Recently, when faced with the same decision here in Australia, it was clear that conditions were worse than our Columbia River bar crossing, but with the wind blowing a steady 30 to 40 kts and it being nearly 100nm to another anchorage, there is a clear appeal to crossing the bar. We braced for difficult conditions but actually found it an unremarkable crossing. At the time when we actually crossed, they were only allowing boats through that were over 50′. For example, we crossed the Columbia River bar where, just 1 hour before, the US Coast Guard had it closed to all recreational craft. But, estimating when the conditions aren’t right isn’t as straight forward as one might think. River bars can be dangerous and anyone with sea experience knows to avoid them if the conditions aren’t right. In New Zealand, the Grey River Bar has really earned its notoriety. In the US, the entrance bar of the Columbia River is particularly renowned for producing harrowing conditions - in fact, the US Coast guard trains rough water small boat handling there - but nearly every maritime country has their example. One place where these conditions are actually fairly common are river bar entrances. Fortunately, these conditions are fairly rare and largely avoidable. Massive breaking seas can happen in extreme conditions, but are especially frequent where high winds meet large ocean currents (e.g. It’s in these conditions where weather conditions swing from taxing to dangerous. In all the conditions we had seen prior to this event, we have managed to avoid large breaking seas. One notable test of the boat did happen fairly recently in attempting to cross the Wide Bay Bar south of Fraser Island on the east coast of Australia. And, there is no question, compared to the stories you hear from local fisherman and professional mariners that are out there all the time in these areas, we have seen close to nothing on board Dirona. Having a good strong boat can transform the potentially scary to only tiring. None of these conditions were particular dangerous or even scary but they were onerous and sometimes a bit tiring. For us, memorable times are fully developed seas in 40 kt wind in the Gulf of Alaska with gusts as high as 59, the east coast of New Zealand north of Wellington in only 30 to 40 kts, and the e ast coast of Australia in the shallow coastal waters of the Tasman Sea near Brisbane in around 40 kts. Ironically most boat operators are extra-careful in selecting the weather and time of year when making ocean crossings so it’s little surprise that the worst conditions experienced by recreational boats are often near to shore. We have seen some tough weather but most of it was actually surprising close to shore. Just two people out in the ocean 1,000 miles from any shore can make boat strength feel like a super important attribute even though it is seldom tested. But they can happen, so we wouldn’t sacrifice strength for anything. We have seen no survival storms - fortunately they are rare and modern weather reporting can avoid the worst of them except in statistically anomalous situations. But Dirona has done fairly well by that measure as well. And, looking at the other attribute we value so greatly, boat strength, it’s not one we expected to test and it’s certainly not one you want to test. Who would have guessed that, as we type this, we’re anchored on the outer edge of the Great Barrier Reef in Australia with dreams of still ranging further afield. We bought a strong boat not because we were convinced we needed to test it, but because we wanted a boat with “engineering headroom” - we wanted it to be considerably stronger than the worst we were likely to ask it to operate through.įive years later, it turns out it’s a good thing we decided to accept the various compromises that come with an ocean-capable power boat. We bought an ocean-capable boat not because we were convinced we would round the world, but because we wanted the flexibility to be able to go anywhere in the world if we wanted to.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |