2stroke1971
Petty Officer 1st Class
- Joined
- Nov 8, 2009
- Messages
- 210
Preface: Im sure lots of you have been in worse situations, but this was my personal worst.
I took my old Bayliner (19 foot cuddy) out at Hooper's Island on Friday. Hoopers is on the Chesapeake, and its a narrow strip of land thats out in the middle of some big water. We must have made 50 or 60 trips to Hoopers without a boat, fishing from the roadside as people do, but this was only the second time I had a boat out here. Alot of things went wrong to culminate in what became a bad situation. I made some rookie mistakes but learned alot as well.
I knew bad weather (4 footers) was coming that night, but I Was going to try to get some trolling in out at Hoopers light. We were a bit late getting in the water. We made the trip from launch to the big bridge in 15 minutes or so, cruising 3/4 throttle the whole way. Once you pass under the bridge, the light is about 10 minutes further out.
Things were a bit dicey out there, white caps rolling, and about half way to the light we encountered a series of big waves, so my wife and I decided to head back under the bridge Figured we'd try for some perch or croaker instead. Back under the bridge, it was a bit calmer, although still choppy.
While fishing there, a bigger boat came along, and he headed out under the bridge. I felt a bit envious of this 28 footer as he went out, but after 10 minutes, here he came back under the bridge also! Felt a bit better about my boat, figured if this guy thought better of it, than I made the right choice in abandoning my trip to the light.
In any case, the sun was just setting and we decided to get on back to port, but the waves had really picked up and progress was slow. What had been a quick jaunt coming out from the ramp turned into a slow trip back. The boat was doing fine, although we started to get hit with alot of spray.
The front end dipped a few times, but its a cuddy and the water rolled off.
It got dark on the way back. I mean dark. Dark at hoopers is pitch black. Theres not much down there, you can see the milky way on a clear night. It all happened in a matter of minutes...it got really dark, and the waves got MUCH worse. The wind was kicking! We got disoriented, and we were not sure of our direction. The front end was dipping constantly, even though I was trying to run at them at an angle. Had it been the open bow model, we'd have swamped it quick. These were easily the worst waves Ive ever been in, and we couldnt really see them coming. We were getting sloshed over the windshield and our eyes were stinging, which added to the disorientation.
I started to panic a bit, which caused my wife to panic...I forced myself to get it together because I knew if we were BOTH a wreck it would not turn out well. We got the vests on, and turned on the radio just in case. We kept getting off course, or should I say, it seemed we were getting nowhere. NOTHING looked familiar, there were faint lights far away, a few red and green lights off in the distance, but nothing inviting. The closest thing to us were a set of bright lights on the shore, so I gritted my teeth and made for them. My wife didnt think that was the ramp, but I told her it didnt matter, I said "see those lights...thats where we are going..I dont care if its someones back yard or what, we are gonna tie up there and get the hell off the water!"
Even after we made this decision to make a run for these lights, it was another 20 minutes before we made it. I kept getting off course somehow..I almost ran aground several times as we got closer..the coast line there is irregular and marshy in spots...lots of shoals and nooks and crannies. Finally, the waves let up, I guess we were close enough to shore and had some land around us.
We tied up at this little seafood place, and got off the boat. I walked up the road and found a gentleman in his truck near a marina. He pointed the way to the ramp, which was only a little ways down the road, and then I asked him how to get there by water. He was kind enough to park his truck at the ramp and leave his headlights on so we could see where to head for. The trip from the seafood place to the ramp was easy enough, we hugged the shore and it only took 5 minutes or so.
My poor wife almost fell into the water trying to hold onto the boat with the ropes as I backed down the ramp. The current was BAD, even at the ramp.
WELL.
Things I learned: Dont plan a trip on the EDGE of bad weather! If you break down or are delayed unexpectedly, you wind up in that weather.
I NEED a flood light on the front if I am going back there, or any other similar area. (Dont get me wrong, we fish at night MOST of the time, but in areas where I can see landmarks easily, or just plain know the areas better)
I need to get a GPS! Set the ramp as a waypoint, and there you go.
Panic is a bad thing on the water. it was just creepy, the weather, the darkness, the disorientation...there was about 30 minutes in there that were pretty bad for us.
