RE:[Paddlewise] Paddling in a Fog

Doug Lloyd <dlloyd_at_telus.net> wrote:

There has ben considerable traffic on the list indirectly revolving
around this issue of paddling in the fog.  Fog can play
mind games with you, and this is why I'm always cautious both for
myself, and when talking about the subject around beginner kayakers or
canoeists. I find it very difficult to distinguish other vessel
direction and speed in a thick fog, by the use of sound. It just isn't
reliable enough - IMHO.

Big SNIP

All in all, fog paddling can be a hoot and done safely and within most
reasonable personal limits. I just choose my places as carefully as I
can. I have back-up plans for involuntary fog paddling, and as usual,
the navigation and dead reckoning needed to paddle fog safely is
something done best by a more intermediate paddler. New paddlers don't
always no what there limits should be, but are, of course, free to
expand there horizons. Or is that limit their horizons?




Paddling in Fog can also create problems. I have paddled in it several times
and never really feel comfortable. One time, three of us decided to paddle
out of Channel Islands Harbor in Oxnard, CA. The harbor entrance has a rock
jetty on either side and a rock breakwater running perpendicular to the main
channel about 1/4 of a mile past the harbor entrance. The breakwater is
about 1/4 mile in length and then it is just open ocean and coastline.

When we started out, there was no fog, but it was a cloudy dreary day with
swells of about 4 feet. There was also no wind chop to speak of. Just as we
passed the end of the breakwater, a heavy fog rolled in and it was
impossible to tell the difference between the ocean and the air. I turned my
head for an instant to answer a question from one of the other paddlers and
lost all sense of positional awareness. The paddler I was talking with said
she was uncomfortable in the fog and wanted to go back but wasn't sure she
could find the harbor.

I called our other partner and told him that 2 of us were going to turn back
and he should join us (he did). I started navigating back to the harbor by
compass heading. After a short while, I saw the rocks of the far jetty and
told my companions that we just needed to turn left now and we were home. I
also suggested we stay very close to the rocks so we wouldn't get run over
by any other boats.

As we paddled in, I started feeling better until, 10 feet in front of my
boat was breaking surf!!! Instead of paddling inside the far jetty, we were
actually outside the near jetty and about to make a surf landing. I shouted
a warning and back paddled like crazy.

Even though these waters are very familiar to me and I paddle out of this
harbor frequently, fog can really mess up your senses. Having experience
crossing the shipping lanes in the Santa Barbara Channel, I know that if I
can see a ship 6 - 7 miles away and if it is doing 20 knots, chances are
that I can't beat it across the lane. I would definitely stay out of
shipping lanes in the fog.


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