Low tide, Shallow water, boating

[acdc96]

The other day I went out at dead low tide. My boat sits on the mud at low tide but it's a decline down to the water so I can push the boat to the water. Then paddle to the main creek. The boat drafts 2-4 inches with the motor up and depending on gear and people. Motor down I think about 1 foot.
I paddled with my boat hook pushin the boat to the main creek that's about 500 ft from my dock. It's about 4-6 inches at low tide. The main creek is a 1ft deep. Started up the motor and blasted down the creek doing 25mph towards the major river. The inlet to my creek is very shallow and you have to go really fast to not hit bottom. Only able to go down the creeks at low tide in a low draft boat with a big motor. I go down a secondary creek to head to the mouth of the river (shortcut). I look behind me and a guy in a penn yan cabin cruiser maybe 20-25 ft long decides to follow me down the creek. Now, this creek is only about 1.5ft deep. I get on my VHF and radio the guy. No response. I stop my boat in the inlet to the creek and turn around to warn the guy he's gonna hit bottom if he goes down that creek. He said it was fine and he had a tunnel drive but I still advised him to go down the main river. I went my way down the creek with him following. I lost sight of him and fished at the mouth for a hour before I had to head back. I went down the same creek and saw the guy out of his boat with a shovel trying to dig out his boat. I told him to dig out the prop shafts and set the anchor and wait a few hours for the tide to roll in.

I swear people don't know how to navigate in low tide situations. I've been warned before and I take that advise into consideration.
Anyone else seen or been in that sorta situation?

I've hit sand bars and got my motor stuck in the mud or sand.

 

[edthearcher]

Re: Low tide, Shallow water, boating

i like this funny,

 

[Home Cookin']

Re: Low tide, Shallow water, boating

I assume this is in your jon boat and not your sterndrive? another example of the superiority of outboards.

Somehting like that? I rescued a 80+ man and his son (friends of mine) off a mudflat they skidded up on, at falling tide, with 30 mph winds, 25* and blinding snow. They had to leave their boat and all their gear including guns for a couple of days due to logistics in the area. It was a close call for them, as I was the only other boat out there. Only as in only. No sea tow and even coast guard 10 miles away could not have gotten to them, much less found them.

I do lots of low tide boating and have had my share of running out of water. it takes knowledge, skill, and high-risk attitude. But I am always over soft bottoms where there's typically no harm done from a miscalculation other than long waits. I have tremendous respect for falling tides and am fearless on a rising tide. No one ever rides on the bow or the gunwales.

I have never heard of carrying a shovel on a boat. It's not like 4 wheeling; digging is seldom the solution.

ACDC, a boat hook is not a good tool for poling. A shove pole with a duck-foot is the best and is the second most important piece of equipment where I do my shallow water boating. An oar--not a paddle but an oar--is the next best thing. A paddle is OK.

The worst (and very dangerous) way to get stuck, which I have encountered once, avoided for 45 years, but see often, is when you hit bottom on a flat on a windy day, pull up the motor and blow across the flat. you can seldom get back to water deep enough to drop the motor, and when you do, as soon as you stop shoving, you blow back to the shallows. I helplessly watched my dad once struggle with this from another boat with no way to go help him.
It's dangerous b/c often the chop blows against the transom, splashing in and eventually swamping the boat, so you can't get off. Then nightfall and you die of exposure. A major threat to wintertime boaters such as duck hunters, as is the falling tide at the end of daylight.

Running over shallow water helps get a loaded boat up on a plane due to water pressure and you also get a little lift from it. Low speed planing is an art, as is leaping up from shallow water.

Your prop must be stainless steel for this environment.

Some folks would say we're crazy.

 

[acdc96]

Re: Low tide, Shallow water, boating

Home Cookin'
Yep I use my aluminum boat in shallow waters. I wouldn't take my sterndrive in waters below 7ft cause my boat drafts 5ft.
I use the boat hook for pushin with the current. It's a aluminum rod with a plastic hook about 8ft long. I use the other end not the hook end. The reverse sucks on both my Nissan and Force so if I can't get off a beach or something I take out my trolling motor or my trusty yamaha 2hp mount it next to the big motor wade the boat out into deeper water, start the motor and hang on to the side of the boat or transom till I'm in deeper water then hop in the boat or get on a nearby dock. It sounds crazy but it works in case of emergency.

I'm that kinda guy who will take a few risks every once in awhile.

Crazy is my middle name on the water

 

[Home Cookin']

Re: Low tide, Shallow water, boating

then you will love a shove pole or an oar. try it.

 

[acdc96]

Re: Low tide, Shallow water, boating

I have a couple paddles on the boat but their two short to do that only 3 ft long.
I'm gonna try to find a nice stick to make a push pole. I don't want to really buy anything... I'm in the middle of making a long tail mud motor but that is going really slowly. Using a 3.5hp Briggs & Stratton engine.

 

[Mel Taylor]

Re: Low tide, Shallow water, boating

I've never used a push pole but I knew a guy once who made one from a telescoping aluminum extension handle for a paint roller and swore by it. It was a heavy duty handle from one of the major paint stores and I believe it telescoped up from about five feet to about eight or nine feet long.

 

[Home Cookin']

Re: Low tide, Shallow water, boating

paddles don't work for shoving like an oar does. Green bamboo can work, but not after it dries. a straight hickory, gum, or better, ash tree trunk is good and carve the end with a beaver tail for steering and sculling. For mud bottoms, though, the duck foot is best. You can buy just the foot and add it to a pole.

We have a fiberglass pole at the hunt club we've had 30 years but I haven't seen any around for sale anywhere.

 

[ssoper]

Re: Low tide, Shallow water, boating

Banded Push Pole Adjustable Boat Pirogue Duck Bill Fishing Marsh GOOSE Decoy New | eBay

 

[Captain Caveman]

Re: Low tide, Shallow water, boating

He said it was fine and he had a tunnel drive...

Usually that sentence is preceded by a statement such as 'It's okay, I'm an engineer/doctor/lawyer/etc'.

I've been warned before and I take that advise into consideration.
Anyone else seen or been in that sorta situation?

I tend to enjoy letting stubborn people make mistakes. It's the unspoken satisfaction of 'I told you so'