Crossing large wakes safely

[localboy]

The Lake Stevens thread got me pondering the negative impacts of large amount of water entering the boat.

On our return trip back from Sucia two weeks ago we came upon a Crowley tug, southbound, on the west side of Lummi Island. Anyone up here who's seen these tugs knows what I'm referring to. The tugs are large commercial tugs that displace a LOT of water.

This one was at least a 1/2 mile ahead and to starboard when I saw him. The wake he put out was AMAZING. I was doing a good 10 knots when I came upon it. I estimated 4' at least (from the rear) and breaking, like a wave, on top. I immediately slowed and followed it and decided to run parallel to it for a while. There were actually 3 individual wakes. After running parallel behind it for a while I decided to cross it, straight on the bow. By paralleling it we were actually moving in a heading AWAY from our intended destination, Bellingham Bay.

What an exciting adventure. Once the bow broke through the first wake I realized my size estimate was probably on the low side. The bottom of the boat fell away, burying the entire bow in wake #2 in the process. A green swarm of water overtook us, nearly up to the windshield. The anchor disappeared from view in the onslaught. Thank god both the hatch and the center window were closed tightly. The boat then began to list to port AND slide sidways, turning to starboard. For a split second I thought we'd take some water over our side. I punched the throttle, turned hard to port and punched through the second and third wakes. My wife's face was a combination of fear and shock followed by her laughing loudly. All kinds of equipment/supplies went flying on board and water ran into the port sliding front window off the roof.

So what did I do wrong?

[starcrafttom]

bought a boat?? just kidding. sounds like you did two things wrong. I cross over wakes from behind at a angle of 45 degrees. This is because that is the direction of the POWER in the wave. If you cross at a 90 degrees angle and the power in the wave hits you from the side it will try to roll you over. the other mistake is that you were not going fast enough. you need to move faster then the wave if you are going to over come it... Other then that I cant think of anything. I have seen other boats run between really big waves but you have to be fast. its running up thru the wake and then turning into the wave and running back thru the bottom of the roller until you are pass the front of the wave then turn out in front of the wave in clean water.

[captd]

Mark, you got a good 1st. Mate. A definite keeper. My Mate would not be laughing. I would not hear the end of it all the rest of the day.

That is an interesting question. Taking the wave at an angle will set you up for a broach. Head on will put some green water over the bow. Those are really your only choices that I can think of except to pass further away from the stern of that tug ( or sports fisher ). At the tail of those waves they are milder. We had a tv and coffee pot fly through the air from sports fishers 4 to 6 foot wakes.
Somtimes calling them on the radio is a wise choice. Most will slow down and allow you safe passage. Some will not. They are resposible for their own wake. Those tugger are a good bunch of guys and will usually work with you.

Our old 45 foot Chris use to put out 4 ft wakes. We always slowed even without requests for two reasons One for our comfort and two for theirs, the boat passing may put out a bigger wake than ours. It is hard not to get beat up in that case. It pays to talk ahead of time and make a deal.

Captd

[colobear]

Mark,

We all run into those wakes from time to time and we all have had similar experiences to yours some of us just "FORGET" we've done it.

I generally try to cross wakes about the way Tom describes, at a 45-60 degree angle and changing speed as I need to to be comfortable and keep control of the boat. Sounds like you were near a broach (sliding sideways into the trough and being caught broadside by the following wave), not a good thing. If I'm going to take a big wake head-on I will slow down then power up a little to crest the wave, then power down quickly to try to minimize the "green water over the cabin" type of thrill, then power up again for the next one and so on, usually there's just about 3 waves in a wake so you don't have to yo-yo. If all else fails you can just go to neutral with the bow into the wake and the C-Dory will bob letting the wake pass under it you can then get on your way again. Finally, you said you made your decision because you were heading away from your destination. Sometimes it is a better choice to go out of your way and stay safer as when the weather is really bad and you have to tack away from your track to be able to handle the really ugly waves.

As to having a problem like yours...I just can't remember doing anything like that!!

[mcc272]

I generally take waves at a bit of an angle as others have suggested. What that actually does is turn them into a longer period wave which makes them a little more gentle and reduces the risk of truely stuffing the bow. You do have to be real careful at the helm so that you do not slide out and broach. When I am about the take a large wave or wake like that, I steer and keep one hand on the throttle so as to be able to apply power quickly if I need it.

The other thing that you did, and that I always do religiously, is to keep the front window and front hatch closed. You never have time to close them when you need to and I always feel safer with them closed except when at anchor or in extremely calm conditions.

