The Fog

The Fog

The locals, respect and fear the fog around here. I first thought they were just exaggerating about the fog. Dear reader, I'm here to tell you, it's something like you've never experienced.

In the winter, the water is cold and there is lots of it. The delta juts 100's of miles off from mainland Louisiana, surrounded by very little amount of land.

It is very humid around here. Even on cold days, you can feel that it's wet. The cold feels worse when its humid.

When any type of warm air rolls in, all of this coalesces into intense fog. The cold air above the water, mixed with very moist air, creates an intense fog that doesn't burn off. The water never warms up, and with a south wind, the fog will keep rolling in. A fairly normal occurrence is to watch the fog roll in up river, never coming on to land, just rolling, feet high, on the river.

Most captains stay away from this fog, it's inevitable thickness reduces visibility to feet. Only the biggest boats with large radar arrays brave the waters. This fog can roll in quickly, with little notice.

One day we waited till the fog lifted, then headed out, just to hit it again at the head of passes where the river widended into a three way intersection. The main shipping channel, southwest pass, with its plethora of water, never lost its fog that day. And as the day went on, the fog receded from the smaller passes, just to stop right at the bays and roll back in as the intensity of the sun decreased.

So what happens if you get trapped in this fog? You travel slowly, very cautiously, and hug the side of the channel where no big boats will travel. The locals tell stories of friends too scared to go on the water after a huge shipping boat barreled out of the fog and nearly broke their boat in half. You post a person on the bow, as look out for any boats or wakes. The wakes from a big boat is just as bad if not seen early enough.

It does make for stunning sights. Certain kinds of fog sits only feet above the water allowing you to drive for miles looking out above the thick fog. Birds fly right infront of you, breaking through the fog without you even knowing they were there. The rumors are it sometimes stays for days, grounding any work. This is especially bad if you live on a small island accessible only by boat...Buy supplies when you can, and stock up, that's what we've learned. You can get stuck for weather or fog for days, without supplies.