Fog Area , what a day!

[Fluke Whisperer]

Left Milford @ 8:30am with my son Charles, visibility was .5 miles at best, headed over to Blackrock Harbor to meet up with my brother who was into school stripers.

Arrived about 9am, located my brother and started casting but no takers, my brother said he was out at 6am, he keeps his boat at South Benson Marina.

Well the fog rolled in and visibility was down to 100' give or take, so my brother packed it in, and we waited it out, 10 minutes later the fog lifted enough for us to
head over to middle ground, lots of boats out at middle ground, as soon as we got there the fog rolled in again, we were a few hundred feet from Middle ground light
when it disappeared, I was in the cabin getting rigs when my son said , where did all the boats go, I thought he was kidding because I didn't know the fog rolled in.

I got out and looked out and all I can say is WTF, I think the fog caught a lot of people off guard including myself.

I got that sinking feeling in my gut that this was not going to be easy with out radar, I could hear boats moving all around us, but in the fog you can't trust what you hear, I told my son, we are going to plot a course to milford harbor and just take a log ride in. I no sooner got the boat moving when this clown in a center console almost ran us down, no radar, just going about 20+mph.
I don't care who gives me flack for this, but I told him just what I thought of him, running in the fog at that speed with or with radar. I was blowing my horn every minute while under way.
It took us almost 2 hrs to get to Milford harbor, that visibility was zero, an I'm not kidding.

About 500 feet from the harbor it cleared up enough to see where we were, I brought right to the main channel buoy and a feeling of relief came over me, boats were everywhere
people were staying just shy of the fog, a lot were in the traffic lane, happy to be back, I decided I was going to buy a radar unit, I have a lowrance hook 9 chatplotter/fishfinder so no radar is compatible with it, so I'm looking at Furuno 1815 8.4" Color Lcd 19" 4kw Radar stand alone unit , I'm up for any suggestions.

Anyways, we got home safe, no fish but a learning experience none the same.
Be careful out there.
FW

 

[cany]

Fog sucks glad you made it back safe

 

[MOJOE]

yes you and your son are safe,,, wow what a fog report,,, ,,,,some boaters should not be on the water on a clear day,, no less in the FOG!! ,,,,, ><))):<
><))):<

 

[JoeBfishing]

People were talking about if it was foggy out today... It was clear as bell when I went out here in Greenwich/NY line and west this morning 4:30. I’d lean on the horn too if I heard someone approaching in the fog. I’m using the radar more then ever this season. Good to hear you got back safe.??

 

[captmike28]

Despite the amount of experience one has, and I have well over 50 years running boats from 24'-55' in fog, if you are not even the least bit anxious running in the "soup" there is something wrong with your head. Having radar installed and knowing how to use it helps a lot, but it still is never a license to be running at flank speed in the thick stuff. That's just an accident waiting to happen.

I'm sure many of us have similar stories, but I can never forget one very fogy day when I was fishing near Orient Point and a guy motors up to me asking "which way is Connecticut?" If it were possible, I would have confiscated that guys keys right on the spot!

I completely agree with Mo Joe, that some folks should not be boating on a clear day, much less in the fog.

Kudos to you Fluke Whisperer, for showing respect for the condiitons and proceeding with the appropriate amount of caution.

BTW, although my current Furuno Radar is 17 years old and a CRT display which you cannot even purchase anymore, I would highly recommend their electronics, especially their radars. I had the same model Furuno radar on my previous boat and it performed flawlessly for 13 years. Do the math... 30 years of perfect performance with zero maintenance means I have complete confidence in Furuno radars. If the new model 1815 performs as good as it looks I would say that's a no brainer.

 

[Aquarius]

I have the Furuno 1815. I installed it 2 years ago. It has a lot of features that you do not need. It makes the operation a little bit complicated. You could probably get a simpler machine and save a few dollars.

 

[Roccus7]

Glad you were able to return safely.

Radar or not, it's the other idiots you have to worry about in the fog. Exactly the reason I will never go out under even the threat of fog even though I have radar. I immediately fire up the ponies to git to the barn if fog starts to roll in before visibility goes south. I look at my radar unit as surprise fog protection.

 

[stusurf]

WOW !!! Check out the radar. It seems you will be making a wise decision. Be safe

 

[Chinacat]

Glad you made it back.
It is stressful indeed.
Me any my son had a day like that in Shinnecock for seabass opening day.
We were very thankful to have made it back through the inlet safely.
The past couple of weeks seem to have been more foggy years past

 

[Occh639]

Left Milford @ 8:30am with my son Charles, visibility was .5 miles at best, headed over to Blackrock Harbor to meet up with my brother who was into school stripers.

Arrived about 9am, located my brother and started casting but no takers, my brother said he was out at 6am, he keeps his boat at South Benson Marina.

Well the fog rolled in and visibility was down to 100' give or take, so my brother packed it in, and we waited it out, 10 minutes later the fog lifted enough for us to
head over to middle ground, lots of boats out at middle ground, as soon as we got there the fog rolled in again, we were a few hundred feet from Middle ground light
when it disappeared, I was in the cabin getting rigs when my son said , where did all the boats go, I thought he was kidding because I didn't know the fog rolled in.

I got out and looked out and all I can say is WTF, I think the fog caught a lot of people off guard including myself.

I got that sinking feeling in my gut that this was not going to be easy with out radar, I could hear boats moving all around us, but in the fog you can't trust what you hear, I told my son, we are going to plot a course to milford harbor and just take a log ride in. I no sooner got the boat moving when this clown in a center console almost ran us down, no radar, just going about 20+mph.
I don't care who gives me flack for this, but I told him just what I thought of him, running in the fog at that speed with or with radar. I was blowing my horn every minute while under way.
It took us almost 2 hrs to get to Milford harbor, that visibility was zero, an I'm not kidding.

About 500 feet from the harbor it cleared up enough to see where we were, I brought right to the main channel buoy and a feeling of relief came over me, boats were everywhere
people were staying just shy of the fog, a lot were in the traffic lane, happy to be back, I decided I was going to buy a radar unit, I have a lowrance hook 9 chatplotter/fishfinder so no radar is compatible with it, so I'm looking at Furuno 1815 8.4" Color Lcd 19" 4kw Radar stand alone unit , I'm up for any suggestions.

Anyways, we got home safe, no fish but a learning experience none the same.
Be careful out there.
FW

Glad you got back ok. I wonder if it’s the same day that I had trouble in the fog and took Me two tries to make it into the Shinnecock inlet because I got turned around. Fog is scary scary shit.