T&T: fog

[Henry Quigley]

Both the international and inland rule 5 says: "every vessel shall at all times maintain a proper lookout by sight and hearing AS WELL AS BY ALL AVAILABLE MEANS appropriate in the prevailing circumstances and conditions..."
If there is a collision and the hearing person thinks that the radar would have helped you avoid the collision you are in deep do do.
Henry


---- Original message ----
>Date: Sat, 1 Sep 2007 22:24:18 -0400
>From: "Bob Clinkenbeard" <clinkenbeardb at bellsouth.net>  
>Subject: Re: T&T: fog  
>To: <trawlers-and-trawlering at lists.samurai.com>
>
>I have been caught in fog a couple of times and have had some harrowing 
>experiences due to, not having radar.  I recently purchased a unit and built 
>a radar mast (yet to be installed due to the heat wave here in the south). 
>Glad to hear you were able to avoid catastrophe with having it on board.  I 
>can't wait to use mine.
>
>Am I wrong, in that international rules dictate that if you have radar on 
>board you must use it at all times regardless of the weather?  Seems I read 
>that you face a greater risk of liability if an accident occurs and your 
>radar is not on.
>Can someone clarify this and perhaps direct me to the rule?
>Thanks,
>
>Bob Clinkenbeard
>24' custom trailer trawler
>http://home.bellsouth.net/p/PWP-aboardbobbinalong
>
>
>
>
>
>Well, we had an interesting afternoon on the water here in Duluth, MN. We
>had not planned to boat in dense fog, but that is the way it turned out.
>It is amazing how disorienting fog can be. We are quite familiar with the
>17 miles of ship channels and the 50 plus miles of waterfront of the
>Duluth-Superior harbor. But it is totally different in dense fog. We
>could see between 100 and 200 feet and at times much less than that.
>Hence, I wound up navigating strictly by instruments  chartplotter,
>radar, and compass. -- and peering into the soup ahead.
>As a matter of practice, I routinely run radar even on clear sunny days
>to be able to interpret the radar screen and select the most effective
>range for the waters at hand. It paid off today.
>Because Lake Superior was bumpy, most recreational boat traffic was doing
>their thing in the sheltered waters of the harbor. To make things
>interesting, there were a number of ships moving as well. We could hear
>their fog horns in the area all afternoon.
>As we came around a bend, I was sure there was a big ship at hand. I
>could hear its fog horn. Then I told the admiral, something is ahead on
>radar but I cant tell what it is. Sure enough, a 1,000 foot bulk ore
>carrier was maneuvering in the turning basin ahead. The radar made it
>look like a massive seawall. It was. We finally saw it looming ahead less
>than 200 feet away. Fortunately, we both were going dead slow. We went
>behind him.
>Continuing, another target appeared on the radar  a sailboat under sail
>in the fog tacking across the ship channel. Hmmm. I was amazed at how
>fast he was moving. Then another sailboat. As we continued, I told my
>wife there was something else ahead but I could not tell what it was. The
>radar signature was just a bunch of nondescript dots on the screen, like
>buckshot. Suddenly, another large ship loomed close enough that we could
>and did wave at its crew. Again, I was going slow, but the ship was
>gathering momentum.
>It turned out to be a good lesson on tracking channel buoys on radar and
>with the chartplotter. There were many small craft  sail boats, fishing
>boats, and a few cruisers out in the fog. One guy back at the dock said
>he almost got ran over by a ship.
>The moral of the story is use your navigation instruments regularly in
>good weather: Practice following compass bearings. Use your radar to
>learn to interpret the screen in good conditions. I knew what the various
>local ATONs looked liked on radar from long practice, but ships and even
>sailboats certainly can be elusive and confusing in fog. It is
>disorienting.
>
>David Sorenson
>Duluth, MN
>_______________________________________________
>http://lists.samurai.com/mailman/listinfo/trawlers-and-trawlering
>
>To unsubscribe send email to
>trawlers-and-trawlering-request at lists.samurai.com with the word
>UNSUBSCRIBE and nothing else in the subject or body of the message.
>
>Trawlers & Trawlering and T&T are trademarks of Water World
>Productions. Unauthorized use is prohibited.