0003906 ) when on the water, tell them your gps cords, and see what sort of signal they get from your boat. Being aluminum, the boat may have a decent signal in calm waters. I'd never suggest being out there in the fog in 2' or bigger waves as that will really compromise your ability to be picked up by radar on other vessels. Does the boat have a bimini or canvas top of any kind?
Also, do you guys wear survival suits? I'd suggest you do if you go out in the fog. And definitely a handheld vhf.
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As stated above, there is no requirement for paper charts in either the U.S. or the Canadian regulations. I do have charts, in electronic form, in at least 4 separate locations on the boat (each GPS). I usually have at least 2 GPS on while I'm boating. Typically both my large screen fixed mount chart plotter and my iPad running Navionics (with recent chart downloads) are running. I have one zoomed in close and one zoomed out far. That serves all the purposes paper charts serves and them some. I have AIS displayed on the fixed mount and I have radar on either the split screen or my separate, smaller fixed mount. I also have many charts loaded on my computer which is often (but not always with me). Even for large ships, the requirements can be met with electronic charts as long as they are "official" and as long as there is a backup system (which may also be electronic).
A PLB on the survival suits would be useful also. But if he's not willing to shell out a few bucks for radar reflector, he probably won't buy any of this other stuff either.
SpringFever552
Well-Known Member
You forgot one more VERY important question IMHO
Answer this...do you know where others are?...
My near disaster was...
running in fog with 2 plotters(main and handheld) no radar..almost ran between tug and its barge...near **** my pants...turned around went right back to Browns Bay...
NEVER will I ever go out in fog without radar equipped boat...
My 2cents
That would be ugly. Would you not just see the two as independent targets anyways though and run right over the line possibly? I don't have radar so its a question. We have been running offshore without it for years though just use caution and experience in knowing when to say when. Many accidents in all levels of transportation do get caused by overuse of technology by those that don't have the knowledge or skill they should have to be there in the first place.
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