pucker factor

YEOW!! On a fun scale of 1 to 10, that looks like a MINUS 4! :shock: The boats look like they are built to do the job... pretty sure the cockpit on our boat wouldn't unload that water fast enough! :crook
 
The notes on the video say that the boats are going out of a river (and over a river bar, presumably, and thus from a harbor) during a flood tide/current, but it looks to me like they're trying to get back into the harbor over the bar during a max ebb (from the water movement, wind direction, and having only ocean behind them, no land.)

No worse combination than shallow river bar, max ebb river flow, and incoming wind from the sea! The wind and current stand the waves up, and the shallow depth makes them break! A Widow Maker, at its worse!

Experienced sailors can see and read the wind, waves, and current flow very quickly from visual clues, and also know enough to avoid situations like this.

The US Coast Guard closes travel over the bar(s) in situations like this, as some people with poor judgment would otherwise try to run it anyway!

This is an "E-Ticket" Ride, where "E" stands for "Exterminator"!

Joe. :teeth :thup
 
Cockpit is way above the waterline and there are huge scuppers, that's how the water gets out so fast! I've seen some Coasties out over the Columbia Bar (Capt Disappointment) doing 360degree rollovers. Not a maneuver to be taken lightly :shock:

Charlie
 
our cockpit would allow the resultant poo running down my leg to drain fast enough :) The scary thingis the following sea, it looks like that black vessel nearly broached a few times. It looks to be plum sideways at one point...yowzer

Boy howdy Mike, I'll bet the CR bar is quite a sight lately. We where going to go clam digging over the holliday but aborted on that plan.

yup, it does look like they are coming in against a max ebb. It's nothing like the video but, a place you don't want to be on a big ebb as the swells are big, steep and close together is
58*13' 33.30n 136*21'34.64w you get all that water draining out of glacier bay, and beyond colliding with a bumpy ocean and a west wind...yeehaw, hang on
 
The "full flood" may refer to the flood stage of the river.

There is no "cockpit" in this type of fishing boat--they are flush deck, with the hatches top raised off the deck, and all doors dogged and gasket sealed.
 
The "full flood" may vary well be the river stage too. The color of the water and the debris support that. Hard to tell from this video but on the wide shots it appears that there would be room to go around that particular "ruff" spot. Another thing. Even given that the video is shot with pretty long lenses, those two boats are nearly on top of one another. If the first one had broached the second one would have been on top of it, with no way or room to maneuver. I would want a bit more breathing room. OR not be there at all, --OH YEA, that would be my first choice. (Needed, emoticon for SERIOUS pucker face. :shock:

Harvey
SleepyC :moon
 
Most likely the area which appears smoother is a shoal area. Granted that they look close, but as you say a very long telephoto lens. Definitely an inlet anyone would rather not run in those conditions.

When we were going in several inlets on the West Coast of Portugal, fishing boats waited for us, so we could follow them in, and avoid unmarked shoal spots over a rough bar. It also helped with our timing, in that the fisherman knew the inlet and precisely when to go. We stayed one wave set back. The other option is to stay at sea--these guys have a catch to get in, and may not have the fuel to stay at sea.
 
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