Yikes. Just talking about taking water in a 14' boat in the fog on the Straits (probably with no VHF) gives me the creeps. This would put you in the running for the 2001 Darwin Award. Your chances of rescue in this situation are pretty low, since it won't take but a couple minutes to completely swamp that size boat once you take that first wave, and your freeboard goes down to about 6 inches. If you think you will just swim to shore, figure out how far you can swim in 30 minutes, fully clothed, in rough water, with the wind blowing you away from shore. It will take about 30 minutes for your muscles to give up in 50-degree water, as your body restricts bloodflow to your extremities in order to preserve bloodflow to the brain and body core.

Forget about a cell phone, who are you going to call that can get to you in 20 minutes, and how wet can your phone get before it goes T-U?

If you are in waters rough enough so that you can't take the waves bow-on, you are in dire straits -- how are you going to motor back to safe water? There is only maybe a 50-50 chance that the direction you have to go to get to safe waters puts the waves on your quarter. Even then, there is a decent chance that a bigger-than-average wave will flip you clean over.

They're just fish, guys. Please think long and hard before compromising your safety for a hot bite. Fog + waves + low freeboard = death. Know your boat's (and your own) limits.

Regards.

Mike
Woodinville