Thread:

Ever wonder where you are going?

My first trip over to Catalina in my boat the fog was much thicker than that. The boat I was to follow took off like a bat out of hell and I lost him very quickly. Lucky for me HavasuLvr was there and I followed him over. Not fun but once we got thru the fog it was a very nice day.

Originally Posted by DILLIGAF

My first trip over to Catalina in my boat the fog was much thicker than that. The boat I was to follow took off like a bat out of hell and I lost him very quickly. Lucky for me HavasuLvr was there and I followed him over. Not fun but once we got thru the fog it was a very nice day.

Seeing that you cross a major shipping lane on the way to catalina, the fog can be as hazardous as the wave action in the afternoon. You just have to be careful! FYI you can't hear the ship with your motors running either. The collision is the first clue!

That fog can get really thick around Dana. We had an aircraft carrier come within 1/4 mile while we were down on the deck fishing, look up and theres the business end of a massive ship. The wake from those things makes the casino boats look like bath tub toys.

We didn't see Catalina until just before the 3 mile line on the chart, so even at Catalina, visibility was around 4 miles tops and at that, we could just see a faint blob of land on the horizon.

I had the radar set at 1/8 mile rings so we were really watching where you could actually see a boat that pops up. Many you couldn't see until they were less than 1/4 mile away.

Newport... It comes up quick. However, just a word to the jackasses who sit at the entrance of the Harbor. Hey azzhole, when you cant see your hand in front of your face, probably not a good idea to just float in the entrance of the harbor. Some people cant find a clue to save their life.

I skied the catalina race back in the 60's One year we went "high tech" and had a big ass , and I mean a HUGE compass screwed & duct taped to the floor in between the observers feet, in a 18 ft. Howard flat bottom We hit Avalon running in the lead pack, about 8 of us. We came out of the turn and EVERYBODY else starts peeling off to the left, I'm franticly "pointing" at the group trying to tell my observer to follow those guy's He in turn "points" down at the "compass" indicating the "ok" sign saying were right on course BS ...............3 hours later we made "landfall" .............at San Clemente Island It's a BIG ocean out there,......in the fog

Originally Posted by skyskier

I skied the catalina race back in the 60's One year we went "high tech" and had a big ass , and I mean a HUGE compass screwed & duct taped to the floor in between the observers feet, in a 18 ft. Howard flat bottom We hit Avalon running in the lead pack, about 8 of us. We came out of the turn and EVERYBODY else starts peeling off to the left, I'm franticly "pointing" at the group trying to tell my observer to follow those guy's He in turn "points" down at the "compass" indicating the "ok" sign saying were right on course BS ...............3 hours later we made "landfall" .............at San Clemente Island It's a BIG ocean out there,......in the fog

Wow, that's a huge miss to the left. Could have been worse, you could have ended up in San Pedro.

It is so easy to get turned around out there. I came off plane to check a drive, and went to start back up and was heading about 100 degrees off heading.

It took us a little longer to get there because of my zig zag driving technique.

Originally Posted by Magic34

It is so easy to get turned around out there. I came off plane to check a drive, and went to start back up and was heading about 100 degrees off heading.

It took us a little longer to get there because of my zig zag driving technique.

You have to drive by 75% GPS and 25% sight. Once you see your tracking on GPS then you make the adjustment. Big pain in ass for sure and even bigger pain when you can't visually adjust from landmarks.

When heading to Newport from San Diego this time of year, I used to make my heading right at Catalina and the swell would put us right at the harbor.

It took us 1 1/2 hours to get home from Catalina Saturday night because of the wind/swell/fog. Left the island at 11:00 pm. No moon made things just that much more annoying.

Originally Posted by Cigalert

That fog can get really thick around Dana. We had an aircraft carrier come within 1/4 mile while we were down on the deck fishing, look up and theres the business end of a massive ship. The wake from those things makes the casino boats look like bath tub toys.

That would scare the crap out of me!!!