Rage

[All U Get]

Hi all,

While sitting poolside waiting for the "Superbowl" much of the cruising crowd here were discussing their boat projects and departures. One topic seemed to cause a little anxiety in the crowd and of course peaked my interest. There is a local phenomenon called a "Rage" which develops from distant storm swells combining with the local tide, wind, and waves getting choked through the narrow passages. These can become very violent but don't affect every passage the same.

Have any of you had to wait out these surges and in what particular area?

All U Get

 

[topcat0399]

I've lived something like that in canoes in times and places I probably shouldn't have been but the matter of scale compels me to thought experiments.

I hear there are some places that fit your description in the Vancouver Island area.
Someday I plan to see for myself.

 

[Stu Jackson]

There's a "popular" one north of Marsh Harbor. I forget the name, could be Green Turtle Cay. When we were there in 1994, we wanted to sail north. The week before, when we were in a house on land, there were torrential storms all week long. The sun finally broke through when we got our boat and the week was wonderful, but we couldn't head north because of the Rage at one of the openings to the ocean. It's quite a well known occurrence.

 

[Gunni]

The inlets at Whale Cay, you have to go out and back in to get up (or down) the Abacos from Marsh Harbour. It is not just storm wave interference, it is tide flow opposing wind.

 

[Brian S]

I know that this will forever mark me as an 80's New Waver, and probably a bit obscure at that, but all I can think of is:

 

[All U Get]

The inlets at Whale Cay, you have to go out and back in to get up (or down) the Abacos from Marsh Harbour. It is not just storm wave interference, it is tide flow opposing wind.

Thanks Stu and Gunni. I just talked with a new friend from Canada who sailed the area and Whale Cay is what he said also. He also gave us a nice review of the places they had been to both North and South of that area. We'll spend some more time looking over the charts.

All U Get

 

[heritage]

Tom Neale covers the subject in detail: http://www.soundingsonline.com/boat-shop/sea-savvy/286554-the-ins-and-outs-of-running-inlets. I first read about Rage in Vans Sant's cruising guide. It's a term the locals used to describe the inlet to Georgetown, Bahamas. It's a fairly wide inlet that normally is straightforward to navigate even when the tides are flowing. But a large swell can cause things to go crazy,, thus a Rage.

 

[Bob 04 H260]

From my experience in the Bahamas a rage occurs when the wind driven waves are in opposition to the tide. This results in standing waves. Very confused washing machine type of experience. It is a big problem when it occurs in a cut used to enter or exit the Banks with large ocean waves.

The Whale Cay passage (west bound), leaves the Little Bahamas Banks through a cut to the ocean, then enters the Sea of Abaco through the Old Ships Channel. The old ships channel was abandoned by a cruise ship company because the passage was too dangerous. Steve Dodge (http://www.wspress.com/index.php/the-cruising-guide-to-abaco-2016.html) call it the most dangerous cut in the Bahamas with more boats and lives lost than any other. I was told the reason is because the water transitions so quickly from a couple of thousand ft to 25 ft. The energy in these deep water waves can create some very dangerous waves in the much shallower water. In addition the Old Ships Channel has some of the old steel marker posts broken off at or just below the surface of the water, best to stay in the middle of the channel . We are always cautious transitioning this passage. Once on a very calm day we suddenly had a 20 ft wall of water appeared right in front of our boat. We braced, but the boat just climbed over it and down the other side, big anticlimax. Going up the wall all we could see was blue sky.

Bob
View media item 21588

 

[Stu Jackson]

Hey, Bob:

...and coming down...????

Going up the wall all we could see was blue sky.

 

[Bob 04 H260]

Hey, Bob:

...and coming down...????

Stu, Going down all we could see was blue water ! We have heard boats in this cut have been picked and dropped on their keel driving it through the bottom of the boat, sinking in minutes. I have no idea if it's a local legend or has happened.

 

[Stu Jackson]

Wow. The nicest part, though, is that you were actually THERE. We enjoyed our trip in '94 even though the weather the first week was miserable. We were only a 1/2 mile from great snorkeling area, but it was exposed to the north which is where the wind was coming from. Didn't work at all. The house was out on an exposed tip of land NE of Marsh Harbor. Great if we only had had windshield wipers on the living room windows!!! Once we got the boat the second week after the storm passed by we sailed a lot, got used to the skinny water: figured they wouldn'ta rented the deep keel boats out all the time if they were going to get stuck repeatedly! Never did touch bottom.

 

[Charlie Jones s/v Tehani]

Yes, Exumas DO NOT ignore them

 

[MrBill_FLL]

Abaco rage,
just love that boat.

 

[Biobob Catalina 27]

Don't know if from the same concept, but about 1980 when living on Guam, running an amateur radio net, there was a very large swell type wave system that hit Majuro area with no apparent storms anywhere nearby, the belief at that time was 2 storms one near Hawaii and don't remember where the other was that combined to create the large swells to the island, the swells being 6' or more hitting an island that has the tallest point about that hight. Thankfully it was not a recurring common situation.
Just curious, Google lists the Pacific Inter Island net 14.315 0800Z still active, it's been about 35 years ago that I moderated it from Guam, haven't been on HF for a long time, anybody know is it still active?

 

[Gunni]

See, that's the thing about the Bahamas, they are too far north to escape the same chilly cold fronts that plague Florida this time of year. And when the winds go north, the crossing is closed off.

Anyone see the news about that cruise ship out of New Jersey (Wart of the Seas, or somesuch) which decided to sail their schedule even though a Nor'easter had formed on the route. Imprudent mariners extend to the bridge of cruise ships! They scared the bejeezus out of their lubberly passengers, went on lock down, and returned to home; undoubtedly with more than a few promising to never set foot upon the sea again. So there is that.

 

[MrBill_FLL]

Most of the cuts/inlets in So Fla have this problem, but not as bad as whale cay.

Typical E winds, with outgoing tides, stacks up the waves in the inlet.

fwiw, a Catamaran dive boat flipped killing 2 in Hillsboro inlet a few years back.

 

[Pat]

We experienced something like this coming into Stonington, Ct. harbor. We had sailed over to Fisher's Is. and back and did
realize the north wind was picking up when we departed Stonington, but the tidal flow returning to the harbor combined with the strong north winds made for a wild ride with a lot of tense minutes getting back into Stonington harbor & the protection of land...seriously bothered me, although we did get in fine...I was at the helm...I'm not sure it was 'rage' .but we did some serious crashing, causing my distress. ...maybe there is another term for this condition. Once inside the entrance to the harbor we did get back to the mooring with no problem.

 

[All U Get]

We always try to time our passages around Fisher's Island and Buzzards Bay to be with wind and tide. You get some nasty water if you don't.

All U Get

 

[gettinthere]

The problem with Whale Cay passage is that you have to run beam to the open ocean. Its one thing to run a straight inlet with or against the seas. But a big magnitude more dangerous when you have to run into the seas and then turn beam to what might be very large breaking waves. When cruise ships find it too dangerous, it's serious!

 

[ifmdalvey]

Up here in frozen Maine -25C today, we have a couple of spots that can get very uncomfortable. The entrance to the Kennebeck river beside Sequin Island is one that we have to pass regularly. This is a large river with a lot of water flowing out and if the SW breeze picks up while the tide is flowing out it will get extremely rough and choppy. We will go on the outside of Sequin just to get past it it in deep open water.