Biggest seas you have been in?

[vegasphotoman]

Re: Biggest seas you have been in?

about 12' to 14' swells whitecapping 75 miles off the coast of florida on the way back from the Dry Tortugas, the wife and I spent 3 days camping there, anyways we were coming back on the Fast Cat II ( about a 70' power catarmaran) that takes tourists out there,
anyways, everyone exept the crew and maybye 2 others DIDNT get sick ...all the rest did....I turned green and went to the back of the boat outside.....so did about 60 other people! hahahah went from FINE to ALMOST BARF real fast! Im no seaman!

 

[kenmyfam]

Re: Biggest seas you have been in?

Liverpool, England to the Isle of Man ferry 1982.
This ferry has been running for as long as I can remember and only been canceled twice as far as I know due to the weather. They lock you in when it gets rough and the majority of the passengers turn green and spend the trip in the bathroom when it is rough. My family is originally from the Isle of Man so I have made several trips on it. I played in a dance band in the early 80's and we were hired at a resort hotel for a couple of weeks in the summer season. Free rooms and all you can drink !!! paradise found for most of us.
No idea how rough it was but the 4 hour crossing took 12 hours and seemed like 24 !!! There is nothing clever about being seasick or not, you just are or you are not. Luckily I am not. We climbed the swells and crashed down the other side of them with a "bang" each time. I believe the only crew members that were not sick were the captain and the bartender. I spent the entire crossing in the bar. Drinks were in plastic glasses and were half filled to minimize spillage. Some of the band members could not play for 3 days after we arrived.
I am a wuss now though !!! If Lake St Clair has 2 ft or more I don't go out. We can handle it just fine but it is not fun so we stay home.

 

[bowman316]

Re: Biggest seas you have been in?

anyone ever been out in the ice? Thin ice you can break thru. The rivers up here will freeze sometimes if it gets real cold. But it is brackish water, so it has to be real cold to freeze.

 

[ziggy]

Re: Biggest seas you have been in?

all ya guys have been in the real thing so my little story is kinda hohum i suppose.
2 summers ago, around 11pm i beached, then tied my boat to a tree on the sw corners of my local watering hole. only a 2k sq. acre lake, so not to big but biggest around these parts. it'd been a beautiful evening, dead calm, red sky at night, all that jazz. so, put my aft curtain up for full protection since lows were gonna be in the mid 50's. pulled out my lounges for me and the sweety to sleep on, and crashed out.
got up about 2am to around sustained 30 mph winds, gusts to 45, from the nw... . i'm on the se corner of the lake remember, so the waves had time to build clean across the lake. them waves beached me sideways so bad i was stuck and had to call in friends from town. 8 hrs later we got her unstuck with 4 adults heave hoeing.
least i was pointed into the wind for going back to the ramp. my guess the waves were 3' or maybe 4', short duration, full white caps. stuffed the bow a couple times on the way back to the ramp. it was pretty darn exciting. got to the ramp and was lucky it was nice and protected, so had a easy retrieval. first time i'd ever gone into the ramp bay while making headway down the shoreline. just kinda slid it into the bay against the winds.

only damage to my boat was a good sanding, mostly starboard aft from the boat being hit sideways by the waves and rocking me back and forth for hours.

i know my story don't compare with you ocean going folks, but it's the best i can do. even for smaller waves, it was most exciting to say the least. i was the only fool on the lake that day too.

when i finally got trailered, i remember looking back out over the lake which was just plane white with white caps, thinking to myself. not a chance in heck i'd have took even a pwc out that day, let alone a boat.
was nice to find out what my boat can handle though... really gave the hardtop a good test too. i just can't say enough good for having a hardtop that day.

 

[jay_merrill]

Re: Biggest seas you have been in?

Don't feel "inferior," just because they were "small" lake waves. Lakes are typically very shallow and can get very nasty, very quickly. Its all relative to he boat that you are in and rapidly changing conditions on a lake can be extremely dangerous.

