Wakes

Ron,

I agree with your statements. Again, common sense and courtesy (which are both lacking).

Yes, the state channel has either 5 or 12mph limits depending on where you are. I was pulled over once by a county cop who said I was throwing too big a wake at 12mph so either speed up or slow down.

I don't think anybody would suggest waking a boat under tow or unintentionally grounded. But the guys who have the bows of their boats on the beach in Debs inlet because they are enjoying the beach should expect waves from boats passing by.

I've never purposefully waked anyone. On the ocean, I run around the fleet fishing the reef. Inside I slow down when I have no choice but to run though the fishing blockade. I give everyone as wide a berth as possible. In no wake zones I run on one engine for the slowest speed possible.

Again, put your boat where waves should be expected and...you should expect them.

BTW, I will slow down for the guy in a 10 ft rental boat tied to the buoy in the channel with his 3 kids. Sure, he's an idiot but it's not their fault that their father is a knucklehead.
 
quote:
Originally posted by ronp

Mark, Matt, that's fine (although wasn't there once a 12mph limit in the state channel?), but it doesn't cover the frequent situation where someone is aground outside the Amityville Cut, people are standing around shin deep in muck trying to push off or a towboat is trying to hook up, and some guy just has to save 60 seconds by plowing or blasting on by. There's no boat that should be operating in that channel that can't slow to idle and throw no wake at all or close to it, and no excuse not to do so. I don't think anyone is out there transporting organs for transplant or something so what's the rush? Yet that scenario happens every single weekend. Saying "oh well it's LI boating" doesn't do it for me; an inconsiderate idiot is an inconsiderate idiot.

The same applies to people who have to pass a sailboat doing 3 knots at the narrowest point of that cut, doing 20 knots within 20 feet of the guy, where the breaking wave actually slaps the boat hull and shoves it sideways, when they could wait until 1/4 mile on where it's wider and lose 5 minutes while cutting the guy a break. There's no reason for it. Boats don't come with a guarantee that you'll never have to change power settings once underway.

I'm not talking here about people who choose to be an obstruction in a channel when there is other good water available to them - they may well need to take what comes.

That a lot of people around here do these things doesn't change the way I operate at all. Wrong is wrong. I suspect you'd agree - so it really comes down to what examples one chooses to make the point.

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Your above examples fall into the common sense category.

If I see a tow boat working on a recovery, I will give the widest safest berth possible. I will even hail tham and ask them their preferred route for me to go by.

The channel I leave and enter is not only narrow, it is very shallow at points, and not the best marked (at low tide you can sometimes see a dog standing on the channel side of the red). Sailboats generally go right down the middle for depth reasons. If I see one leaving or coming, I will often hover at the entrance to my marina. Ninety percent of them get why, and give me a thank you wave going by.
 
Ron I totally agree.

Though the amityville cut is a unique situation in the fact that each year it gets narrower and narrower. The channel is what, 50foot wide at best?

I do believe these guys are talking about wider channels and even inlets.

not for nothing, but when I cruise in my 17footer, and I am going out Jones Inlet, sorry, I am slowing a bit to bring my bow up if its windy, which will cause a slightly larger wake. Again, they are the ones blocking the channel. Its a maze, sometimes you can navigate around them to leave room, but ive seen Jones Inlet where there are over 70 boats fishing. Good luck navigating through that mess. At this point I am only cruising 16knts with the small boat.
 
BC,
Off topic but:

Debs is usually pretty good, Jones can be bad as you've stated, Fire Island is ridiculous as they congregate right at the buoy on the beach where you need to make a hard turn to port (outgoing) but you ain't seen nuthin until you go through the area at Sandy Hook. Guys drifting, trolling and boats running all in the same confined area. Crazy. Rob would have a heart attack.
 
I find I go slower in my home marina than others.

The same way I drive slower on my street vrs others,.

mark giomblanco
 
Mark usually what I do is run out Jones Inlet, run east and come in fire island, and run the state boat channel to amity cut, and run the flats back to massapequa. Its a nice ride, except for the 10 minutes I am entering and exiting each inlet because of the fishing boats.

The worst are the big charter fishing boats out of captree and lido beach. Once they are drifting the inlet, the pack surrounds them.

Only time Id run out the inlet with the searay would be first thing in the morning, regardless of what the tide is. Less people out at 8am then there is at 12 noon.
 
rnbenton. Those subs have to exit through the Carquinez Strait. A little narrow to shove all the traffic out of the way.

300px-Wpdms_nasa_photo_san_pablo_bay.jpg
 
quote:
Originally posted by GeeBee

rnbenton. Those subs have to exit through the Carquinez Strait. A little narrow to shove all the traffic out of the way.

300px-Wpdms_nasa_photo_san_pablo_bay.jpg


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OK, but that wasn't my point.

