Down East Conditions
Yesterday, as I cleared the Blyman Bridge in Gloucester Harbor, I noticed a slight wisp of fog over Eastern Point. The weather was sunny and cool, and the fog seemed out of place, so I made a mental note to keep an eye on it and headed towards the Harbor mouth.
Much to my surprise, within five minutes of the sighting, I was completely enveloped in a fog bank that reduced visibility from a couple miles to a couple hundred feet. Almost all visible landmarks disappeared, and only the nearby rocks and an occasional house silhouette were partially visible. Needless to say, things got very dicey, very fast.
Fortunately, I had a small, but functional, GPS and an intimate knowledge of the shoreline in that area and between the two, I was able to navigate down the shoreline until the fog cleared and normal visibility returned.
Some lessons were relearned. One, always be aware of your boating environment which can turn from safe to scary in less than ten minutes. Two, think about locating and piloting from main, pre-marked buoys along pre-marked routes. Three, keep your safety equipment handy – PFD, anchor, horn, etc. as it might need to be accessed very quickly. Fog will inevitably pop up in your boat experiences; be sure you’re prepared to safeguard the safety of the vessel and crew.
