When to slow or keep going?

K

kevfra

Member
Joined
Dec 31, 2005
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19858
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Reading that thread on the Walnut Grove route, and some of the answers regarding impediments to speed, made me wonder about one I often find in the delta - and that's people on the hook fishing in a high speed channel.

Say you're running from B&W up to Whimpy's, that's high speed all the way. A few private docks but never seem to have a boat which is good because you can't clear 200 feet. But there are a lot of small boats on anchor with a line in the water, and you can't get even fifty feet away from them. What do you folks do?
 
For what its worth, this is what I always do. In a narrow, unrestricted channel when I come upon a smaller boat, on the hook or stopped, I always slow down to idle speed. I find it very rude for a big cruiser to come by on plane or worse, with its stern dug in, and cause a small boat to become very unstable. If the channel is wide and unrestricted, I will stay at speed but cross over as far as I can to the other side to lesson wake effect on a small boat. For those of you that have never been in a 14 ft aluminum at anchor and had a cruiser come by at speed, I will tell you it isn't pleasant. I can hear the chorus now of folks stating that if you own a small boat and venture into the delta, you have to expect to pay the price on occasion if you venture out of restricted waterways. I understand that, but there is such a thing as common sense and courtesy.

DBH
 
I'm not familiar with the delta but we have the same problem in the keys.

Courtesy first, I agree, but how about not anchoring in a narrow channel ? that's a rule, not courtesy. why do fishermen feel they have a god given right to fish anywhere even if it impedes navigation ?
 
If, in the stretch I mentioned as well as many others, you were to slow for every tin boat fishing at anchor, you will never get on the plane.

Are these small boats simply being arrogant and abusing the decency of the speed boats? Are they accepting the situation and willing to rock wildly when a boat goes by at speed? Are they simply uninformed as to the rules and so figure the fast boats must slow?

I don't know which and I suspect all, but I can tell you that in many places along the delta you would not be at speed long or often if you slow every time you come upon a small fisher, or for that matter another speeder that decided it's a good place to anchor and swim, have a beer and whatever.

My answer is that for the first couple of years I did slow, but that long ago stopped. When I see that someone has foolishly dropped anchor in the middle of a 100 foot wide channel - I just keep going. I don't feel good about it, but maybe they will catch on and not do it again.

I do adhere to all rules such as of course cnotrolled zoes, 200' from dock, and even giving the skiers a break which they absolutely abuse. But this anchored fishing thing just doesn't work.
 
I can sympathise with your statements because between all the 5mph zones and small fishing boats around, it can take ages to get anywhere. I still believe it is a judgement call and every situation could be a little different. I have to believe that the owner of a small boat must know and expect he can get "rocked around" at times if he is on some of the water in the delta. Fortunately most fisherman fish near the shorelines and tule berms and not too many anchor out in the middle, although I have seen it done. I personally stay out of the delta for the most part in the summer when the place is jammed with boaters and skiers. I prefer the lazy days of October and November. The absolute best time of the year there.
 
Depends on what boat I am in....

If I am in my ski boat and moving at 30 MPH I give the fishermen as much room as I can but keep going. The wake isn't that big and they are probably just as happy for my presence to be minimized.

If I am drivng the cruiser it will depend on how much room I can give them, if they are anchored and where they are.

If they are in the deep water channel I figure that they are in the spot that was intended for boats to pass, not sit. I essentially ignore them and keep going.

If they are in a narrow slough and are moving I will often keep going if I can give them a reasonable amount of space (100 feet at least). I figure that if they are moving they have the capability of turning into my wake to minimize the impact.

If they are at anchor I will throttle back and go past at a fast idle. I am not in that much of a hurry.

Yes, sometimes I have to basically crawl all the way.

Rod
 
Basically fisherman fish where they think the fish are biting. That is why you'll find hundreds of boats at the Santa Clara Shoals or the Isleton Bridge when the stippers or salmon are running. The fish will only be there for a few days, so that is where the fisherman go to fish!

I used to have a 19 ft boat from which I quite often dropped anchor and fished. If I was in False River or the San Joaquin Channel, I knew I would get lots of wakes from passing cruisers and prepared accordingly. If I was in a small narrow channel I hoped any passing boats would slow to idle speed to pass. What really upset me was when I'm in a "side channel" and a boat goes through at speed instead of being in the "big channel" on the other side of the berm. If you travel through a side area, slow down! Or stay in the big channel where your wake won't harm the levees.
 
Seems pretty simple, if I can throw a wake on a fishing boat, then I slow down enough to kill the wake.

Speed isn't the issue if you pass by at a safe distance because boats differ in the wake they produce at a particular speed. Just avoid throwing a wake on the fisherman.

Fishermen are easily tossed around, fall overboard or lose gear from wakes. I think a lot of times passing boats go by so quickly they never see the problems they leave behind them.

Potato Slough is good example. A deep, wide slough in many places so a lot of boaters just open it up and let 'er rip. Big cruisers tear down the water, churning up a couple of feet of water that crashes onto both sides of the levee. Wheee!

I've seen them run right past the more popular anchorages throwing that two footer right into anchored boats: smashing dinghys and PWCs into hullsides and forcing boaters to grab for handrails. Happens a lot. Does the dweeb who caused this wake even care? No, because he passed by a couple of minutes ago and is out of sight further down the slough.

You do not have the license to risk the safety of other boaters or "teach them a lesson" about where not to anchor just because you have a boat that can go fast. If you find a boat is anchored in the middle of the channel and presenting an obstruction to navigation, then do your best to get around it safely and let the boater know about the problem if you can. Radio the Coasties on CH16 who will deal with the problem or pass it along to local patrols.

