Sailboat breaks up and sinks at Barnegat Inlet NJ

Scott T-Bird · Oct 15, 2011

I was working at a beach front property in Long Branch on Thursday and the day was remarkable for how overcast and misty it was all day and the ocean was far more churned up than normal.

I doubt it was a good day for running a bad inlet.

Ed Schenck · Oct 15, 2011

Because crew(now wife) was new we overnighted down the Jersey coast. First into Manasquan, then Barnegat, next Atlantic City, before arriving at Cape May. So in addition to waves and tide we were going in with the fishing fleet. Add wakes from fifty footers racing to be first in to the mix!! We saw SOG going in over 10 knots.

Rich Stidger · Oct 15, 2011

I lived in NJ and are familiar with the coast and some inlets. Manasquan is OK, requires close attention and much care. Atlantic City is easy, as is Cape May.

Barnegat- will never do that one. Bad reputation, requires local knowledge that I don't have.

sailaway78 · Oct 15, 2011

One of the worst ever

I was somewhat surprised at the inlets on the Atlantic coast when I came down through there a few years ago. One of the worst was Atlantic city. I didn't run off far enough before I made the turn in. Had 6 t0 8 footers breaking on the beam. No fun at all.

Ed Schenck · Oct 15, 2011

I remember that Phil. Coming down the coast toward AC I noticed the water all roiled up out from the inlet. Nothing on the chart but I went way out and straight in just to be safe. So you went through that?

Rich Stidger · Oct 15, 2011

Re-thinking this issue- the NJ inlets can be easy or hard depending upon the exact sea conditions.

My experience is likely to be different from others.

FourPoints · Oct 15, 2011

Never been through barnegat, but rounding cape may a few days ago we had SOG of 11kts, And the water looked like it was boiling... not some place I would want to be after dark, in bad weather, or without an experienced person onboard.

BillyK · Oct 15, 2011

FourPoints said:
Never been through barnegat, but rounding cape may a few days ago we had SOG of 11kts, And the water looked like it was boiling... not some place I would want to be after dark, in bad weather, or without an experienced person onboard.

The ocean side inlet at cape may can be as bad as most depending on the conditions.. I've gone through very dangerous conditions there that I really shouldn't have been in..

TomY · Oct 15, 2011

but I fear not. I've been following a restoration of a sister ship of mine, 38' alden challenger yawl. The man and his family have put a lot of time and money into the boat. The boats name is Ode To Joy and hales from NY.

Here's his blog. http://odetojoyyawl.blogspot.com/

RichH said:
Tide against wind can be a problem along the Atlantic Coast, especially when 'shooting inlets'.

Although much improved over the years, the notorious Barnegat Inlet in NJ remains a 'bitch' because of the cross-currents at the 'entrance bar' ... and the entrance jetties that submerge at near high tide. The problem with these inlets is that you cant see over the backs of waves as you enter to see the 'washing machine' in the throat of the inlet ... until its too late to turn back out.

http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2011/10/coast_guard_rescues_4_people_f.html

Salty · Oct 15, 2011

I went through Barnegat inlet about 6 years ago and remember grounding on the trough of a wave for a brief moment. Fortunately, it was brief and we were able to get out with no other problems. It can get real nasty at that inlet.

sinnettc · Oct 15, 2011

Oh man, if that's the same boat in the blog they'd only been in the water for about a month. And maybe they were newbies . . . " In the first hour I put a huge scratch in hull topside paint on steel sides of launch pit, confirming my decision not to paint the topsides till I learn to park boat." Sad regardless.

Tim R. · Oct 16, 2011

Call went into CG at 7:20pm. Sounds like they were trying to beat darkness. They should have just kept sailing or hove to until daylight and better conditions.

Such a waste of a beautiful boat. Hopefully the owner had insurance.

TomY · Oct 16, 2011

Tim R. said:
Call went into CG at 7:20pm. Sounds like they were trying to beat darkness. They should have just kept sailing or hove to until daylight and better conditions.

Such a waste of a beautiful boat. Hopefully the owner had insurance.

Yes it is, breaks my heart. Looking at the chart, the submerged jetty shows as a dotted line. The inlet has a reputation as being dicey in poor conditions.

We may never know what happened much less what was going on, onboard the boat.

Ed Schenck · Oct 16, 2011

Dumb me, just now made the connection between the sinking and Kris' original post and link. Now I am really upset! How could you deal with spending so much time and effort and lose it like that? Wonder if we will see it salvaged. I hope so.

