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Thread: Foggy Days and Nights at Sea..........

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    Default Foggy Days and Nights at Sea..........

    Fog on MSC..jpgPhoto courtesy of Malcolm Watts of The FaceBook Manchester Ship Canal Group.He thinks it was an inbound Manchester Liner,which had to spend the night along the bank in the Latchford Strait,with her tugs.


    A view from the Bridge which many of us watchkeepers will be familiar with,though few would have had the time to take such a photo,what with keeping a look out visually,aurally and by radar,plotting other 'targets' manually(days before ECDIS).
    My memories are of crossing the Grand Banks of Newfoundland with not just the freezing fog to contend with but the fishing fleets and icebergs too.You really have to feel for our WW2 forebears who had all that,no radar,and U-boats!
    Then I remember a tense couple of days each voyage off the South West Africa/Namibian coast where the cold deep upwelling of the S.Atlantic joins the warm Benguela current,causing that fog for a couple of hundred miles out to sea. No proceeding at moderate speed,like we are supposed to do in the Regs,but eyes straining at the radar,constantly adjusting the 'clutter'control to detect targets close by,aware of your vessel's blind spots hoping nothings hidden in them(!)...was that little cluster of 'dots' fine on your starboard bow a couple of S.Korean or Japanese fishing vessels which always seemed to be in that area,thousands of miles from their own continent.The Orientals are fish-mad,aren't they?...or perhaps those 'dots' are a shoal of dolphins showing up on the radar..Do I call the Old Man? Don't think he'd be too pleased.So you carry on just hoping the relief watch will not be late and you can go below. But once below you know you can't relax.The Chief Mate has probably called the Old Man because the fog is thicker and they've started sounding the automatic fog signal.Boo-oooom! -one long blast every two minutes.No speed reduction though,got to maintain our scheduled arrival at CapeTown.God,the BOT/DOT/DTI (it changed over the years) would throw everything at you,and have done just that on many cases,for not complying with the Rules.

    (Just referring to another post running concurrently with this one-I hope that that Dog on Watch can plot other vessels properly,and that when alerting his skipper by barking,that he remembers he is a Basenji-one of those Egyptian dogs that have no bark!)
    Safe Watch Everyone !Radar.gif





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    Default Re: Foggy Days and Nights at Sea..........

    once ran up from panama canal almost to LA i thick fog ...blowing all the way ....a polish fireman had his lifejacket on all the time ....guess he had experience from the war or other collision at sea .....he was not a happy guy .....being ist trip deep sea it seemed a bit exciting .....ah the folly of youth cheers cappy

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    Default Re: Foggy Days and Nights at Sea..........

    How many can remember the Rules and Regulations for prevention of collision at sea 1952 era either Article 9 or 15 cant remember now , but dealt with all fishermens lights shapes sound signals , it dwelt on Korean fishing vessels as they had to be different , I was always feared of running into one these feared monsters when in that part of the world. The Rules were changed or rather added to during my time at sea and had to readjust twice to satisfy the examiner so had to learn parrot fashion and repeat word for word plus the commas and full stops. When they were altered the third time , I was finiished with examiners so just learned the difference and didnt try to learn them like poetry. There were 32 Rules and Regulations on the first lot , how many are there now. ? JS
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    Default Re: Foggy Days and Nights at Sea..........

    Fishing vessels: currently reading Captain Anson's account of his voyage around the world in 1740-1744, written in 1748 with ye olde English spelling. Very interesting, if at times hard work, on approaching the coast (uncharted) of China they anchored in sixty fathoms (that would be a lot of winding on the capstan to weigh anchor!) overnight in fog; the next morning when the fog cleared they were surrounded by fishing boats, they stopped counting when they reached 600!, when they got underway none of the fishing boats moved out of the way, so nothing has changed much.

    inserted the missing words, ain't old age wonderful!
    Last edited by Ivan Cloherty; 24th June 2021 at 12:10 PM. Reason: should have read 'coast of China'

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    Default Re: Foggy Days and Nights at Sea..........

    #1. Thought I had already put this up. But can’t find. Maybe #1 is maybe Cappy over boiling the spuds again JS.
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    Post Re: Foggy Days and Nights at Sea..........

