Welcome to fogtember. If you are going to be out in Sept/October you had better practice up as this pretty normal. Should you have turned around? Well, as this very excellent thread has pointed out, that particular patch of water is not the easiest. But the more important point is there is only ever one person you can count on to know that answer. Nobody else can tell you, ever. You can neither lack confidence nor be over confident. The answer is not specific to the location or your skills and it can change from one day to the next. The most important skill to learn first, is an accurate self assessment. Best way I know to do that, is to not be afraid to admit when things get a little close to the edge and open talk (debrief) about them. So congratulations for developing that feedback loop, most don’t and as a result take longer to learn.
I’ve never found the channel to be particularly difficult to read, it does provide its own feedback if you watch for it, but there are a couple
pointers. There used to be a shoal just south of the shelter bay entrance that comes and goes between dredging. Favor the Southeast side in that area until about half way to hole in the wall on a lower tide. As mentioned learn to steer a compass course and match your speed to your awareness. Auto pilot is a huge help in the fog, but the heading sensor on my boat has always been sensitive enough to double as a magnetometer. Just south of hole in the wall, there used to be a steel cable on the bottom. Running on auto pilot would cause a sudden course change in that spot, so I learned to hand steer. Once you reach the island with the log dolphin tie ups, it was fine. Then just make sure you don’t cut the corner on the final leg. In deep fog, I tend to pick a course that is going to be a different than the exact point to point waypoints. Try not to be exactly where everyone else is. Try not to run close to shore in the shallows. That’s an old trick for boats without radar, running just close enough to shore to get a glimpse every now and then. Same idea, don’t run where others are likely. Watch out for known fishing spots, often reefs or where two currents meet. Lots of fishing boats without radar, going 25+ knots on gps alone.
The biggest tip of course, already mentioned, is running the radar on nice days. We have a lot of “canyons” where you are surrounded by steep hillsides and narrowing passages. Radar likes to produce echos in those locations. Best to get used to where to tune, change ranges n nice days.
Don’t worry about pushing the limits, you will get caught often enough to get plenty of practice. If you find you are not having fun, or stressed, listen to the inner voice. If you hear the external voice, listen double to that one if you don’t want to sleep alone.
