Almost lost in the fog

Whilst I was in contact with the pilot during the days leading up to departure, he said that he would obviously have to keep an eye on the weather for the trip. The wind direction (and of course strength) was very important and we could not go if it was going to be foggy.

The day dawned clear with a beautiful sunrise

But then after a while I began to realise that it was not condensation that I could see on the canopy, but fog outside. So the canopy was quickly lowered to give a better view!!

This was the best we could manage.............

..........John disappearing into the fog was a concern...........

but the markers were no longer visible from the distance which was causing problems for the pilot and navigation

He was having to use a navigation program on his laptop but it was not showing our direction of travel. The compass he brought with him was being affected by the surrounding metal of the boat. only a point in space and time.

I did feel a little reassured though when he confirmed that there would be no oncoming traffic looming out of the fog..Phew!!

Then at one point he said "ah there it is' - referring to one of the markers. I did note a sense of relief in the tone of his voice

                                                                        ................Approaching the bridges. This gives a true sense of the visibility as the bridges are 4 miles apart.


And yes, we could only see the first one

Apparently it is a phenomenon that only occurs once every 2-3 years.

Our pilot had spoken with the pilot of the other vessel coming into Sharpness who confirmed there was no fog during their passage. 

But this fog formed just after sunrise and with the wind at less than 3 knots in the channel it was not being dispersed.