Fog Psychology

Used sailboats commonly list with radar so I share this story to urge my first time boat buyers to become wise radar users.

With the Auto pilot steering outbound a familiar channel, rock walls on either side, and myself on the bow prepping the staysail,  I noticed a different wave formation about 20 yards of the port bow.  Shallows?

I looked up to evaluate our distance from the jetties, but they were gone.  I couldn’t’ see them. I couldn’t see anything-  Just 360 degrees of pure fog, not even an outline of land.  A nervous imagination started spinning my mental compass.  Which direction am I going?  Grasping any barring- The only mark was the oddly placed little breaking waves now just 10 yards off the bow.  Yikes!

I thought I trusted my auto pilot but having purchased several used sailboats, trust in any device is scarce.  The sudden blindness and odd waves were spooky.  I hustled back to the GPS which showed us safe from rocks but headed towards a large channel buoy. I could not see it but when the radar “warmed-up”  The screen showed the bouys and our course relative to the rock wall.  That was reassuring.  I altered course and a minuite later saw the buoy pass close by.   

I was thankful to know what both the rocks and the bouys looked like on the radar.  Having studied them before instilled confidence in what the screen displayed. 

Relaxing some, I covered the GPS to simulate having to navigate by the radar alone.  This was a great exercise.

My initial reaction to the fog was to look “harder” and keep looking until something materializes.  This of course is wrong.  If, on a clear day, I look at the real world 80% and the electronics only 20% I now believe that, in dense fog, that ratio reverses (if single handed).  It was time to deepen my trust in the radar.

Use a clear day to learn how certain objects, buoys, small boats, big boats, and at various distances appear on screen.  You’ll find the knowledge particularly valuable against the emotions surrounding disorientation and may help let that used sailboat live to sail another day.