More Thoughts on Sailing in Fog

My recent post on the Coast Guard rescue of a sailboat that went aground in the fog received several comments critical of my assertion that an inexpensive backup GPS could have prevented this disaster and subsequent expensive rescue. I apparently gave the impression that GPS was the only, or best, solution—something I didn’t quite intend.

As readers rightfully pointed out, these sailors could have avoided the situation altogether with basic navigational skills (even dead reckoning with paper charts) and good planning. And even with a GPS they could have gone aground if they simply headed for a waypoint and paid little attention to a current or other factors that could sweep them off course into the shallows. GPS, certainly, is not some sort of guaranteed answer to the difficulty of navigating with limited visibility.

My point should have been that we should use all our available navigational tools and skills at all times—including our brains. There are many ways to keep track of your boat’s position, and if they all fail it’s best not to go anywhere near land or shoals until you’re certain again. Sailors of yesterday had their ways—though ships still went down in storms and unusual situations, but less often simply by naively sailing into danger.

I learned two of my favorite navigational techniques sailing in deep fog in Maine in pre-GPS days. Potato navigation: as the boat ghosts forward in deep fog toward land, someone stands at the bow with a sack of potatoes, throwing one far forward every minute or so, and when you don’t hear a splash ahead you let the anchor down. Spruce navigation: headed up the bay weaving through islands, tack as soon as you smell the blue spruce in the wind blowing off shore.

Got any favorite tricks of your own to share?