Kayaking Fog and current

This is up North in the morning, about 6:00 AM. The further offshore you got the thicker it became.

Article here ... http://www.kayakfishingmagazine.net/articles/102-current-issue-featured-articles-on-kayak-fishing/1488-lost-in-the-fog.html

-Allen

    Well written Allen,
  Let's all hope this arcticle and Willbd's expirence will help someone else out in the future.As several people have alluded to--the sea can be a cruel mistress...

Article here ... http://www.kayakfishingmagazine.net/articles/102-current-issue-featured-articles-on-kayak-fishing/1488-lost-in-the-fog.html

-Allen

Stupid net-nanny won't let me see that link.

Thanks for the well written article Allen.

Allen,
Nicely written but it is weird to read about what you did over the weekend!

I have been thinking about this thread a bit.  One question to honestly ask yourself is whether you would have paddled out into the fog alone or if there wasn't a tournament going on.  That should be how you make decisions. 

I stated earlier that fog was a "no go" for me, but I do not think I was being entirely honest.  It is a no-go for a large number of areas I like to fish due to large numbers of other boats, including pleasure boats, sail boats, ferries, commercial trollers, tugs, freighters, etc.  But there are areas close to shore with rough launches that I would go out to because there are no power boats in the area and I am comfortable in those particular areas. 

This is off ifish....
I could have added this to the minimal skills for offshore captains, but this a little different.
On Saturday, after fishing all day out of Newport, we returned to the jetties only to find that the fog was so thick, it was difficult to see beyond the front of the boat. I slowed down before arriving at the bar, and noted through the fog a few other boats.
Now, I have been in thick fog before and it can be pretty disorientating, and at first I was a bit confused as the boats around me were.
There was a hesitation to go forward by the group, and thinking about it, I now understand why. If you rely on your GPS to get you into and out of the big blue, normally there is no problem. But if you are in thick fog, and slow down to a few miles per hour, then the GPS is pretty useless, as it can give you good information while moving, but very poor information when you are nearly stopped.

to read more go to this link. http://www.ifish.net/board/showthread.php?p=4164587#post4164587

I don't this there is too much difference between handheld GPS and FF combos but my handheld gives me great information while I"m stopped.....  I don't usually check it while moving!

I don't this there is too much difference between handheld GPS and FF combos but my handheld gives me great information while I"m stopped.....  I don't usually check it while moving!

+1

My handheld Garmin, 72H works just fine at slow speeds (kokanee trolling at approx 1mph for instance). Edit: I use a Garmin 76map and have the 72H as backup. Both work well.

But if you are in thick fog, and slow down to a few miles per hour, then the GPS is pretty useless,

Maybe its the type of GPS he was using, but at a few miles per hour, my garmin GPS was very useful out there in the fog!

Just wanted to be post #100 Bryan glad that all worked out OK and you kept your cool. Dale

+2  hand helds are small and designed for hiking, so they work great at slow speed and fit nicely in the hull as a backup.

Sent from my DROIDX using Tapatalk 2

I've used several GPS units, from non-mapping handhelds of the late '90s to more modern vessle mounted units with detailed maps.  My experience with all of them has been good.   Keep in mind, the little numbers is "where it's at", especially when small variations like moving at slow speed is what's happening.  If you are looking at the screen (picture of you {little arrow in the center of the screen} and the surrounding world) showing where you are...if you aren't zoomed in close enough it won't look like you are moving in relation to the rest of the world.  Of course, if you are zoomed in so close that you get a good track of were you've moved you likely won't be able to see the "shore line".

Hopefully that ramble above is translated to usable information, it makes sense in my head but could muddy the water to y'all...I work bette with pictures and hand gestures.

i agree that a gps can not be helpful navigating when not moving, but disagree that slow speed makes navigating via gps worthless.  consider the gps's on our kayaks.  we get good readings off ours navigating going anywhere from 1-5 mph.  that is a slow crawl for our brothers and sisters in the powerboat division.  the only difference is that slow speeds can make current and wind have more impact on your heading versus going 15-30 knots.

i agree that a gps can not be helpful navigating when not moving, but disagree that slow speed makes navigating via gps worthless.  consider the gps's on our kayaks.  we get good readings off ours navigating going anywhere from 1-5 mph.  that is a slow crawl for our brothers and sisters in the powerboat division.  the only difference is that slow speeds can make current and wind have more impact on your heading versus going 15-30 knots.

Exactly. I never use the GPS part of my finder when moving slowly in the current. If I had I would have probably had seen what i was seeing on my map screen. I was moving but not in the direction I thought. At first I thought my GPS was wrong. Then I said to self you need to believe it and try to get your head around what you are seeing.
As I get more data and thinking of what error or errors I made that day. I came to the conclusion that it was 90% mental.