GPS in Fog

[Zpg]

While reading a recent post by Tenmile regarding his new radar (congrats by the way!) a though occured to me. I do not have radar on my boat and seeing as it seems to be pea soup season I was wondering if my GPS would be affected. I am running a combo Lowrance sounder/plotter unit. I do have a compass as well but as I have not fished the west coast waters before I plan to count on my gps to keep me off the rocks.

 

[Coyote Spooner]

In my experience, it doesn't seem to be affected by the fog. So if your gps is a chartplotter/gps, you should be able to find your way around. It takes alot of practice to be able to drive your boat, only using your gps. It's like playing a video game flight simulator. I use the gps to guide me, then I use the compass bearing after that. You have to keep your eyes up and not on your gps all the time. Most compasses are mounted in your line of site and react faster than the gps to changes in direction. One other thing, you should have a radar reflector, so boats with radar can see you. It's do-able but not much fun. Hope this helps.

 

[Zpg]

Thanks C.S. for the insight. I had a feeling that the GPS would be fine but would rather know before than get a surprise 8 miles offshore.

Regarding the radar reflector, I have already planned on getting that later today based on several other posts and recommendations. I don't plan on being in the shipping lanes but it just makes sense. Can't bee too careful, besides the thought of laying back trolling peacefully and suddenly seeing the bow of a 30 footer bearing down on me doesn't make me feel overly comfortable.

Cheers,
Ray

 

[TenMile]

Hey Ray,

My advice to you is to go redundant. If you are relying on your GPS to get you home you'd better have a backup. Twice in the past couple of years I have had my GPS unit fail. Once, it was a corroded fuse, the second, the GPS receiver failed.

A compass is a must, but as you know, after fishing in the fog for a few hours, you can drift a long way. You can follow a compass heading towards shore, but could literally end up miles away on either side of your destination and have no idea which side you missed on. I've seen the fog so thick that visibility is 50 yards or less off the boat which can make following a shoreline rather dangerous.

I was lucky in the sense that my "new" boat has an "old" GPS that couldn't take the radar addition so I had to add a C70, which means I can add a redundant GPS (so I will have 2). Barring that, I would invest in a handheld unit and stash it in your grab-bag.

As a general rule, GPS are not impacted by weather -- you typically connect to 12-24 satellites and odds are that you'll get a signal from enough of them to calculate a position.

 

[twinwinds]

I carry a hand held Garmin GPSMAP 60Cx. as a back up in case my Lowrance packs it in.
Works great. reasonable price.
Cheers

 

[danthewire]

DO NOT rely on your gps,case in point, last year we decided to go fish offshore from Ucluelet,so off we go, hmmmm big fog bank no problem we have gps, well we start to get a little ways off shore so we zoom the gps out great can see the shore,little further out zoom out,can still see the shore.So it starts to get rough and we decide to head in now i have to concentrate on where we're going big waves big swells so can't watch the gps and drive the boat,now its getting ugly and we figure we are a mile or two off shore so i reach over to zoom in so we can run in to ukee just as i reach to push the zoom button crash we drop off of a big wave my hand hits a bunch of buttons and the screen locks up.I now have about an inch square up in the right hand side of the screen that has the map.We're pretty close in now trying to drive and watch the screen,and the fog is getting thicker,all of a sudden one of the puker boats goes by then another,so we accelrate and follow them in for the last mile.I learned a valuable lesson that day.Have spare every thing.I can also tell you of a few stories about fishing out in the middle of the straight back in the day,in a 14 foot plywood boat.In the fog you can hear the freighters going by and all of a sudden the boats going up and down in the wake we had no clue where the freighter was and he didn't know we were even there.Do everything you can to put the odds in your favor.Sorry to ramble on.Dan

 

[Murr]

One good option on the GPS is the tracking nav screen,if you go out then fog rolls in,you can follow your course back in if you have to.

 

[The Fish Assassin]

I have a lot of faith in the gps units, but not all of it. It tells you when you start them up it is not to be used as a primary source of navigation. That is called a compass!!! I always pay attention when I get out there... which way home is on my compass. A few times when I had issues with my GPS I simply rode in with my compass bearing and watched for the rocks I recognized. I used to fish in a Bamfield Inn boat that had no compass yet alone gps..lol. Now I feel lost without my GPS CHART.

 

[Charlie]

quote:Originally posted by Zpg

Thanks C.S. for the insight. I had a feeling that the GPS would be fine but would rather know before than get a surprise 8 miles offshore.

Regarding the radar reflector, I have already planned on getting that later today based on several other posts and recommendations. I don't plan on being in the shipping lanes but it just makes sense. Can't bee too careful, besides the thought of laying back trolling peacefully and suddenly seeing the bow of a 30 footer bearing down on me doesn't make me feel overly comfortable.
Cheers,
Ray

Hmmm... I have to say... If you bet YOUR LIFE on GPS... sooner or later…YOU WILL LOSE! And the result will not be pretty! GPS is a great "AID", but it is just that an “aid “! Everyone needs to respect that! I run two of them religiously... and again I did say two! One of the biggest problems I have… “Which one is correct?”

Radar… is radar! I used to run the coast without it (in my younger years), until I bought a boat that had it all ready installed. Now I would never think of being without it! It is also a great “aid”! But again… it too is just an “aid”, not something that makes everything “SAFE”! And you do need to take the time to understand how to read it!

