Fog Story

Sometimes, it feels like Papy Jovial were not happy about going South, and she does whatever she can to slow me down, even if she has to call some dubious allies to the rescue.
So, when I woke up in this cement plant hole, I could see that I could not see anything. The fog was so dense and thick that the visibility was at tne very best 200 feet.
I was a little hesitant at first, especially since I was confused about setting the radar properly, not having used it a lot in the past few months.
But I felt, what the heck, I am not going to spend the day in this hole. so let's go. From the center of the waterway, I could not see either side of it and I had to rely entirely on the instruments. I did not feel very comfortable, so I sent very slow, at something like 3 knots, and I felt that I would not get anywhere during the whole day.
After an hour, the fog was still as thick as ever, so I stopped very closed to a pier which said "do not tie up" and I took the time to set up the radar properly. This being done, I felt I could increase my speed to 4 knots. As i was getting closer to the L.B.Knox bridge, I started to talk to the bridge tender (a nice lady) and kept her informed on my ETA to the bridge. And she kept telling me, as soon as I see you, I will open. Trouble was, the visibility was still under 200 feet, and there was no way she could see me until I was practically touching the bridge. Anyway, eventually I got to the bridge at extremely slow speed and I was able to go through without having to dance in front of it.
Shortly after that, I had to use my horn for a Nordhaven 47 going the other way but on my starboard side. Again, no further problem and I could continue.
At around 10:45, this so called Florida sunshine managed to get through the fog and the visibiity improved dramatically. That is until I reached Daytona Beach, when the got came back with a vengeance, but not as bad as it was this morning. This time, it was more like a cloud had fallen to the ground. And it followed me all the way to New Smyrna Beach, where I missed the bridge by minutes and I had to wait for 20 minutes for the next opening.
I was not sure that I was going to be able to do Titusville, so I called Gary Johnson, who called the marina there, and eventually I decided that I was going to meet Gary there.
I arrived at the marina at 6:00 p.m. and tied up with Gary waiting for me.
He took me to Cape Canaveral where we had drinks and dinner, and we went back to Titusville and Gary decided to take his bag and come with me.
This was the end of a very long day, and I did not even realise that I crashed.
Fog, fog, . . . . . .