Boat Ride Through Thick Fog

The day we chose to go boating and see what was past the inlet, was the day we should NOT have gone. We ran into the thickest fog I’ve ever seen.

It was cool, but a nice day for a ride. I like to go north, but my son prefers south where he can fish the backwaters. It’s all slow speed zones north also, and he likes to go faster… of course!

We headed up the river and went under the north causeway as it was getting ready to open for a sailboat.

There is no shortage of big, beautiful homes along the Intracoastal. Most of them have big, beautiful boats sitting in front as well.

Off in the distance the beachside condos had top floors which were hidden in fog. It was a warning of what was waiting for us ahead.

As we got up to Ponce Inlet – which is where I take my Smyrna Dunes Park photos – there was so much fog, we couldn’t see. My son turned around to go back south, but then the fog appeared to clear. So we traveled on northward, using the GPS to chart our course through the shallow areas. Good thing, because we really needed it on our way back.

What is Beyond the Inlet Heading North?

This was the first time we had traveled past the inlet on the Intracoastal. And once we got away from the inlet there was no fog at all. So what did we find? A few restaurants on the water, more big boats, and more big houses.

Okay, I couldn’t remember the name of this blue restaurant and when I tried to find it – there were a few listed for this area. And no restaurant has photos of the outside! I wanted to find out which one was the blue one! It appears it’s Off the Hook. I have not eaten there, but I want to.

We traveled down to the next overpass, which is the Port Orange causeway, and decided to turn around because of the wind, which was making it chilly. We were ready to go back to the boat ramp. There is not much new to see here, but it was a nice ride for a change of scenery.

As we approached the inlet, we passed a sailboat, which was quite possibly the one that was waiting at the drawbridge. Beyond it, we saw a foggy mess. In fact a small boat in front of us turned around just before the entrance to the fog. We had to go in to get back to the boat ramp.

My son turned our lights on, but we didn’t see another boat with lights on! He says that happens at nighttime too, when he goes shrimping. It’s pretty scary when you can’t see a thing and hear a boat coming at you.

Suddenly three boats in a line came in from the Inlet side. They were moving fast, but the other few boats we encountered were moving slowly and we were able to get out of each other’s way.

The photo below can only show one view, but it looked this way 360 degrees around us.

My son followed his GPS tracker which he had just marked as we passed through this area earlier. If not for that, it would have been impossible to know which way to go to avoid the shallow spots. Of course it did nothing to help us find other boaters!

It’s difficult to show in photos how hard it was to see anything. For a short while we literally saw only fog – no land, no landmarks, nothing. It was pretty creepy.

Once we got past that inlet area things began to clear up. The fog must have been pushing in from the ocean. I’d never seen anything like that.

It was a memorable trip, but next time we see fog up ahead, we will turn around!