JULY 28, 2015
FOGGY NIGHT
The prediction was for light wind, so we changed to the 155
headsail for this night. One of the new guys from Q dock asked “do we sail in
fog?” I said oh yeah! As we were leaving the harbor wisps of fog
were even drifting into the entrance.
Out on the water, the visibility seemed to improve, though it was
difficult to see how many boats were actually out. The wind was steady but light. Since we had a
BBQ to get to, we called a short course: Start, Mile finish at Gov.
We gave a 5 minute horn, but with the lighthouse lost in the
fog, it was anyones guess where the start line was. The pin end was so heavily favored with the
south wind that it was difficult to clear the pin on starboard tack. A port tack start was heavily favored, but
with eleven boats out a very risky move.
Despite the risks, some boats attempted it anyway making the start very
interesting to put it mildly. After
crossing the line for the start we all tacked our way toward Mile which was
lost in fog. This was a night where
having a GPS was essential to compete just to find the marks. On Pair A Dice, we tacked and cleared ahead
of most of our competitors until the crossing that counted the most, right at
Mile, Pacific Spirit crossed clear in front of us and rounded Mile just in
front of us. On the way to Gov we tried
various sail configurations in an attempt to catch them. We tried a short pole on starboard and
finally a pole extended with the jib on port.
We were slowly closing the gap and were just beginning to put them in
our wind shadow when they crossed the line. It was a close one. Congratulations to Pacific Spirit for sailing
a superb race. After Pacific Spirit,
Pair A Dice crossed then Makani, Odonata, Diver Down, Kicks, Aeolian, perfect
36, Saber 34, Toad and Tres Santos.
Close Quarters:
One aspect of racing that cannot be escaped is being in
close quarters with boats. As always, the rules of the road should be
followed. I know when we are prepping
for a race, be it Tuesday night or a sanctioned race I always tell my crew “do
not assume I see anything!” The crew is
constantly looking under the jib and scanning for boats. The communication goes like “you got your 2
oclock? “You’ve got a starboard tacker
coming at 3 oclock”. Crew, as well as
skipper must be vigilant. This is
especially difficult when short on crew.
Despite the best plans, mistakes will happen. If an error is made, a penalty turn should be
taken and then continue racing. From
personal experience, I will attest that taking a penalty turn really keeps you
on your toes and makes you more careful in the future.
Sailing in the fog:
As we were sailing before the start, someone asked over the
radio “what is the bearing toward the lighthouse from the start mark?” This was an excellent question, which I did
not know the answer. Fortunately the fog
dissipated as the evening went on and there was no problem finding the
harbor. On my GPS, I have two waypoints set
to find the harbor. One is 200 feet off
the entrance and the second one is dead center in the entrance of the
harbor. With this tool, I can always
find the harbor in the deepest fog.
If you have no GPS on board, one way to find the harbor is
to go to mile buoy which is at approximately the 70 foot line. When at Mile, steer magnetic due North. A friend once told me that he was out in very
thick fog one time and followed this technique.
He slowly approached the harbor in the very thick fog and found himself
already in the harbor before he saw anything.
Looking forward to next Tuesday.
Barry Keeler
Sailing Pair A Dice
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