worse bar crossing

[timddo]

Went out throught south passage bar. Gee's there were pressure waves one after the other. The nose of the boat pretty much dipped in the water most of the time. Waves were huge. Seabreeze said 15knots, 1.2 meter waves ( gee thy were wrong.

The question is. Once your in the middle. do you turn back or continue punching in. I had a few hairy moments, all i did was just crusie through the waves. Should i have gunned it and jumped across?

[deadbeatloser]

Went out throught south passage bar. Gee's there were pressure waves one after the other. The nose of the boat pretty much dipped in the water most of the time. Waves were huge. Seabreeze said 15knots, 1.2 meter waves ( gee thy were wrong.

The question is. Once your in the middle. do you turn back or continue punching in. I had a few hairy moments, all i did was just crusie through the waves. Should i have gunned it and jumped across?

m8 you gotta do wat you think is best in that situation to keep yourself safe.
bom does say gusts to 40% stronger and waves upto 40%larger. just check wave bouy graphs on brownies, i am always getting caught out by weather man , thats why i bought a stabicraft. and must say she likes it ruff

[nigelr]

Good question Tim.
Was the tide running out? If so may have made 'turning back' nigh impossible......
Personally I don't enjoy drama on the crossing, so I won't attempt it if it looks unpleasant. But I'm an old man, considerably more timid than I used too be!
Safety first is my motto, a feed of fish ain't that big a deal........
Cheers, glad you made the crossing safely. From what I've read on Ausfish, this is a very nasty bar indeed.

[revs57]

Tim,

Sounds like you hit the bar on a run out tide? If you miss slack water, where it pretty much irons itself out, the best tide is a run in.

Do yourself a favour and sign up for a day on bar crossing with Bill Corten. He's a master and everyone that makes the investment raves about it.

Cheers

Rhys

[samson]

Yep sounds like the ebb to me which ain't adviseable to barge across cruise through picking your moments to throttle until clear of break zone but all bars are different some the ebb areas can be almost avoided when coming in, the key to coming in is riding the back of the wave and not letting the one behind catch you but when it ebbs the waves are everywhere so you have to ride from the back of one to the other as the ebbs die out until you are gradually through it, but going out your almost certinly going to have to deal with it.

[FNQCairns]

I havn't crossed that bar in 15 years, it's probably now 250m from where it was but your senario does suck and needs to be avoided if possible.

Not enough forward motion through the water (not over ground) due the boat and water heading in the same direction. Causes the boat to wallow and snuff the bow, very poor steerage and worst of all if a wave does hit the bow with a little force the boat can be easily knocked broadside.

Wherever possible keep enough forward momentum that the boat is in immediate control. Your situation is fairly typical but a person really needs to be there to know for sure what it was like.

Good you made it with just a little bit of healthy fright, I don't think anyone who crosses bars are immune to being frightened by the experience.

cheers fnq

[The-easyrider]

In answer to your question, don't just gun it and jump across. You you need to drive up the face of the wave then just as your bow crests the wave back off the power and the boat will lay gently onto the back of the wave, then get on the gas hard and quick driving up to the next wave backing off as the the bow crests the wave again then on the go juice again you get idea.If you have to hit whitewater back off just as the bow hits the white water,do your self favor and do that that bar crossing course with Bill Corten . Once comitted dont baulk and try to turn around .

[mirage]

I'm no expert on bar crossings. But as Easyrider says, I do know the number one rule is once committed NEVER turn back. Best way to go for a swim if you do.

[timddo]

it was at the bottom of low tide in the moring. So probably the worse time you can go out.

Deadbeatloser , i don't think it's the type of boat, but size. The longer the boat the better it is. I was afraid of it rolling over.

Very hairy moment, so i went around the cape and to curtain to fish. Aroudn the cape was pretty ruff too. and bom said 1.2 and10-15.

[Jabba_]

I have read a lot about Bill Corten... How do I contact him and what does it cost($$$) to do a bar crossing coarse...

Also, do you use your boat or his... IMO, I would rather do it im my own, so I know what to expect from my own craft when the situation arises...

[Blackened]

G'day

Bill Corten.... you use his boat, it's a cruise craft.

You will find a contact number for him on these boards, do a quick search.

I think maybe budds bait and tackle may also have his number, but i'm not 100% on that.

Whats it cost?? I'm not sure but thats irrelevant. What's the gained knowledge worth to you and the potential life saving skills?

Dave

[The-easyrider]

Cost these days is about $400 ,money well spent considering whats at stake. The only draw back with useing his cruisecraft is that you will want one as well by the end of the day,best bit is if it goes wrong its not your boat. Buckets of fun I could just about buy a big cruisecraft give away the fishing and spend my time crossing the bar ,surfing for lazy blokes.

[Getout]

Not all boats behave the same in waves. You need to spend time in your own boat and be confident with what it can do before you take on a bar.
How you attack a bar depends on many factors. Depth of water is the most important one. Current run is another. Height of waves is another. Presence of a defined channel is another.
You need to have correct motor trim to accellerate and yes, sometimes it is best to spin around and retreat (if your boat is capable and the waves are far enough apart) rather than take on a monster and roll over backwards.
Little boats make little waves look big. Big boats make little waves look tiny.

[revs57]

Bill Corton's ph no (07) 32863647

[Brumby]

Not all boats behave the same in waves. You need to spend time in your own boat and be confident with what it can do before you take on a bar.
How you attack a bar depends on many factors. Depth of water is the most important one. Current run is another. Height of waves is another. Presence of a defined channel is another.
You need to have correct motor trim to accellerate and yes, sometimes it is best to spin around and retreat (if your boat is capable and the waves are far enough apart) rather than take on a monster and roll over backwards.
Little boats make little waves look big. Big boats make little waves look tiny.

Glad to see I'm not the only one a little uncomfortable with the "never turn back" approach. I'll be the first to admit that I haven't done much bar work (no need where I live, the Seaway hardly counts in good weather), but with plenty of time on surf launched craft, many's the time when a retreat into the intermediate zone has allowed me to pick a better gap to get out back instead of aerobatics over a monster that popped up. Admittedly, you normally have more lateral space to play with in the surf, but I reckon the sea isn't the place to be inflexible about things; assess the situation up front and if there is space and your boat is capable of turning quickly without cavitation, keep that option up your sleeve.