Video of cruise & mishap in Fords Terror Inlet, Alaska

[Pat Anderson]

Yeah, OK, that is fairly dramatic...and you want to do that one again, you say?

[BrentB]

I saved the video as wmv file.

You can click on the following link to retrieve your File. The link will expire in 7 days.

Link: http://www.yousendit.com/download/cj8kFakDp3k%3D

[ffheap]

One great video. Thank you.

Fred

[ORCA]

Hi

Great film....

Thank god, nothing happen to you guy's....


Regards Chris

[C-Pup16 in Los Angeles]

Glad you survived it and didn't end up crawling onto shore where the bears were! I can't believe your prop and lower unit on the outboard did't get wasted on rocks. Was the hull damaged? Keith, C-Pup16

[thataway]

Jay,
Thank you for such a delightful--and tragic ending--video clip. Beatifully done!

Marie and I took "Thataway" our Cal 46 into Ford's terror twice. It is one of our favorite places in Alaska. Since the Cal 46 is a 6 to 8 knot boat, with 5 1/2 foot draft, we timed our arrival at the entrance to be just before high slack. Well, there is no slack! We launched the RIB, and Marie handled the Cal, when I ran thru the entrance in the RIB--I quickly realized that there was no slack--it was already turning to ebb inside, although it was still flood at the outside, so I radioed Marie to start thru--and we had the RIB set up so we could put it aboard when underway with an electric winch over the transom. No problem getting thru, but there were two Kayakers who tried to make it, but could not make headway against the ebb half way thru and had to line the kayaks thru--complete with bear on the bank. We had gone past them, not realizing the difficulty they would face. Later we took the RIB up to the rapids, so see how much force and speed there was at full flood. We had a 12 1/2 foot Avon with a 25 hp--could do about 32 knots.
We could not make head way at a certain point against the flood--part was the wave pattern and part was the volicty of the current. I guessed that the full flood velocity was over 20 knots.

For those who have not been in Ford's Terror, it is a fjord with an entrance only about 100 feet wide and several hundred yards long of turbulant water. At low water, the depth is only about 2 1/2 feet and at high water that plus the tide--in the mid to high 20's deep. The fjord is about 30 miles long, with two arms at its extreme. One is steep and the other more gentle and we took the dinghy several more miles up the river at high water. We climbed the face near the waterfall--and hiked the back country up there. The walls of the fjord can be as muc as 1500 feet high and are sheer. We anchored in 100 feet of water just below the water fall--and the current kept the boat off of the banks.

The first time we spent 3 days in the fjord--and saw one charter boat and two kaykers--the second time we spent 7 days in the fjord and saw no other boats or people. Even ham radio was difficult to get signals out because of the high walls. It is an extremely isolated place.

We think it is one of the highlights of an Alaskian cruise--about 50 Miles S. of Juneau and 90 miles N. of Petersburg on Endocott Arm.

Ford's Terror is named after the naval crew member, John Ford, who, in 1889, rowed a dinghy into the narrow entrance of the fjord at slack tide. The tide began to rise, forcing its way through the bottleneck entrance into the fjord, and Ford was trapped in the turbulent currents for the next "terrifying" six hours. It was said that he could not talk for several days after the experience.

[Flyer]

Brent:

Thanks for the link, We also use a Mac.

Jay:

I appreciate the post. Fascinating. We were in Tracy Arm this summer but did not go to Ford Terror.

What would you do differently?

Rick

[Hunkydory]

All,

Thanks for the appreciative comments. Was a struggle to make and post this video. Your comments definitely made it worthwhile.

Pete (Adeline), Appreciate what you said, but I don't think its courage that takes us to unknown waters. Its what we live for. To do anything else would be only to exist. The following poem by Jack London, aptly describes our philosophy of life.

I would rather be ashes than dust
I would rather
that my spark should burn out in a brilliant blaze
than it should be stifled by dryrot.
I would rather be a superb meteor,
every atom of me in magnificent glow,
than a sleepy and permanent plant,
The proper function of man is to live, not to exist.
I shall not wast my days trying to prolong them.
I shall use my time.

I apologize if this sounds preachy. I know you meant courage as a complement.

The c-dory is fantastic, but if it wasn't often used to take us to explore these kind of places we would not be boating. Up until I was 51 I explored mostly by myself, on foot, horseback and canoe the most remote areas I could afford to go. Jo-Lee and our boys would go with me in the places and times they could. Now with the c-dory, Jo-Lee and I can go together in what we think is extreme comfort and explore places just as remote and beautiful as anywhere I have been before.

Salmon Slayer and Bob (Thataway), good to hear from others who have been there and experienced what this exceptional place has to offer those who are willing to accept the risk of going where you are entirely on your own. Bob, I especially enjoyed your description of the time spent there by you and Marie. Would love to hike up and look down and out where you and Marie did. Hopefully that will happen in the future.

Rick (Flyer), so what would I do differently now? Complacency is never good and I imagine its the root cause of many accidents. We did see the rapids ahead and were expecting an exciting ride. What we didn't expect was the 1st big hole and drop off. From up stream looking down the rapids appeared to be easily navigated. As the video showed the hole could not be seen until it was to late to do anything but work the throttles and steer, which I did. I cut the power just before and during the drop and when the bow dug in I gave power to it get it up and out and lower the stern. When coming out of the 1st hole cut power back then used just enough to maintain steerage through the rest of the rapids. After taking inventory of losses we turned around and went back up the rapids to see if we could look into the big hole. Couldn't make it that far... Just like looking down current could only see the rapid tops. This was actually the 1st real white water Jo-Lee or I had ever run in any boat. Bob, have you seen the rapids at a low ebb tide?

On the east side of the outer bay there is a channel that leads to a temporary anchorage and a place where I think I could land a dingy in the future to see just what these rapids look like at a low ebb tide. This is one of the things I would like to check out this spring.

So again, what would I now do differently? Hopefully be more cautious and thoroughly check out area before going through. Generally the 1st mate makes sure I do it that way.

Kieth (c-pup), 0 damage to props, lower unit and boat. We do have a survival kit containing sat phone, small gps and bear protection among other things. Also an evacuation plan, that includes what Jo-Lee and I will do if disaster does strike.

Jay

[JamesTXSD]

Another Mac user here who appreciates the link for the download... even though I knew what was coming by reading the other posts, it still made my butt pucker. We've run white water on the Snake River before... in a raft, not a C-Dory! Some of those holes look like jumping over the side of a building.

Sorry to hear you lost some stuff, but so glad you two came out of it in one piece. Great adventure! Also, I really appreciated that poem from Jack London.

Thanks for the great post.

Best wishes,
Jim B.

[Larry H]

What to do differently?

Close and lock the front window and hatch!! And close and latch the side windows!

[Squarehead]

Thanks for the video, great scenery & what an ending!

[SEA3PO]

Wow !!! Sue and I were watching the clip and even though I kinda knew what was coming it was like a horror show when ya dove in... Yeow !!

You guys really impressed me with your storys and pictures of your travels when we were at Lake Powell....Ya did it again...

Glad you diden't get hurt... or worse..

Joel
SEA3PO

[oldgrowth]

[Hunkydory]

[Hunkydory]