Sailing through fog used to scare the crap out of me.  Not being able to see anything 50 feet in front of you, limited ability to hear if you’re motoring, it can be unnerving.  We’ve done it enough that it’s still uncomfortable but I can laugh a bit when we describe it as ‘sailing by braille.’

Luckily we have a number of tools to help make things easier…

Horn:  This is probably the most low tech of everything we have on board but this lets other boaters know that you’re out there.  One long blast tells them that you’re motoring, one long blast followed by two short blasts tells them you’re sailing.  Carefully listening lets you know the proximity of other boats in the area.  In the past skippers haven’t been as good about using them, but I heard quite a few this summer.

Chartplotter

Chartplotter plus AIS:  The chartplotter displays a digital version of our paper charts.  While nothing is better than being at the helm and seeing for yourself what’s in front of you, a chartplotter does allow you to sail blind.  We try to get close enough to certain landmarks, or at least channel markers (green or red buoys) to confirm what the charts are telling us.

See the black triangle on the chartplotter screen picture?  That’s us.  The outlined triangles are other boats that also have AIS (automatic identification system, or marine GPS).  It’s very helpful to be able to see other boats out there on the screen if you can’t see them in person, or even hear them.

iPad navigation apps

The iPad is  pretty much the same as the chartplotter, but handheld.  Redundancy is always good…..

Radar

Radar:  Our radar is a bit old, but it’s still good to have on board, which spots all boats or land in the area – not just what we can see on the chartplotter.

And that, my friends, is sailing by braille.  Fog.