TomY · Oct 16, 2011

Ed Schenck said:
Dumb me, just now made the connection between the sinking and Kris' original post and link. Now I am really upset! How could you deal with spending so much time and effort and lose it like that? Wonder if we will see it salvaged. I hope so.

Sorry my post didn't carry the title, I'm not sure why that happened there Ed.

I wondered about a salvage as well. The spare report had it "breaking up", not sure if that's the case though.

How do you do you deal with all the time spent suddenly gone? I'm not sure. I had a very close call with my boat sinking about 10 years ago. We had water over the cabin cushions but were able to run it up on a shore, luckily at near high tide. It was pretty traumatic(especially for my family) but I never once thought I wouldn't be able to save the boat.

During the tide change, I made repairs and floated it off later and got the boat to a travelift.

To look back and see it below the water on the rocks, would have been a whole different experience.

Then there is the fact that insuring a boat like mine or this one, it's tough to get the insurer to cover what you really have in it opposed to the value of the boats in todays market. At any rate, the owner will never recoup his time.

Ed Schenck · Oct 16, 2011

Not your fault Kris. I didn't remember the name from the original story. I wondered about the connection and should have guessed. I also wonder about their experience. Big difference sailing on the Hudson compared to Atlantic inlets.

My other inlet experience was at Manasquan when the fishing boats were bouncing us around(and stirring up the fuel). The engine quit right at entry. First time the new motor had ever hiccuped, now what? Called BoatUS, popped out the yankee(jib), and managed to sail away. By the time BoatUS arrived I had the Racor changed. Still they accompanied me most of the way. And never asked for a member id(I do have one).

Maine Sail · Oct 18, 2011

The Rest Of The Story

This was posted by the owner of Ode To Joy on our sister forum.

Ode To Joy said:
I am owner and skipper of sunken vessel Ode to Joy. I came across this thread today, and thank you for the knowledgable and kind remarks. As a mariner, I offer this explanation that you may learn from my mistake.

We arrived at Barnegat Inlet from North about 430 pm, last Thursday after long day sailing down from NYC. Winds were easterly, moderate 10-15 knots, lumpy rough seas, mist and light rain. Low tide, just before slack. In last 30 minutes before arrival, visibility decreased to less than 1 mile as fog thickened, and we dropped all sail but a heavily reefed jib and proceeded under power.

We had paper charts, handheld GPS, and electronic charts on Ipad. All placed us at Barnegat. No radar or chartplotter. We were close inshore, moving cautiously, 4 knots and saw rocks of North Jetty dead ahead in heavy fog. Steered offshore to find entrance markers and lost sight of land. No longer any sight of North, South Jetty, land or markers. Then saw two marks dead ahead in fog. Captain made error of making these marks fit his mental picture: entrance markers. These were not the entrance markers, but were white buoys over submerged North jetty, not shown on my (old) paper charts. Went between the marks and struck the submerged portion of North jetty at 5 knots. Engine stopped and water rose quickly. Ground off the North rocks and carried into the inlet, and attempted to sail in under jib. Water gained quickly. Made Mayday call, Coast Guard responded with amazing speed and professionalism, crew left foundering boat carrying nothing. Boat was carried to rocks of South jetty, settled by the stern until only masts were visible, and quickly began to break apart in waves on the rocks. All crew performed with poise in a moment of great uncertainty. We are much in debt to the response of the US Coast Guard crew at Barnegat Light.

Accident was due to inexperience of skipper, crucial mistake in identifying channel markers, urge to complete voyage to known difficult port in marginal conditions to arrive at destination at stated time, compounded by bad visibility, and low tide. Fatigue of crew due to seasickness was a factor in judgement and in desire to make port.

Bill Coxe · Oct 18, 2011

Barnegat has become a routine stop North and South, but our first encounter scared the bejeeziz out of us. our last encounter was in dense fog, picked up the "Monument" at about 75 feet, which is entirely too close for compfort, but the inlet conditions were the about the calmest I'd ever seen. Navigated almost entirely by GPS and stuff was where we expected it to be. Sorry about your experience. We never did see the markers for the entrance until we were actually in the inlet, and my GPS showed a redmarker where I knew there wasn't one. We'll go back again.

Sailboat breaks up and sinks at Barnegat Inlet NJ

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