I was out fishing this weekend about 30 miles offshore from Neah bay and listened to the coasties respond to a burning vessel mayday yesterday. Here's a link to the news story. I found it interesting to hear the coast guard side of the conversation as they were asking him questions that I knew the answer to. Like "Can you see any other vessels around you?". They asked this repeatedly. The visibility in the Straits in that area was maybe 40 yds for much of the day. I was also surprised when they asked him to set off two of his 3 flares since I don't know who would have been able to see them. Then after the flares were lit off, they asked what kind of flares he had - I think that question maybe should have been asked prior to telling him to set them off. Anyway, I suspect the S&R operation was coordinated out of Puget Sound and that the radio operator there was unaware of the conditions. After about 45 minutes the sole occupant was located and hoisted to the coast guard chopper. Without his handheld radio, they wouldn't have been able to find him since apparently his GPS either wasn't operating properly or he didn't know how to provide accurate coordinates.
Then a few hours after that rescue operation, I heard a call from a 42' sailboat who was requesting an escort from the Neah Bay coast guard into port. While they apparently had both a working radar AND a working GPS, they must have been disoriented and confused by the fog and got so worried they didn't feel they could navigate safely to port. For those who haven't been to Neah Bay, the entrance to the bay is quite wide and extremely well protected. The harbor is deep in most areas and anyone with a GPS should be able to navigate safely and slowly into port without the slightest of problems. Also, it's very frequently foggy in the Strait of Juan de Fuca so I found it amusing that someone would be out in a boat there and be unsure of navigating in the fog. Nonetheless, the coast guard assessed the situation and dutifully went out to escort the boat into port. As an aside, while the strait is almost always foggy, the harbor at Neah Bay is almost always sunny in the afternoon. So my bet is that the coasties only had to escort the sailor a very short distance until they were in the clear. We returned about 1.5 hours after the escort. Visibility then was maybe 100yds, maybe a bit better. With the radar zoomed into a 3/4 mile range we could run safely at about 25-30kts. I'm hoping the boater who required the escort is a blogger since I'd like to hear his side of what I know he perceived as a harrowing experience but was just another day for most guys out there.
Then a few hours after that rescue operation, I heard a call from a 42' sailboat who was requesting an escort from the Neah Bay coast guard into port. While they apparently had both a working radar AND a working GPS, they must have been disoriented and confused by the fog and got so worried they didn't feel they could navigate safely to port. For those who haven't been to Neah Bay, the entrance to the bay is quite wide and extremely well protected. The harbor is deep in most areas and anyone with a GPS should be able to navigate safely and slowly into port without the slightest of problems. Also, it's very frequently foggy in the Strait of Juan de Fuca so I found it amusing that someone would be out in a boat there and be unsure of navigating in the fog. Nonetheless, the coast guard assessed the situation and dutifully went out to escort the boat into port. As an aside, while the strait is almost always foggy, the harbor at Neah Bay is almost always sunny in the afternoon. So my bet is that the coasties only had to escort the sailor a very short distance until they were in the clear. We returned about 1.5 hours after the escort. Visibility then was maybe 100yds, maybe a bit better. With the radar zoomed into a 3/4 mile range we could run safely at about 25-30kts. I'm hoping the boater who required the escort is a blogger since I'd like to hear his side of what I know he perceived as a harrowing experience but was just another day for most guys out there.
