Boats' automated fog signals
Marin wrote:
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Doc wrote:
Running in fog has a high pucker factor. Having an automated signal is one less thing to worry about while keeping a sharp lookout. Having your fog signal answered at close range by someone you can't see increases the pucker.
We actually really enjoy running in the fog.* We have never not gone out or delayed a run because of fog.* Maybe it reminds us of flying on instruments, so going somewhere in near-zero visibility is not at all scarey.* We have a real good radar and two*big plotters so it's not like there is any mystery in where we are, where we're going, and what's around us.* Our only requirement is that we can see just enough ahead of the boat to spot debris, crab pot flots, etc.* Although when it's super foggy the water is usually glass smooth so the crab pot floats show up on the radar display.* But two or three boat lengths is all we need, and we almost always have at least*that.* On the rare occasions when it's less we just slow down.
In any event, an advantage of the LH5 hailer/intercom I forgot to mention is that when it's not broadcasting a voice or horn signal, its horn acts as a microphone. So if we turn*the volume*all the way up we can hear the horns from the ferries and other vessels in our vicinity inside the cabin over the engine noise.
-- Edited by Marin on Tuesday 14th of December 2010 06:25:26 PMI'm with Doc on this one. I won't go out in fog, but obviously I will proceed if suddenly fogged in. There are too many boats that don't have radar, and also too many that don't offer a good radar signature. Add to that their ignorance of any need for a fog horn of any sort.
I'll never forget the time we got caught crossing Rosario Straight in peas soup. We came out of the fog just in time to see a little Bayliner running full tilt boogie right along the fog line, perpendicular to our own line of travel. I had barely picked him up on my radar, and kept slowing and slowing to avoid a collision. Unpuckering was slow to occur.
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-- Edited by Carey on Tuesday 14th of December 2010 10:30:25 PM