I live near Lake Ponchartrain, in Louisiana. The lake is large, but the average depth is only about 12 feet. We have to be very careful about weather conditions, because it can go from an easily navigated body of water to a very dangerous environment, in a hurry! I did a SAR several years ago, in which two people died, precisely because of this - they failed to pay attention to the forecast, left a launch ramp in the morning in calm conditions and then tried to return in the afternoon, after a frontal passage. The winds went from light to heavy in the space of a few hours and kicked the waves up significantly. They were probably only about 4 feet in height, but when you are in a 14 foot flat boat (as the victims were), those closely spaced and eratic 4 footers, are enough to swamp the boat easily.



???

 

[a70eliminator]

Re: Biggest seas you have been in?

I got a scare Thanksgiving weekend on the Great Lake Erie.

My buddy and I were anchored perch fishing about 3 mi. out. The forecast called for an east wind shift around late afternoon so I figured we would hit it early and be off the Lake by noon. We were having a good time and stayed out to long, the winds shifted and shifted right now! man you could actually see and hear it comming, I started the motor and powered towards my anchor keeping up with the slack, bumped it into neutral and retrieved the anchor over the bow, all the while my buddy I think was still reeling in his fishing line.
The lake went from a light chop to 4-5' whitecaps in less than a minute, the wind was port side comming in and I could look over and see the waves above my gunnals of my 16' fiberglass v hull, it my scariest time ever on Erie, I kept thinking "The winds of November came early".
Anyway we made it inside the breakwall (big time relief) the winds had died down a little and the Lake stabilized at waves 2-4' there were still many small boats 18-19' out there fishing.
I was weighted down too much to be comfortable under those conditions, my buddy weighs over 300lbs, I had my 6hp kicker hanging off the transom, 10gal fuel, cooler ice, I felt my boat wasn't quite up to the task.
I felt bad about breaking the party, the next my buddy said he didn't think it was so bad, I laughed and said "Now wonder I was so scared, had to be scared enough for the both of us". My buddy isn't a boater he's a musician lol.

 

[Mark_VTfisherman]

Re: Biggest seas you have been in?

I was on the ferry between Portland Maine and Shelburne/Yarmouth Nova Scotia and there were waves breaking over the top deck observation area. I got yelled at when I went out to look. Ahem.

The biggest in MY boat have been 3'+ sustained with rollers the broke over my bow which probably went 4'. IMPRESSIVE in a 14' MFG Niagara. Twice have been in 3 footers on Lake Carmi which is small enough you don't expect to see waves like that most days. I don't think was dangerous per se but coulda been/woulda been if you didn't pay attention. Closed bow helps.

I trolled all day at Canadarago in NY through 1-2 footers+ which wasn't bad but mostly just distracting and tiring.

So no heroic open water stories here...

 

[bowman316]

Re: Biggest seas you have been in?

I always worry about my boat getting beached when
i am sleeping over night. I was camping on this sand island at the head of the chesapeake one weekend. And low tide was in the middle of the night. At 2 in the morning I walk around the island, and most of the boats are completly out of the water. By morning they were floating again. There might have been 10 boats camping there that weekend.
I made sure to move my boat far out when low tide was comming in.
There is very little drop off on these islands, so 200 yards out it is still only a few feet deep. Which is why the tides really mess with you.
I always had nightmares about not being able to get my boat off the beach in the morning. And if it was ona lake with no tides, I would really be screwed.

 

[waju]

Re: Biggest seas you have been in?

I've been in 6ft seas in all the boats I've had (17ft runabout, 19ft cuddy and our 28ft). The last time was two years ago in our 28ft Bayliner while crossing the Straight of Georgia, traveling from Vancouver Island to the mainland. The winds were about 20 knots from the NW but were forecast to die down later in the morning. We headed out anyway and wanted to travel mainly NE. We were in I estimate 4ft waves with the odd 6ft in the middle. I had to zig-zag a bit so that I wouldn't be taking them on the beam. We were pitching and rolling pretty good and I thought that my wife would get sick. She was laying down in the V-berth, hung over from a party the night before. She told me the only problem she had was me yelling down to her asking her if she was alright. By the time we reached the other side, the only windows we could see out of was where the wiper is. The rest were full of salt. They eventually stopped forecasting the winds to die down.
It was a fun crossing and we were buzzed four or five times by a Canadian Maritime Patrol aircraft (CP 140 Aurora).

