On the wrong side of the surf.

B

Bill3558

New member
The wife and I were cruising along the outside of Wassau Island this morning, just enjoying the view from 100 yards off the beach. We saw something odd that grabbed our attention. It looked like a guy in kayak but he wasnt moving and we were concerned.

I headed in for a closer look. We are both trying to figure out what was that on the beach. Got a little closer....

It turned out to be just some junk, but as I turned my attention from the beach I see a 5 foot breaking wave on our port side.

:shock:

Beth was thrown to the floor. I am sure the boat is going to go over. Instead it heals over to starboard what felt like 60 degrees and starts riding the wave sideways towards the beach. The wave flattend out and the boat righted itselft in 12 inches of foamy water. I goosed the engine and the got the bow pointing the right way with the engine bumping the bottom. Here came another wave that breaks right over the bow, but bless its bouyant heart it Pluto pushed thru it and got us to deeper water.

Holy Moly that was exciting. There was 4 inches of water in the cockpit, which had come over the side as we slide sideways but it pumped right out.

No damage to the boat or engine. Beth has bruised knees and I have a bruised ego, but what a great forgiving little boat. It came thru in spite of my stupidity.
 
That gets the adrenaline going! All of us who have boating long enough have some exciting tale--and that is going to be yours for a while! Sure glad you pulled thru it with no damage. If that had been a number of open boats the outcome could have been entirely different.

Good, quick thinking!
 
Exactly what was Capt. DumbAss trying to spot on the beach? One minute he's snatching the binoculars from me and the next minute sea water is high-pressure spraying through the window and I'm tumbling on the cabin floor!
First thought: Where is a #$%& lifejacket?
Next thought: We're rolling over!
Third thought: If we make it out alive, I'll kill him!
Final thought: Thank heaven for a stable, enclosed boat.
Sincerely,
Mrs. Capt. DumbAss
 
This is a good testament to the stability of these boats, they are amazing, but I don't think I want to find their LIMIT. Thanks for the story and details, might help someone else someday, who knows?
 
Can you top this.??
Boat anchored crossway off Kaligin Isl.; Cook Inlet in 3-4' chop fishing for halibut. Four adults aboard. Me at 300 lbs., son John at 260 lbs., friend Leonard at 275 lbs. and wife at xxxx lbs.
Leonard caught & I shot a 251 lb. halibut. It was too heavy for us to lift into the boat so we used my port side mounted davit with a cathead winch. Halibut hanging with nose at the block but tail in the water. I lassoed the tail and started to lift and swing it into the boat. A wave hit us broadside, the halibut swung instantly all the way into the boat knocking us all off of our feet to the deck on the stbd. side and the 251 lb fish fell on top of all. We all had the same thoughts as Mrs. Capt. DumbAss did. My friend anchored nearby(in another 22 CD) said it looked like a trophy kluster f--- to him but the boat only leaned over about 45 degr. and righted instantly. Did not even get any water in the boat.
1246 lbs. of flesh falling on one side of a pitching/rocking boat and there was no big deal to it other than a big mess.
Now you can calculate my wifes weight..........ha.
The low center of gravity and deep side boards came into play for sure. Great boat and safe also.
 
WOW!!!

First of all I'm glad to hear you both are OK considering (most important part) and second thanks for sharing.

Did I mention glad you're OK? Hope the knees heal well.

John
 
Bill,

Thanks for posting this and sure glad you are okay!

In kayaking we say "never turn your back to the ocean". It is real easy to get caught by an unexpected wave.

This reminds me of a similar incident. I was driving through an housing area. A man crossed the street ahead of me and as I approached he started making strang gestures. I was looking at him trying to figure out what he was doing. Just as I got close I saw a dark shape approach my van from the left -I slammed on the brakes but it was too late. His dog hit the side of the van.

He had been trying to keep his dog from following him across the road!
The dog was okay and the owner paid to repair my van. What really stuck me was that my attention was diverted from what was important for those few seconds. If it had been his child it could have been tragic.

I try to remember this and tell myself if something looks strange then scan your surroundings.

Bill, If you had the video it would probably be better than Hunky Dory's Fords Terror video.

Steve
 
Quite a few years ago we were on the beach in Virginia. I was wading out into the surf and had my glasses on. My wife said to take the off. Just about this time two very well built ladies were walking into the surf. I turned my back to look-you guessed it I got dumped real bad. I started to laugh so not only did I loose my glasses, but a partial plate to boot.

NEVER TURN YOUR BACK ON THE OCEAN

Fred Messerly
 
That story reminded me of an incident I had... one night when I was hoop netting for some bugs @ malaga cove in p.v. I only had the boat out like 3 times and it was my dad and brother's 1st time out.. Cold and dark only 2 other boats out ..one was my father n law's .... for some reason I just left my radio on and I was retrieving a couple of nets I left in the shallows ( appox 30 yards from shore) out of no where my father n law calls me on the radio and tells me to hurry up and get the f--- out of there fast...lucky my bow was facing towards the surf I gunned it full throttle and I heard my dad yelling and my brother falling I was head on with what look like a 6-7 foot wave ready to break....I had no time to think but just go full throttle fwd .,...If someone took a pic it would of look like the factory guy's pic @ the colombia river.. We barely made it and launch the NEEANDA what seemed like slow motion in the air and I saw nothing but the stars in the sky as we were flying off the waves back and then the dory slammed down hard ...My dad was yelling wtf was that and huge sets of more waves were comming but we were now far from any waves breaking on us...It was knarly.....My father n law until this day always break my balls of that night!!I learned a lesson that night and that was "NEVER TURN YOUR BACK ON THE OCEAN!!"CHEER'S
 
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