Re: [Paddlewise] Foggy Crossing

Duane Strosaker wrote:

> That foggy crossing is among my favorites, because it's amazing how much
> more you tune into sound when you can't see. When you stop paddling and
> listen occasionally, it's amazing how much you can hear. For at least a
> couple hours, I heard the rumble of surf and car traffic on the coast.
> As I came closer, I was shocked how loud the coast really is. It was
> like someone put a microphone on it and cranked up the amplifier.

Duane,

I have only done a couple longer foggy crossings, both within the confines 
of the Lower Columbia River, albeit in many places it is some 4-5 miles 
bank to bank!  Never enough traffic around to worry about it much.  But, I 
did get vertigo once; not really anything like mal de mer, but definitely a 
disorientation.  This was in very thin fog, with a lot of all-around 
illumination.  Very eerie.  Not at all like the pea soup stuff, which I 
somehow find comforting.

Question:  you ever suffer anything like that?  Any of your companions?

BTW, like you, I feel pretty confident when crossing my "home" waters. 
And, timing my runs and keeping my ears about me seemed to work pretty well 
for navigating, when current was minimal.  We get typical currents of a 
couple knots on the ebb many places, and not always consistent with the 
current atlas, so you could get pretty lost in current around here. 
Sometimes currents will run up to 3-4 knots, usually confined to an area 
half a mile across or less, complicated by quarter-mile-long pile dikes 
(aka strainers from hell) in places.  One foggy downriver jaunt danced past 
the tips of three or four of these, with current assist.  Definitely a day 
for relying on the GPS!

-- 
Dave Kruger
Astoria, OR
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