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When Inlets Get Rough..........

Rick R.

Contributing Partner
I know how treacherous navigating an inlet with opposing winds and tide can be. Waves that are normally three feet are now six feet and in short periods.

The other day we were returning from offshore after a five day trip. When we arrived at Pensacola Pass the sea breeze kicked up to 17kts from the south with an outbound tide.....it was rough.

I planned to motor sail in so that we would have a way out should the engine die. Just as we were about to enter the channel (about a mile out), a huge wave caught us and nearly broached the boat. I also quickly discovered that the waves were making it dangerous to attempt to have sails up so we dropped all canvas and motored in.

We made it in after about 40 minutes of nearly standing still against the current.

I should have sailed further offshore to allow enough time for the tide to go slack, which would have happened in about five hours.
How do you fellow ocean sailors deal with inlets with opposing wind and tide conditions?
 
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Loren Beach

O34 - Portland, OR
Senior Moderator
Blogs Author
Tide against Current -- Oh My.
:0
That's the Columbia River bar problem. AKA the "Graveyard of the Pacific"...

We have to watch the tide very closely. Avoid crossing either way on an ebb if there's any sea running at all. We have 6 knots plus normally flowing outward on the ebb, and once you commit it's very very difficult to change your mind. Controlling depth is under 50 feet, so big swells rolling in can really lump up, first when they start to drag on the shelf closer to shore and lots more when they run into the relative shallows of a river entrance.

I have watched the depth sounder rapidly changing numbers as the boat rose and fell.
Even on a long and safe (but large) swell, the numbers never cease to amaze us.

I realize that tides are much less closer to the equator, so that may not be as large a factor for you. Surface currents due to winds could be just as significant though.
The later is a regular factor we contend with while transiting the WA coastal waters due to the prevailing summer NW winds causing a one knot south-flowing current in the summers.
Whenever we get a fast reversal of wind, like when a low pressure area moves through, we get steep seas when a new southerly meets a south-flowing current for a half day or so. I have been on a delivery from Puget Sound to Astoria when such a weather change threw a fast-rising 4 foot sea state against us as we were placidly motoring south, and we made a quick decision to exit the ocean at Grays Harbor and spend a few days there before continuing on.
:rolleyes:

Regards,
Loren
 
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Christian Williams

E381 - Los Angeles
Senior Moderator
Blogs Author
When I lived back East, cruises were timed according to the tide tables for inlets in New Jersey, or the Chesapeake Canal or Hell Gate.

I have never had to deal with Loren's world. Inlets in Florida scare me--three-outboard center consoles passing you at 20 knots five feet away in rip swirls?

SoCal is the Dead Sea by comparision.

But yeah, I'd probably wait for the tide to go slack especially without local knowledge.
 

Martin King

Sustaining Member
Blogs Author
That's the Columbia River bar problem. AKA the "Graveyard of the Pacific"...


Loren,

I visited the Coast Guard station there and was told they perform more rescues there than any other station in the US. In fact that day we were looking down at a large sailboat stuck fast on the bar.

Martin
 
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