My point was that they probably, as they do in JAX, give repeated warnings for 1-2 hours over channels 16 and 22 of every departure and arrival so small boaters can get clear of the area if they have a problem handling the wakes.

When a war ship is moving, they probably don't slow down or alter their course for anything for security reasons. But they do warn everyone well in advance so the area can be cleared.

Bob
 
When you have big guns on your boat, you don't have to worry about other boats or boaters.

One day, I was on the water and listened as the captain of a work or dredge boat that was working on one of the bridges continually tried to contact a couple Navy ships that were in the area. No response. Finally, he called the Coast Guard. When they responded, the captain explained that he had been trying to contact the Navy ships because they were making big wakes and endangering his divers and workers.

The Coast Guard declined to get involved. Told him if it was dangerous to get his divers out of the water.
 
quote:
Originally posted by rawidman

When you have big guns on your boat, you don't have to worry about other boats or boaters.

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Good to know, then based on your logic and information, I don't have to worry about other boats and boaters.
 
"Good to know, then based on your logic and information, I don't have to worry about other boats and boaters." LOL
 
One day way back when, I was off Block Island (in between BI and Montauk) it was fairly flat and along comes a huge wave out of nowhere. Lifted my 28' Hatteras out of the water and came crashing down on the other side of the wave. I started looking around and saw way off in the distance a submarine running at what looked like 30 knots on the surface with just part of the tower showing. I tried to call them on the radio to tell them he had upset my serenity and I was going to report them but they never called back to apologize. Must have not been one of ours, because our guys would have known they need to keep their wake to a minimum, but now that I have heard this story about the navy ships doing the same thing? I just think it is horrible when nuclear subs have to show off like that.
 
quote:
Originally posted by GeeBee

rnbenton. Those subs have to exit through the Carquinez Strait. A little narrow to shove all the traffic out of the way.

300px-Wpdms_nasa_photo_san_pablo_bay.jpg


Click to expand...


What Subs in Carquinez Strait?
 
When they leave from the Electric Boat Division of (General Dynamics) in Groton, Ct. (across from New London, Ct.) they have a tug escort until the get into Long Island Sound, but the river is very wide and very deep...plenty of room for everybody. Once they are in the sound only about 2 to 3 miles from the factory..they disappear pretty quickly.
 
They used to commission and work on subs at the old Mare Island ship yard way back in the day, but that was on the west side of Carquinez in Vallejo. I am not aware of any having to go through Carquinez, but they certainly did the Gate. We've had to interact with them at Kings Bay, San Diego and Hood Canal, always kind of daunting.
 
quote:
Originally posted by caltexfla

They used to commission and work on subs at the old Mare Island ship yard way back in the day, but that was on the west side of Carquinez in Vallejo. I am not aware of any having to go through Carquinez, but they certainly did the Gate. We've had to interact with them at Kings Bay, San Diego and Hood Canal, always kind of daunting.

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I did not realize GB was referring to back when Mare Island was active, but you are right that is west of the Carquinez
 
They used to go to Stockton for weapons loading. Believe it or not, Stockton was for many years an active sub base and they even had a couple diesels based there.
 
Interesting
I do remember hearing that Stockton was a weapons storage place.

Why didn't they get weapons loaded at Port Chicago?

I've made the run from SF up into the Delta and back many times. Never as far as Stockton though.
 
There in fact was two diesels home ported in Stocton. If you fly around that area as much as I did, you see a lot and let me tell you those bunkers out to the west of Stockton are not there because they liked to pile dirt.
 
Our company had a contract with the State of Conneticut to delead and repaint the twin spans of the Gold Star Bridges. We learned first hand the Authority that these Sub/Ship Commanders have. This bridge spans the Thames River and is located just east of the US Navy Submarine Base.

As part of our project we were require to keep two barges in the water, but to keep the shipping channels clear at all times. We received the needed permits, DEP, Corps of Engineers, plus a host of others. We lived up to every term of our permits, but there was still on small issue. The channel does a dog leg directly in the middle of the river, between the two spans. The Navy does not follow the marked shipping lanes, but goes by it's own predetermined route.

While working on the barge one day I looked up and there was the Commander of a sub, standing on the turret deck, (probably not right termonology). He could see the color of my eyes, [:-bigeyes] and I definately saw the scowl on his face. [:-grumpy]

Within a matter of an hour I and the PM's for ConnDOT were summoned to the Navy Base. We explained our position, we told them that we had always kept the channel clear and that we were in complete compliance with our contract and all of our permit. As soon as we were done speaking, the Commander of the base told us that he was indeed sympathetic to our issue. . . . But in the dictionary, sympathy fell right in between sh*t and syphlis, and he did not care about either.

He advised us to file whatever claim or lawsuit that we felt was needed, but to have our barges out of the center of the river in one hour, or he would remove them personally.

We blinked! [:-indifferent]

On a side note, It is amazing how quitely theses vessels run and what little wake they do put out. I never saw him until he was within eye contact.
 
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