I have not seen any Delta water marked "HIGH SPEED WATER." Sloughs are often narrow and courtesy goes a long way when sharing the channel. Some days the only fast water you may find might be on the rivers or shipping channel.

This is the Delta. Where does anyone have to go in such a hurry that they can't show common courtesy and concern for other boaters?
 
quote:
Originally posted by yzer

Seems pretty simple, if I can throw a wake on a fishing boat, then I slow down enough to kill the wake.

I have not seen any Delta water marked "HIGH SPEED WATER." Sloughs are often narrow and courtesy goes a long way when sharing the channel. Some days the only fast water you may find might be on the rivers or shipping channel.

This is the Delta. Where does anyone have to go in such a hurry that they can't show common courtesy and concern for other boaters?

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Hallelujah, my sentiments exactly! It is rare that a channel is blocked by fishermen (Freeport Bridge and the mouth of the American River excepted). We can all afford to spend a few minutes to give a little courtesy.
 
This is the Delta. Where does anyone have to go in such a hurry that they can't show common courtesy and concern for other boaters?

Our slip at the marina is last one on dock overlooking river. What really irritates me intensely is boats not observing no wake zone. These are boats that are too big to be trailered so obviously they have a slip in a marina also. They know what big wakes do to the sheds and the boats tied up in them. Most of the time you will have 5 or more boats traveling together so it is one big wake after another. Knocked my wine glass off of the table one time, that's alcohol abuse. Also sometimes instead of slowing down appropriately coming up to the no wake zone sign they will come up fast and then slow down to an idle. These wakes are sometimes worse. Sorry I had to vent on that because I know they are knowledgeable enough to know what kind of wake their boat throws and they would not like it if it was reversed with them sitting in dock.
 
I've found that Mildred Island can be a treacherous place to anchor. Waterskiers, PWCers and cruisers go flying by. I received a seriously wrenched back there one Fourth of July weekend......
 
My recollection from the Coast Guard course that I took is that every boater is responsible for the damage that he causes from his boat wake. If courtesy is not the issue, then an assessment of liability may be appropriate. There is a law in California that addresses '"speed for conditions" and it is the principle applied to boat wakes - something to think about, as the laibility increases with the size and weight of the boat.

Bill
 
quote:
. I received a seriously wrenched back there one Fourth of July weekend......

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You had a problem at Mildred over the 4th? The place is generally empty because everyone is at Mandiville!

The weeds have choked out all my favorite spots to anchor where I could be assured that I wouldn't get any wakes (five fingers, for example). Now I just settle for a spot where the bulk of the traffic passes far enough off for the wake to dissipate a little before it hits.

Rod
 
Rod, not the 2007 Fourth of July. It was a few years ago. One of my friends pulled up anchor and gave chase with the intention of getting the CF number and filing a complaint, but he could not catch the guy. Without a CF number, there is no recourse. A more effective way is to get a video of the problem and include a close up [zoom] of the CF number. Then go to the sheriff with a copy of your evidence.
 
This is a great subject but how about the opposite? How about when your at anchor and a 22footer goes by at highspeed and rocks our world. It should work the same way for both sides which includes the fisherman. They want us to slow down at anchor but never do the other. I almost always slow down to idle speed unless I have over 100 feet to pass.

There are more 22 to 25 foot boats in the water then there are 29 to 50 footers. If we are going to live together it has to be a better both ways.

Lost In The Delta
(not so much anymore since I found electronics)
 
The problem on Mildred is that you could have a cruiser about a half a mile away on the other side putting up a big wake and then the waves finally hit you about 5 minutes later. So it's a little difficult to prove neglect on the part of any boater when essentially you are in a lake and he's that far away.

I've been rocked many times out at Mildred, but most often it is from these type of waves and not someone deliberately putting up a huge wake within the proximity of my vessle. But it does happen. Especially with some of the PWC's that don't realize that they too can put up a decent size wake.
 
Upper, are you familiar with the "Orchard Cove" area in the southwest part of Mildred? The cove itself was full of anchored boat, so about 10-12 boats of various size were anchored near the cove, but not protected as we would have preferred. Many of the boats, like mine, were in small raft ups.

This guy in a brand new 28 ft Bayliner came flying through the erosion opening and tried to go into the cove. I think he thought there was an opening back to the slough through there. When he saw he couldn't get out that way he did a 180* turn and proceeded down the lake toward the original levee break. At no time did her slow down and come off plane! So he hit all 10-12 boats broadside with a big wake. Boats got damaged from banging together and I'm sure I'm not the only who sustained an injury. Obviously this guy was clueless on many levels. I hope he learned what he did wrong before he killed someone!
 
I know exactly where that is. I would think that instance was pretty deliberate and the guy should have been run down and keel hauled.
 
IMO if you think you should slow down, you should.
 
Upper -- You mentioned killing someone. That's exactly what happened a couple years back when I was on one side of Headreach around from Delta Yacht. A group of Zuckerman Farms workers were swimming off a dock across the way on the McDonald Island side, and one of the swimmers was in trouble and the others were trying to help him out of the water. Just then a white cruiser about 30' was on plane close to shore and decided to splash the people in the water. The boat sped off but the swimmer in trouble was swept under and became a coroner's case. I cam still hear the cries of anguish. Just so you will know, boats from my side do cross over to assist but were unable to locate the victim.and we did call 911 for the Sheriff's Patro;. When the sheriff' boats arrived, it unfortunately was no longer a rescue operation. I never heard of the boaterresponsible being tracked down. --- Warren
 
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