I run a 30’, so hopefully I am not the one that will be bearing down on you and “cut you in half”! It would be messy for both of us! BTW… My radar will pick up a dead head, but I still only run about 10-12 knots in the fog, as I’m not sure if I would see a Kayaker in a plastic boat.

I would never run the coast without GPS and Radar again… If you plan on running in the fog… Please run with radar…. Or at least the radar reflector!

If you venture out... Please be safe!
Cheers... and good luck to you!
Charlie

 

[Bushbear]

Anything mechanical can fail and Murphy's Law rules. I don't like one unit to do everything. If it goes gunnysack, you're in trouble. I run separate units - depth finder, radar (new this year and I love it), and chart plotter. A good set of charts for the area and a compass are mandatory.

When I go out in a new area, I start a waypoint list on the GPS with #1 being at the ramp/marina and more waypoints added as I go out. Fog is an issue along the coast and down the straits. A waypoint every 50 yards is not out of reason until you clear the harbor and hit open water. Your last waypoint should be far enough outside that you can run back to it without hitting land or a wash rock. Check it against your charts. Auto-track is good, too.

I carry a back up Garmin 48 and it gets the same waypoints as I head out in case the chart plotter goes out.

Your chart plotter tell you where you are but not where everyone else is. I had some close calls in heavy fog with tug/barge combos ghosting along the shore and not using their horn to announce their presence. With an aluminum boat, I'm assuming they saw me, but no way of knowing. Having a tug or commercial boat come through the area (outside of the shipping lanes) and announcing his presence to the fleet on the VHF by giving his lat/long and knowing that he is within a couple hundred yards of you and never seeing him, just his wake,, is spooky. I now have radar and a radar reflector.

If you fish in the shipping lanes and the fog comes in you're best bet is to pull your gear and move well outside the lane, at a safe speed. It's not fun to hear motors revved up going by you in the fog and not knowing their heading. Glass boats and small boats in heavy seas/swells don't always show up on radar.

 

[Barnacle Bill]

Lots of good advice in the previous posts. Better yet take the Canadian Power Squadron Boating course, and then take advanced courses during the fall and winter months. They have lots of different courses , and I am sure that you will enjoy them. Fog will always be a concern, but you will be better prepared, and a wiser boater. Tight Lines.,,,..BB

 

[beemer]

WOWW!! i am very surprised that experienced guys would rely on a GPS Unit. The only thing you can really trust are your eyes and your paper chart. Everthing else is subject to variation or error. I navigate a lot in the fog and often at high speed 20-25 knots because of the nature of my job and time constraints. I often come across boats doing circles with the operators head locked on his GPS and he doesn't even see me 20 yards away from him. If you don't have a radar you are relying on others to avoid you and you are shirking your responsibilities as a mariner. NO RADAR STAY OUT OF THE FOG!!

 

[Charlie]

quote:Originally posted by beemer

WOWW!! i am very surprised that experienced guys would rely on a GPS Unit. The only thing you can really trust are your eyes and your paper chart. Everthing else is subject to variation or error. I navigate a lot in the fog and often at high speed 20-25 knots because of the nature of my job and time constraints. I often come across boats doing circles with the operators head locked on his GPS and he doesn't even see me 20 yards away from him. If you don't have a radar you are relying on others to avoid you and you are shirking your responsibilities as a mariner. NO RADAR STAY OUT OF THE FOG!!

Boy do I agree with you on this... but, 20-25knots is pretty fast in the fog... do you really have to do that? Hope you're not the one that is going to cut him in half!
Charlie

 

[beemer]

Hey Charlie. I know 25 sounds fast but that is the average speed of most freighters in the fog these days and that is with a stopped distance of 1 mile. Those speeds are NOT safe if you are not in a shipping lane or open water.

 

[Charlie]

Here's something to think about!
This year off Ucluelet I was running about 12 -15 knots. There was a boat off my two o'clock that I was watching closely on my RADAR... and it was closing in fast. I kept watching and watching it... when it got within my 1/4 mile ring... I pulled both throttles back and was thinking I’d cross in back. I kept watching to make sure it didn’t change course… and it didn’t! The three others on board (that didn’t have a clue) asked "what I was doing?" My response was... just watch in front of us! The 50’ crossed my bow approximately 25 meters in front, running about 25 knots. Point is… did he even see me? Did he have radar? It’s not a place to take chances… Chances will get people killed!

BTW... I know he had radar... and I know he had the right of way... Another question... did he know I had radar?? And did he know I knew what I was doing?

BTW... a freighter shows up like an "Island", and you best stay out of the way of!

 

[beemer]

Hey Charlie , You exemplify good seamanship.!!!

 

[Charlie]

quote:Originally posted by beemer

Hey Charlie , You exemplify good seamanship.!!!

TY, I do take that as a compliment and I do agree with your thoughts on this. I still think 20-25 knots is to fast, especially in the fishing grounds! But, I just want to relay the importance of RADAR when running in the fog! I just hope everyone remembers this one thing… “If YOU</u> are running in the fog and don’t have radar... DON’T RELY ON ANYONE… NOT TO CUT YOU IN HALF!” One of my biggest concerns out there is a boat running 20-25 knots following their GPS, without radar thinking everything is just fine!