 

[itsaboattime]

Re: Biggest seas you have been in?

I'm not sure how tall the waves were but we hit a typhoon in 1987 while I was stationed on the Merrill. She was a Destroyer that was 563 ft long and 55 ft wide. I will say that I was on the helm on the mid watch and we were taking waves over the bridge windows. They were about 40 or 50 feet off the water. It was tough keeping her on course.

The frigates that were in our battle group were alot smaller and when I cought up with some of the guys stationed on one he told me that they should have been getting sub pay for that day!!

 

[npd4432]

Re: Biggest seas you have been in?

I took my 16.5 foot 1998 Seadoo speedster Jet Boat on vacation with me to Ocean City Maryland. Mostly stayed in the bay but did venture out into the Atlantic Ocean for a while. Boat handled it pretty good but gave me a headache as I was nervous, so we went back into the bay.

 

[cribber]

Re: Biggest seas you have been in?

Christmas day out on the Harris Chain of lakes. We were down in Little Lake Harris waiting out a storm the whipped up. Winds were gusting to 30 from the SW which really gets the waves rolling to about 4-5 feet if you're on the wrong end. Thought we were okay to follow the southern shore back to the ramp. Once the storm passed thru the winds shifted to the NW. We came around the point straight into 4-5 foot waves that were converging from multiple directions. Tried to get to the northern shore and was nearly rolled by a wave that was hidden from view. Decide best way out of there was nose the boat up and head straight into the wind. Got beat to death the 8 miles back to the ramp but we managed to stay dry.

 

[Aviator5]

Re: Biggest seas you have been in?

If forecast calls for 3' waves I won't even start my engines, 28" Wellcraft.
But if cought in the middle of it... hmm. Once I had to take apart my carburator, clean it up and put it back together in 6' seas, in front of my marina with wind pushing me toward the rocks, in my previous 21 footer, 5.0l merc.
Wouldn't idle, so I couldn't put it on gear and come in into marina. But now I'm a CAPITAN im my wife's eyes.

 

[Tscott8201]

Re: Biggest seas you have been in?

The worst I have been in was a trip from Tampa bay to Keys West on a friends 30' sloop. The night we left Tampa bay we hit 6'-8' waves. The captain and i were the only ones lucky enough not to get see sick in that trip. We spent 24 hrs straight on watch while the rest slept below. We were taking the waves over the bow and for probably 5 or 6 hours straight.

Later on the same trip we were sailing in a light mist. I was relieved of watch and went below to get some sleep. I was taking off my rain gear when all of a sudden the boat listed hard to port. It happened so fast that my friend who as sleeping in the midships rack was flung out of the bunk directly into the side of the folded down dining table. It was just like you see in the cartoons when the character slams into a wall and slowly slides down to the floor. It sucked for him but was kind of funny for me. I managed to claw my way back on deck, and poke my head out of the hatch. A squall had blown up with heavy winds from the starboard side while we were at full sail. It moved so fast no one saw it coming. When I got on deck I could not see anything outside of the open cockpit the rain was so heavy. During that storm, we nearly lost the main sail, and did some serious damage to the jib before we could get it furled.

Well to make a long story short, the damage the boat ended up being so bad that we had to call Sea Tow just outside of the Keys (we lost the diesel to a bad fuel pump) and had to be towed in. We spent new years eve tied to a fuel dock at a marina. It's OK though we made the best of it and spent the night drinking our selves into stupor at some bar called Fogarty's. I was 19 at the time I might add. God I love the Keys.


Tom

 

[Kiwi Phil]

Re: Biggest seas you have been in?

