Foggy Weather Sailing Strategy

What if we did go sailing in July Gloom?  The Captain has memorized the path out of the bay so it is possible that we might try to take the boat out.  But, what if we get out there and can't see anything?

Normally, visibility is reported by the weather service and/or NOAA at various weather stations.  They would report at the airport tower visibility is currently 1 mile.  But, what does that have to do with anything?  So, you're out there and you can't see two boat lengths ahead of you, or in all directions for that matter? How do you get home?

Do you blow your fog horn?  In the harbor, there is enough water lapping on hulls and slapping halyards so you're not really going to run into a boat.  It doesn't help you from running aground.  If it was really foggy, you'd call the Harbor Master and they would bring you in.  The Harbor Master is part of the local Harbor Patrol, part of the local police.  The Coast Guard is part of Homeland Security (not a branch of the Navy).  If there was rough conditions or you were farther out in the ocean, then the Coast Guard would come to the rescue with their military stealth GPS that's accurate to within a couple inches.

Now, where does GPS fit in?  Well, we only have iphones with nautical GPS application.  We do not have any chart plotter on the boat.  What is the range of the iphone GPS app?  Hmmm?  Satellite range will cover us all the way out to Catalina! 

Our Old School Foggy Weather Tactical Approach:
1.  Go really slow.  Consider dropping Anchor.
2.  The Captain will steer. 
3.  The First Mate will look out from the bow.

Modern Fog Navigation Strategy:
1.  Use GPS.  Prevents getting lost.
2.  Use Depth Sounder.  Alarms when you get shallow.  Prevents running aground.
3.  Use Marine AIS (automatic identification system).  Tells you where other boats are around you.  Tells other boats that you are there.  Prevents getting run over.

The Million Dollar Question: When do you use a fog horn? 
Fog horns were invented so stationary objects, like lighthouses, could sound their presence.  The low tone travels farther in the fog than a high tone.  Nowadays, these horns are automated.  There is a fog horn on the buoy at the harbor entrance that is turned on for foggy days.  I think I would sound our horn until the can ran out of air!  An air horn is required safety equipment on an ocean going vessel and the Coast Guard probably has some guidelines for using it.  Any suggestions?

Two Notables: Morro Rock and the Power Plant

The two most recognized landmarks in our town--and in the Bay--are the Morro Rock and the Dynergy Power Plant.  These sisters have quite the history. 

The Morro Rock is 581 foot tall volcanic "plug" located at the mouth of the bay.  Climbing on the rock or disturbing its wildlife is strictly forbidden.  The Chumash tribe considers it sacred ground.  Birders love the rock for the peregrine falcon reserve.  Winds change direction erratically when travelling around the rock, creating difficult sailing conditions immediately around the rock.  This means that sailboats must motor in and out of the bay.  Sailing out of the bay, beside the rock, is difficult. 

The Power Plant was built back in the 1950's by Dynergy.  It was previously owned and operated by PG&E.  Currently, it creates reliable power for the central coast by natural gas.  The future of its tall stacks are unknown.  New plans to modernize the plant include removal of these "eye sores".

Sailing in Heavy Weather

I recently received from my netflix queue the video "Sailing in Heavy Weather" from the Better Sailing Series hosted by Mark Schrader. I have watched...actually I tried to watch some other sailing videos on Netflix but never got that far into them before turning them off. Either the sound of the wind howling in the microphone was so loud you couldn't understand the speaking, the video camera pointing one direction would be constantly showing nothing important, or the Miami Vice 80's haircut and outfits would drive me to turn it off. "Sailing in Heavy Weather" was mostly upto date and overall pretty well produced especially concerning the conditions.


There are quite a few good nuggets of information in the video but main points I learned for my beginning skill level is below;

1. Practice reefing before you need to reef. During a 30 + knot gail is not when you want to be figuring things out.
2. Practice often. Knowing how to reef is good but knowing how to reef very quicking is even better. It is quite difficult to keep enough slack in the sails by heading up in heavy weather to allow the sail to come down. The tension may only be off the sail for a minute before a wave or wind pushes the boat away from the wind direction putting tension back onto the sail.
3. There are two ways to handle heavy seas, passively by battoning down the hatches and waiting it out underneath and actively by sailing. Todays modern boat designs generally do better by being actively sailed. After watching the video I still not totally sure what to do in a Coronoda 25. It is not a modern boat but I think I would be more comfortable trying to actively steer the boat but I doubt I could keep it up that long.  
4. Reef early before the heaviest wind comes then test the balance of the boat to see how it handles. Many Captians get in trouble because they reef down too much and can't control the boat. Find the balance of power and heeling that allows the boat to be steered well by lettling out more cloth.

There was  a section on heaving to in the video that I think was done well but I will go into a deeper discussion on this in a later blog as setting your sails so that you make no very handy thing to be able to do.