Rough Water?

[JTFL]

ABC

Edited by admin:
Not sure why the auther deleted this post, but it was about going offshore.

 

[Julian]

Here is my rescue story

https://jetboaters.net/threads/bimini-rescue-at-sea-from-2017.19085/

 

[Smiley]

We didn’t go out in that rough of seas, but in a 19’ boat and not a lot of saltwater experience, so we are being cautious when out. Seas were great when we arrived in the Keys last week. Had a great time out on the reef last Sunday and were planning to go back out on Monday. Then a friend of a friend told us that there was no way he would take a 19’ boat out to Alligator Reef. He insisted it would be way too rough and he wouldn’t take anything smaller than his 36’. My wife got apprehensive about going and we ended up hanging out Gulf side with friends on a sandbar instead.

Seas were forecasted to be 3’+ mid to late last week and feeling like we missed our opportunity we decided Thursday to give it a run. While it was tougher than on Sunday, we did run out into the Atlantic and it was surprising fly manageable running, even with the 3-4’ wave heights. What wasn’t good was when we tied up to a mooring buoy. The waves were big enough that when the rope pulled tight, we would get water over the bow and I wasn’t comfortable, so we untied and ran back to the Gulf side.

As long as we were running or not tied up, I was surprised at how well the little boat handled. Really wish we would have made the run out on Monday. Guess we’ll have to go back again next year…

 

[HawaiiBreeze]

The roughest seas I've been in was a Maiden Voyage around the South Coast of Oahu where the water turns indigo blue and the shore line is sheer cliffs. This is the southern tip of the island and is the closest point to the next island down the chain - Moloka'i. The stretch of water between the two island is named "Ka'iwi Channel". It's 2,300 ft deep, spans 32 miles between Oahu and Moloka'i and gets 15' swells. It also gets crossed yearly by open canoe paddling teams and paddle boarders during the "Moloka'i 2 Oahu" event that has teams from all over the world competing to cross it the fastest...so it can be done. Did I mention that Ka'iwi is Hawaiian for Bones. The Ka'iwi Channel is known as the Channel Of Bones.

On my first run at this (not to cross the channel) to come around to the East Side of the island from the West Side I was still a newb and should have known better. On board was just me and my GF at the time and she was not a water person to begin with so this was off the chart for her. I have a 190SX and once we rounded the corner past the opening to Hanauma Bay the water just sort of sucked us out into the deep indigo water and turned up the swell heights. Truly I got my first lesson in the effects of a following sea. It got to the point that we were like sitting in a bowl with water over our heads all around. Even standing up, I was unable to see over the tops. Thankfully my fear motivator kicked in and I made a 180 and motored against the current back around the tip to the flatter and calmer waters of the West Side. Still gives me that sinking feeling. Learned a lot that day.

 

[capt]

My roughest water experience.

Well the offshore fishing trip was interesting. Saturday we had 2-3 ft waves. Boat handled it well! Caught some kingfish and a jack crevalle. We traveled a total of 110 miles and went through 50 gallons of fuel. Furthest we went out was 36 miles from shore. For some very strange reason we didn't catch a single red snapper. This is very unusual. But the king fish were biting! I hooked into a huge King fish he was jumping out of the water multiple times. Then he spit the hook. When I reeled the line in the hook was bent straight! It was pretty wild. The jack took me 30 mins to land. He was a super strong fish.

We decided to go out again on Sunday. Forecast was for 2 foot waves turned out to be 3 to 4 footers. Max speed going out was 11mph took us 2.5 hours of slow going to get to our planned fishing spot. When we arrived we rigged up our lines and then looked up and saw black clouds across the whole south west horizon coming straight at us. Wind picked up and waves were building. Decided the best thing to do was head back to shore. We were unable to out run the storm and were cruising 20 mph in 4 some times 5 foot waves. Heavy rain and lightning accompanied us all the way back in. Took us about an hour and a half to get back to the jetties. Luckily we were traveling with the waves. Took one wave over the bow that totally soaked everyone and knocked my glasses off my face!

I am extremely impressed with the performance of my sx230. I stored or spare gas cans in the bow going into the waves and that helped cutting through the waves quite a bit. Also loved how the perfect pass assisted in maintaining a safe speed with very little Manuel input to the throttles. I did develop an oil leak but discovered it was the oil filter. Easy fix!

 

[RobbieO]

Here is my rescue story

https://jetboaters.net/threads/bimini-rescue-at-sea-from-2017.19085/

I just read it. It’s not a story, it’s a novel. Well done.