I was browsing the yachting magazines, passing the time between phone calls, when I spied this Yachting Monthly article on The UK's 11 fiercest tide races.
We up here in the PacificNW believe we have some fierce water. Reading the article and looking at the charts, I began to think about this is an issue where weather becomes an important factor in considering your sailing plans around inlets and tidal races.
For instance, New Jersey's Barnegat Bay Inlet can be a be a pussycat to transit from the safe bay waters and adventure in the Atlantic. But the pussycat can grow teeth and look angry should your morning departure on a slack tide have you returning to the evening ebb tide while you try to escape a building Easterly Squall.
While out on the Atlantic that Easterly will carry you over the moderate swell with plenty of time for your craft to ride down the wave and rise to meet the next wave.
But as you approach the inlet, just 0.75NM distance to pass through, you may look out and see large square waves that rise 6 or more feet in the air, breaking and look like there is no room between them.
That is what can happen when an out going tide meets an incoming sea being blown onto shore.
It is the time to don your PFD's, batten down the hatches and hold on. When you thoughts go to "I sure hope that motor starts and the fuel is clean".
The article shares some interesting strategies to deal with tidal races and foul seas.
What do you do when mother nature conspires to mess up your sail?
I hope you consider the weather in your planning.
The UK's 11 fiercest tide races - Yachting Monthly
Breaking waves and lurking rocks have earned some British tide races a fearsome reputation. Dag Pike explains how to navigate them
www.yachtingmonthly.com
We up here in the PacificNW believe we have some fierce water. Reading the article and looking at the charts, I began to think about this is an issue where weather becomes an important factor in considering your sailing plans around inlets and tidal races.
For instance, New Jersey's Barnegat Bay Inlet can be a be a pussycat to transit from the safe bay waters and adventure in the Atlantic. But the pussycat can grow teeth and look angry should your morning departure on a slack tide have you returning to the evening ebb tide while you try to escape a building Easterly Squall.
While out on the Atlantic that Easterly will carry you over the moderate swell with plenty of time for your craft to ride down the wave and rise to meet the next wave.
But as you approach the inlet, just 0.75NM distance to pass through, you may look out and see large square waves that rise 6 or more feet in the air, breaking and look like there is no room between them.
That is what can happen when an out going tide meets an incoming sea being blown onto shore.
It is the time to don your PFD's, batten down the hatches and hold on. When you thoughts go to "I sure hope that motor starts and the fuel is clean".
The article shares some interesting strategies to deal with tidal races and foul seas.
What do you do when mother nature conspires to mess up your sail?
I hope you consider the weather in your planning.