All in all, I cant complain about the boat. I know we hit some 4 footers out there, and she did pretty darned good.
I took my old Bayliner (19 foot cuddy) out at Hooper's Island on Friday. Hoopers is on the Chesapeake, and its a narrow strip of land thats out in the middle of some big water. We must have made 50 or 60 trips to Hoopers without a boat, fishing from the roadside as people do, but this was only the second time I had a boat out here. Alot of things went wrong to culminate in what became a bad situation. I made some rookie mistakes but learned alot as well.
I knew bad weather (4 footers) was coming that night, but I Was going to try to get some trolling in out at Hoopers light. We were a bit late getting in the water. We made the trip from launch to the big bridge in 15 minutes or so, cruising 3/4 throttle the whole way. Once you pass under the bridge, the light is about 10 minutes further out.
Things were a bit dicey out there, white caps rolling, and about half way to the light we encountered a series of big waves, so my wife and I decided to head back under the bridge Figured we'd try for some perch or croaker instead. Back under the bridge, it was a bit calmer, although still choppy.
While fishing there, a bigger boat came along, and he headed out under the bridge. I felt a bit envious of this 28 footer as he went out, but after 10 minutes, here he came back under the bridge also! Felt a bit better about my boat, figured if this guy thought better of it, than I made the right choice in abandoning my trip to the light.
In any case, the sun was just setting and we decided to get on back to port, but the waves had really picked up and progress was slow. What had been a quick jaunt coming out from the ramp turned into a slow trip back. The boat was doing fine, although we started to get hit with alot of spray.
The front end dipped a few times, but its a cuddy and the water rolled off.
It got dark on the way back. I mean dark. Dark at hoopers is pitch black. Theres not much down there, you can see the milky way on a clear night. It all happened in a matter of minutes...it got really dark, and the waves got MUCH worse. The wind was kicking! We got disoriented, and we were not sure of our direction. The front end was dipping constantly, even though I was trying to run at them at an angle. Had it been the open bow model, we'd have swamped it quick. These were easily the worst waves Ive ever been in, and we couldnt really see them coming. We were getting sloshed over the windshield and our eyes were stinging, which added to the disorientation.
I started to panic a bit, which caused my wife to panic...I forced myself to get it together because I knew if we were BOTH a wreck it would not turn out well. We got the vests on, and turned on the radio just in case. We kept getting off course, or should I say, it seemed we were getting nowhere. NOTHING looked familiar, there were faint lights far away, a few red and green lights off in the distance, but nothing inviting. The closest thing to us were a set of bright lights on the shore, so I gritted my teeth and made for them. My wife didnt think that was the ramp, but I told her it didnt matter, I said "see those lights...thats where we are going..I dont care if its someones back yard or what, we are gonna tie up there and get the hell off the water!"
Even after we made this decision to make a run for these lights, it was another 20 minutes before we made it. I kept getting off course somehow..I almost ran aground several times as we got closer..the coast line there is irregular and marshy in spots...lots of shoals and nooks and crannies. Finally, the waves let up, I guess we were close enough to shore and had some land around us.
We tied up at this little seafood place, and got off the boat. I walked up the road and found a gentleman in his truck near a marina. He pointed the way to the ramp, which was only a little ways down the road, and then I asked him how to get there by water. He was kind enough to park his truck at the ramp and leave his headlights on so we could see where to head for. The trip from the seafood place to the ramp was easy enough, we hugged the shore and it only took 5 minutes or so.
My poor wife almost fell into the water trying to hold onto the boat with the ropes as I backed down the ramp. The current was BAD, even at the ramp.
WELL.
Things I learned: Dont plan a trip on the EDGE of bad weather! If you break down or are delayed unexpectedly, you wind up in that weather.
I NEED a flood light on the front if I am going back there, or any other similar area. (Dont get me wrong, we fish at night MOST of the time, but in areas where I can see landmarks easily, or just plain know the areas better)
I need to get a GPS! Set the ramp as a waypoint, and there you go.
Panic is a bad thing on the water. it was just creepy, the weather, the darkness, the disorientation...there was about 30 minutes in there that were pretty bad for us.
All in all, I cant complain about the boat. I know we hit some 4 footers out there, and she did pretty darned good.