Jim

[20dauntless]

I've found it is best to approach large wakes at a perpendicular angle. Sometimes, however, this is not possible. Earlier this year I was heading into Twin Bridges. I was running around 18 knots, and an 80 foot Ocean Alexander was running about 16 knots and throwing up a massive wake. I caught up to it and attempted to go around, but the angles were not working out in my favor because of the narrow channel we were in. I ended up slowing down and following him in. While behind him there were quite a few boats that piled up behind him. It was also interesting to watch boats coming the other way bob up and down in his wake, and in some cases completely disappear behind it. One 24 foot Sea Sport vanished completely for a moment!

[thataway]

I generally do as Tom does--ride along the crest of the wave, and then work down the face, in the direction of the wave, then up on the second wave etc. Rarely would I go in at 90 degrees to the wake.

[T.R. Bauer]

You lived and your boat didn't sink. Everything went as planned. But if the wake is huge, breaking, and otherwise really scary, I am going bow first into it. Although I have (this is not for the faint of heart) in really huge crap to angle up to the top, and then turn into the breaking part as to knife through the braking part. Then on the down side, angle like you did going over it. It is NOT fun and on seas like this you really wish you were home. The rest of them, well I do what everybody else does. But, personally I think you were too close to the vessel ahead of you, and I think you were going too fast. Five minutes more behind the vessel (then you were) in the wake was probably half as big. They often dissipate fairly quickly.

[localboy]

[localboy]

Thanks everyone. Live and learn I guess. I can only get better with experience etc. I knew I did NOT want to "broach". I knew what is was (bad) but did not know the technical nautical term. Now I do. Filling up the cockpit or taking some water thru the open side windows would be a baaaaaaaaad thing.

I don't take chances out there. I am too inexperienced up here and have too much to learn. I live by "when in doubt, stay out" etc. In fact, the reason we were on the west side of Lummi is I was extremely uncomfortable going through the east side of the island via that little pass (after perusing the nautical charts) so we went the "long route" and encountered Mr Tug.

[starcrafttom]

The east side of lummis is just fine as long as you stay in the middle. towards the north end there is a reef that comes about half way out. too deep for a c-dory to hit but it puts up a good current at times. As you head south thru there do not turnleft between the south point of the main land and the first island ( cant remember the name) its really thin water in there. go south past the island and then turn left to bellingham.

[matt_unique]

As others have suggested it's about minimizing direct energy from the wake to your vessel. A good approach is 45 degrees to the wave/wake, think of it as trying to roll the bow over the wake first followed by the stern. Also, I suggest going as slow as possible but keeping the bow as high as you can and make sure you continue underway to maintain positive control. If you are going too fast you can launch off it.

I have a funny wake story. Long story short, last year I had a passenger board a 26' (30 passenger) transport in Boston. It was late and dark. While still tied to the dock the passenger asked if it's 'always this rough'. I mean we were moving slightly due to the fact that we were afloat but the inner channel was flat calm. I assured him he would be fine and would feel more comfortable once we got underway. He had never been on a boat before. Well wouldn't you know it....halfway through the harbor a Pilot Vessel was returning to port and came in FAST. I did not see the vessel nor the wake. The nervous passenger was on the phone when all of a sudden the bow went up, then went down with water coming over the top. It's a solid 4.5' to the top of the bow when underway in this particular vessel. For 5 seconds it was extremely rough. The guy in the back was screaming for his life. I'm not exaggerating a bit. It was funny in a way, talk about the irony of the single roughest wave I have ever seen inside the inner harbor with a first time nervous passenger, but I felt bad for the guy. I admit I had to control my laughter. I doubt this guy will ever get on a boat again. It was pitch black on this side of the harbor and you could see nothing but the lights on the other side.

[Hunkydory]

Maybe we're due, but as of the present never had a bad experience crossing a wake. Uncomfortable at times (to much speed was the culprit every time) but never a situation as described or anything near to what I would consider hazardous. I try to do as Matt suggested "a good approach with idea of rolling the bow over the wake first followed by the stern" and think it excellent advice.

Jay

[Byrdman]

Next time will be better, and, I bet ya close that little sliding window too.

Life is good.... Glad yall are OK....and your wife found humor. Sounds like another day of having fun, learing, laughing on your boat.

Keep on keeping on!!

Byrdman

[DKZ]

We boat on Tellico Lake in East TN. Recently a neighbor and his wife were on their 21' deck boat. His wife was lying on the forward seats just soaking up some sun. A large cruiser made such a big wake that it tossed the deck boat up, the women in front went up with it and when she came down she landed on the deck and broke her back. I dont know if the larger craft knew what they caused, but some parts of this lake are just too small for these large boats.