    #JS #3. Int.COLREGS. I had to look it up John but your 1952 regs(effective 1954) were the ones before my time,mine first being the 60 Colregs (effective from 65) then the 72 Colregs which didn't come into effect till 77. It wasn't until after that things began to fundamentally change.
    Most of my learning was admittedly parrot fashion,as it has to be for Orals,but obviously you have to understand the gist of it as well. I was good at that bit,but a bit tongue-tied when it came to the parrot fashion part,but I persevered,and was always annoyed at the clever dick ,mainly Asian, candidates who,admittedly with thick Punjabi accents and bobbing heads ,could recite all 40-odd Regs,the Annexes and the bloody index(if there was one) I don't think it necessarily made them any better at putting the Regs into practice though,from what I heard from others who sailed with them.. Everything,not just the Rules had to be done by the book,any book,as long as it was written down somewhere in a book,otherwise they didn't want to know!
    (Scenario) -Abandoning Ship.
    Captain "Third Mate-what do you think you're doing-I said Get that Ruddy Lifeboat Down NOW !"
    Third Mate."Sorry Captain,just popping back to my cabin for my Danton's Seamanship-it gives a step by step sequence for preparation and lowering a ship's lifeboat,which must be strictly followed. The Examiner was most impressed at my Orals
    Captain (apoplectic). " And I'll impress your bloody orals with my boot if you don't lower that boat NOW!"

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    Default Re: Foggy Days and Nights at Sea..........

    There were as I said 32 when I started and with going to a pre sea school , instead of getting the stick for punishment got Article 9 and 15 ( I think) as were the longest to write out a as lines . Being a bit careless I was often caught in what they called misdemeanours as were called so I knew these two rules before I ever started. Up for second mate I started off. With the preliminary and got as far as Article 12 before he stopped me, I felt short changed and nearly said I know Article15 backwards do you want to hear it, fortuanetley I kept my mouth shut otherwiseI might have got seatime instead of a pass. Such was the discipline in those days, also my shoes were polished and my tie was straight and looked nearly presentable with a short back and sides. Another seatime reason for. My mate got 6 months for stuttering. I nearly fell into that trap as had had that misfortune at an earlier age , and was still likely to return under stress. However one learns to give back as much as one receives , and if felt a stutter coming on would take my handkerchief making sure it was clean of course and blow my nose, that always puts an examiner off , as 9 times out of 10 they will look away. Cheers JS
    Last edited by j.sabourn; 25th June 2021 at 12:32 AM.
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    Default Re: Foggy Days and Nights at Sea..........

    Two of the worst places I sailed through were the Newfoundland Banks with its thick fog and icebergs, and off the Spanish coast with it's hundreds of small fishing boats, I was on the forecastle on one ship ringing the bell for every light I saw when a voice from the bridge shouted "Stop ringing that bloody bell you'll have the handle off it." I thing we went through miles of netting, couldn't miss.
    Des
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    Default Re: Foggy Days and Nights at Sea..........

    Coming up the channel at night with so many fog horns blowing in for so thick you could almost eat it.
    Never knew where the others were until suddenly appearing, big brown trouser event for some.
    Happy daze John in Oz.

    Life is too short to blend in.

    John Strange R737787
    World Traveller

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    Default Re: Foggy Days and Nights at Sea..........

    The prelimary to these rules for those who never learned it was “These Rules shall be followed by all
    Vessels and seaplanes on the high seas and in all waters connected there with navigable by sea going vessels , except as provided in Rule 30 where as a result of their special construction. It is not possible for seaplanes to comply fully with the provision of Rules regarding the carriage of lights and shapes due to their special construction , these provisions shall be followed as closely as circumstances permit.
    The rules concerning lights shall be carried out in all weathers from sunset to sunrise and during such time no other lights shall be exhibited except such lights as cannot be mistaken for the prescribed lights
    or interfere with he keeping of a proper lookout.” This was in the 1952 editions and suppose they were modern to allow for seaplanes. This maybe about 70 % correct as 1952 is 69 years ago. The 32 rules followed this.
    To me every passenger ship one seemed to encounter on the high seas usd to break the Prelimary before one ever got to the 32 rules . It was always hard to pick out any navigation lights among the blaze of hundreds of lights .JS
    Last edited by j.sabourn; 25th June 2021 at 06:20 AM.
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