8 kts close hauled in 100 yd visibility !

Sven

Sven

Seglare
What a great weekend on Senta II !

We headed out towards Catalina Island on Friday morning, in 1/4 mi. visibility and no wind. A bit later the wind picked up a bit and after passing a fishing boat in the fog, seeing a whale which startled us with its exhale, and getting passed by a Catalina 42 under power we set sail.

The fog lifted and we started gaining on the Catalina which was now also under sail as the sun beamed down on us.

When we had almost cleared the southbound shipping lane the fog rolled back in and the wind picked up ! I told Nancy that the wind would clear out the fog but I was wrong. The Catalina which we were steadily catching up to would disappear in the fog ahead of us, only to reappear every now and then. By the time we were a couple of miles off Catalina we were probably 100 yards behind the Catalina and it would still completely vanish about half the time only to reappear a little bit closer. We were doing a steady 7.6 to 7.8 kts and the max readout was 8.1 kts. We finally gave up the chase when it was time to reef the genoa a bit and soon after that we emerged out of the fog with the Catalina heading West to one of the other coves while we continued to the Isthmus.

I have never before sailed that fast in thick fog and boy did we keep our eyes and ears on maximum gain. It was exhausting but absolutely beautiful.

A sail to remember.


-Sven
 
Andrew Means

Andrew Means

Member III
reminds me...

That reminds me of sailing with my friend Matt back from a weeklong trek in the San Juans. Everyone else had taken ferries or float planes back to get home for work and that left Matt and I with the job of sailing the boat back. When we pulled out of Deer Harbor on Orcas we got enveloped in fog and didn't break out of it till we were 2/3 of the way across the Strait of Juan de Fuca. Totally on my iPhone's GPS (with the iNavx chart plotter), our depthsounder, and Matt's Garmin GPS thingy. Going through cattle pass was interesting, we could only see one side at a time!

We didn't really worry too much about large cargo ships, because we figured they'd be blowing their fog horns and would have radar, but there were more than a few big power cruisers who seemed oblivious and were chugging along at about 100 yds visibility - we kept our air horn at the ready...
 
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Jeff Asbury

Jeff Asbury

Principal Partner
I had a similar experience Sven, back in August coming back from Cat Harbor. No wind, bright and sunny until I got to about mid channel, then the fog steadily increased, as did the wind. I already had the radar on because I had been experimenting with some of the settings. As the fog increased I gave the radar my full attention. I also set the VHF to scan and I monitored many concerned discussions from other cruisers as well as the ships. What was interesting about some of these broadcasts was that a lot of cruisers were using AIS. I would hear communications between cruising sailboats and the big ships. They would relay their positions as well as their AIS designations. Example: One cruising sailboat would hail the name of a ship and AIS # and tell the Captain of the ship that he need not alter course, they would take him on his stern. Even though I have radar it was still nerve racking hearing communications like these. The closer I approached the harbor entrance the stronger the wind was and the thicker the fog was. I as well reefed the jib a bit with it gusting to 19 knots. Once I came in the Angeles Gate, the fog lifted and it was clear and sunny. It was a 6 hour passage from the back side, I was alone so I was just beat when I got in. If ever I plan a serious long distance cruise I would really consider the AIS because just about all big ships use it now.

Sven I have noticed that it has been much foggier than normal for the last few months. I sailed out for a day sail a couple of weeks ago at around 11 am, bright and sunny in the harbor and just socked in out side the break wall. I ended up just sailing around inside the harbor for about 3 hours. Even though I have radar, I don't find it very enjoyable sailing in the fog.

Andrew, when I was sailing in Puget Sound back in the late 70's I crossed the Strait of Juan de Fuca to Victoria a couple of times in the fog. No GPS back then. Just a chart & compass and dead reckoning. It was always amazing to see Victoria harbor once I had crossed. I just held my course I had plotted when I left Port Townsend. Never drifted amazingly. I had no fear when I was in my 20's. I remember hearing the ships but could never see them. Man I have I been spoiled by technology now.
 
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Sven

Sven

Seglare
Jeff Asbury said:
I like this AIS link as well. No Laptop on my boat as of yet.
Click to expand...

After filling out a bunch of online forms we got our MMSI number a couple of days ago so we ca now register our AIS (and install it :)

Since we're planning to go off-shore we had to do it with the FCC for a fee rather than the free domestic registration.


-Sven
 
WBurgner

WBurgner

Member III
Be persistent

Sven,
It took nine months for our MMSI to finally get into the international database. These records are supposed to be uploaded monthly but I, and others I know, have found that the FCC is not very good about it. I will look for the URL that will allow you to do the search to confirm the transfer and pass it on to you. It took me many letters and emails to get it resolved. It finally took a call to the FCC complaint line.

Here is the URL:
http://www.itu.int/cgi-bin/htsh/mars/ship_search.sh
Type your vessel name or Ships Radio callsign where requested.
 
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WBurgner

WBurgner

Member III
At least 60 days

I would give them at least 60 days to get the info transferred. It is the government after all.

It is amazing how many other boats there are that have what we feel are pretty original names, isn't it? And from multiple countries to boot.

All the best to you Sven.
 
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