This is a post of mine when we discussed something similar back in 2004.
I think it was Sept-Oct 1971 this happened.
It is amazing how your memory changes over the years, as today I remember it differently to this post in 2004.
Cheers
Phillip




I was a soldier and due to my skills, or probably lack of them, I was exchanged with a Brit Navy Royal Marines Commando. He went to my unit, I to his.
I sailed in the HMS Albion, an old Pommy Aircraft Fleet Carrier with a straight thru flight deck, converted in to a Royal Marine Command Carrier. I recall there were a thousand or 2 of us idiots.
Anyway when we left Subic Bay for Hong Kong we struck, (or it struck us) a typhoon. Holy Mother of God, what a ride it gave us.I am no sailor and know nothing about ships, but every few minutes the ship would vibrate like all hell and get a rear end shimmy, which would stop dead, throwing you around. The PO told me it happenned because the props were coming to the surface as the nose dived and the sudden stop was when the bow rose and the fast spinning props bit back in. I took his word for it.
Most of the Commandos were in the rear Hangar in Multi tiered bunks.The spu use to wash across the floor. You could hear it comming, so you would grab a cot and pull yourself up so it went under neath. As for the smell, who cares, put up with it and get on with life.
I never got sick. The benefits were, no que for meals in the mess. There was no one there. the disadvantages were, those in good health got the "really" good jobs. Me, well I was put in the 40mm gun pit at the top of the island with a big big pair of binoculars. I think above the bridge. A merchant ship had put out a mayday/crew were in the water or something, and we were to look for them visually. Never saw a thing. Poor buggxrs.Anyway from our position from the gun pit, you could see the nose dive, and all this water race over/or up (can't recall) the flight deck, hit the bottom of the Island and come straight up. Absolutely amazing.They gave me one of those cots with sides that free wheel on single posts either end. I use to sleep with the light on, and watch one wall slowly come right around, then go down and the other wall come around from the other side. Every time i use to think to myself, this is it, its going right over.Anyway I ate well and often, and really enjoyed Wan Chai when we got it.CheersPhillip
__________________

 

[W_Guy]

Re: Biggest seas you have been in?

I was in my early teens and my father and I were invited out in a friends 17'er with a 40hp outboard. He had a place on the bay in Beach Haven, NJ. We went out the Barnegat inlet and ran up against swells I'd never seen before, (except for the Hawaii pipeline sufers videos). They started small, then just got bigger and bigger real fast. By the time they were at least 40'ers we got real scared and then at the bottom of one, the bow entered the wave and we seemed to stall a bit when the water came over us. Somehow, we stayed afloat and climbed the next swell at an unbelievable angle. It felt like we were going almost straight up. When we were just about at the top, he pulled a 180' and worked the throttle to try and stay there and we rode that wave back in for a while until we gained on it and ended up at the bottom. The bow drove into the bottom of the trailing swell again (second time we thought we were dead). He hit the throttle again and we managed to ride up on the back side of the top and follow it in to calmer water.
I remember his wife asking why we were back so soon and he just said it was too rough to go out. I never said a word. I guess he knew what he was doing.

 

[HopeSheFloats]

Re: Biggest seas you have been in?

.... I guess he knew what he was doing.

40'ers?...if you had a nose, you wouldn't need to guess what I would of been doing ....4-5'ers here were enough for me in my old 16'er.

 

[bowman316]

Re: Biggest seas you have been in?

i don't think he meant 40 ft waves, maybe 4-5 ft waves. You can surf a 16 ft boat in 4-5 ft seas. It can be fun if you are going with the wind

 

[HopeSheFloats]

Re: Biggest seas you have been in?

Yeah, I figured it may have been a typo, but still, just the same...LOL...let's say I still would of been dropping ballast

 

[W_Guy]

Re: Biggest seas you have been in?

Actually it wasn't a typo (or a tall story). That inlet will produce 30-40 foot swells with the right (wrong) conditions. I'd call them swells, not waves. They didn't have any breaking water at the tops. I recall vividly that the side of the swell was at least twice the length of the boat. It was very scary.