A Learning Experience on Big Blue

The fog can turn you around in an instant w/o you ever knowing it.
It's really important to listen to what's going on around you when you launch.
Different launches have different sounds and it can really make the difference between finding your way to the right one or not.
I go out solo all the time. Because of that I think I've honed my ocean awareness skills better than most. When you only have yourself to rely on; you only have yourself to rely on.
Always keep your eyes on the horizon to see what's coming in. Watch the sheep off in the distance. If stuff can get to you before you can make it to where you need to be it's time to hightail it home.
Glad you made it back safely.

You seem to have left out the rest of the fishing report.  I assume you DID continue to jig during all the waiting for them to come find you, right?

Seriously though; glad to hear this ended well and that you kept your head during the ordeal. 

That's some scary shit!even with a ff/chart plotter combo if that should fail you might get yourself into trouble.i use a chart plotter and a hand held gps.thanks for sharing

That's some scary shit!even with a ff/chart plotter combo if that should fail you might get yourself into trouble.i use a chart plotter and a hand held gps.thanks for sharing

Be careful when using a handheld GPS without mapping function, or without paper charts. Coming back from the Farallon Islands one time, my GPS told me to sail back to Berkeley marina THROUGH the Marin headlands!

Scary as $hit.  Seems the coasties believed an operative phone could have helped vector you home, or them to your pos, quicker? 
Additional learning point - Get and use a waterproof case!

Glad you got home in one piece, and told the tale.  enjoyed the well written, factual, no bs recitation

I had my phone in a waterproof case but I had to take it out to use it.

It is easy to get disoriented in fog without instruments like compass and GPS but even without electronics in thick fog there are some visual surf/beach clues to help guide if one has had multiple exits and entries of coves like TC.  Fishing alone may not be the best idea but most of us  will do it from time to time in places we really know well. The key is to build up a mental memory bank of rock projections in and out of the surf edge. Just a couple clues can tell one where the cove entry is in relation to the kayak on the sea.

I thought I knew the rock formations around Timber Cove but I didn't recognize them.  I think it would be useful to take cell phone photos of the coastline from the water for each route for future reference. 

Thank you for sharing your experience. That was a very thoughtful, detailed explanation of what happened. It could definitely help someone else in the future too.
As a backup to my fishfinder GPS, I now use a free app called Map My Ride. It's designed to track your route as you run/bike/etc. Right before I launch, I open the app and hit begin run and it'll track my route and display it on the map. This could be helpful when trying to find your way back to the launch.

Thanks for the suggestion; I will download it.

Thank you for sharing your experience. That was a very thoughtful, detailed explanation of what happened. It could definitely help someone else in the future too.
As a backup to my fishfinder GPS, I now use a free app called Map My Ride. It's designed to track your route as you run/bike/etc. Right before I launch, I open the app and hit begin run and it'll track my route and display it on the map. This could be helpful when trying to find your way back to the launch.

Thanks for the suggestion; I will download it.

Check out strava instead.  mapmyride too many ads.

Scary stuff.  Im glad you made it back ok. It must have been nerve racking when it got dark.

I'm glad I read this before I went out to the ocean.   http://www.norcalkayakanglers.com/index.php?topic=27534.0

I have everything I would need to avoid a similar situation.

A 'safety must read'!  Thanks for posting ur ordeal.  Glad ur ok.  I've gotten disoriented in the fog and gotten off course.  Took several attempts to find the right beach.  Purchased ff/GPS after that.
 
Gonna have to go thru my ditch bag again. 

Would a flare gun light up surroundings enough to help get you back to shore?

Having a buddy with you is great, but nowhere near foolproof. You need to each possess all of the skills to make it to where you are going by yourselves without assistance. Case in point:

The fog comes in damn fast and thick. Its a fun thing to navigate through it when you know how to deal with it appropriately.

There was an incredible foggy day summer 2014 where I was looking for Cam and Big Buoy about 3 miles off Trinidad. Our depth and line we shared on the radio were such that we should have been within 100 yards of each other. We looked and looked as we made our way out another couple miles without ever coming into contact until we joined the fleet 5 miles out.

We were that close, looking around for each other, and never saw each other.

great thread with great suggestions. Another item to have with you is a whistle. I keep one on the zipper of my PFD -- they can help you locate a partner when visibility is down and take up no space whatsoever.

Cheers,
Brad

We were that close, looking around for each other, and never saw each other.
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It isn't just that kayaks are small and thus less visible on the water. Thick fog can obliterate commercial boats as well. Only radar provides a degree of "vision" in extreme fog conditions. Eventually radar, like all electronics, will be miniaturized enough for kayak use but even with that a compass will be necessary as the final fallback.

Get yourself two or three decent compasses and use them even when it's clear but especially before the fog cuts you off

My two least favorite conditions in no particular order are blasting wind with no swell to hide behind, and fog with nothing to go on as far as directional signs like reliable swell direction or shoreside noise

It's easy for the pride to take it in the shorts posting stuff like this so appreciate the honesty

We were that close, looking around for each other, and never saw each other.

It isn't just that kayaks are small and thus less visible on the water. Thick fog can obliterate commercial boats as well. Only radar provides a degree of "vision" in extreme fog conditions. Eventually radar, like all electronics, will be miniaturized enough for kayak use but even with that a compass will be necessary as the final fallback.

It was pretty unnerving that day with the power boat traffic.  Head on a swivel when you could hear them close but not see them, just trying to use your ears to locate the PBs.  I just kept telling myself its a really big ocean, and they know we are out there because they've been letting us know over the radio how hard it is to see us.