Rough day at the Inlet.
 

Took my nephew out for some fishing today. Boat ran fine from the ramp about 7 miles to the inlet. Tide was running out, wind was blowing in. Waves were stacked out about 5ft and close. A Coast Guard boat was hanging out behind the riprap in sheltered water.
I was determined to get out so I went for it, bumped the tilt up a bit so's not to take any waves over the bow. It was pretty hairy but, I figured once out it would be a lilttle calmer. Made it out. No sweat. Got another fifty yards and ...the motor cut out!!!! aaaccckkk. wind turned the bow sideways to the waves. We started rockin'. I jumped into freak out mode and got the kicker cranked and running full blast in forward. ( 6hp) No way I was gonna head on out so I headed back in. Made it
about 20 yards with a following sea right on my stern
till the tide caught me and then I was in a holding pattern....then the sailor in me said " Hoist the mainsail"...(Biminitop). I rasied it from it's down position and set it towards the front with the boathook holding it up. WHEW. Twix the motor and sail I was able to make headway back thru the inlet. The CG boys all gave me a thumbs up and motioned if I needed help. I shook my head no. I sailed and motored for a couple miles till I had to make a hard right, took down the bimini top and limped the rest of the way with the kicker. What'a day.

Re: Rough day at the Inlet.
 

Good job Hammer, quick thinking ;)

Re: Rough day at the Inlet.
 

Hey believe me you did good, lt happens to all of us. I hate inlets and we have some really nasty ones down here in north carolina.. A friend of mine lost power on a following sea , caught a rogue wave sideways at oregon inlet and pitch poled a nice little 20 Robalo with a new Merc opti on it. The coasties were on the job and pulled him and his dad out..they were very lucky . You did the right thing and probably had a frosty or two later once you calmed down and thought about what could of happend..The more you boat the more you up the odds ..My trim motor went out last week on my 17 Mako just as I came off a shoal headed to my duck blind in the dark so I had to run 3 miles with the motor tilted up just high enough to make headway. It was too rough to hold a screwdriver on the manual override to let it down so I rode it out . Sea Ducks everwhere even splashing in behind the prop wash..went out yesterday and never saw a duck...Frank

Re: Rough day at the Inlet.
 

good job! and good thinking on the bimini...definetly sounds like it was a pucker factor of 10!

Re: Rough day at the Inlet.
 

Didja go out of St Lucie Inlet?

Re: Rough day at the Inlet.
 

Did ya get any fish??? ;)

Good Job!! Have any idea what happened to the motor yet??

Re: Rough day at the Inlet.
 

Whew! Glad you made it! I think I would have dropped anchor and called sea tow ;D

Did you figure out your problem? If it was like mine, you probably had a fuel restriction. Hopefully its that and not a problem with your motor.

P.S. How did you see with the bimini up forward like that?

Re: Rough day at the Inlet.
 

Way to go, Hammer. You can boat with me anytime. ;)

Re: Rough day at the Inlet.
 

I will tell you Blue, around here you don't drop an anchor in the inlets, especially if they are rough. Too narrow and too many bigger boats. Plus the waves are like a giant washing machine, often they are wind against a current and you will have standing waves that are incredible.

Re: Rough day at the Inlet.
 

Easy boys!

We have 20.5 foot boats not 25 feet!!,

Ok ok V20's!! Just because these are great ridding hulls...we must not play with Mother Nature.

Remember, if wonder if is safe, it's probably NOT.

I'm glad you're OK.

Re: Rough day at the Inlet.
 

Yeah, you did the right thing. I'm just thinking the anchor would keep your bow into the waves, whereas if your "main sail" hadn't worked, the alternative to throwing anchor may have been capsizing :o

Re: Rough day at the Inlet.
 

Yep. It's the closest one. It's very tricky with an outgoing tide and 20+easterly winds. Waves stack up.
Then there's this situation going on....which makes it even worse.....(story)

Corps warns dredge operator to begin work on St. Lucie Inlet
By SUZANNE WENTLEY
[email protected]
December 19, 2006
STUART — With dredging at the dangerous St. Lucie Inlet still on hold, Army Corps of Engineers officials on Monday issued a threatening warning to the dredge operator demanding that work begin.
Meanwhile, local boat owners, marina owners and fishing guides have begun a letter-writing campaign supporting the corps' tough stance.

"I am getting a whole bunch of letters," said Rick McMillen, the corps' project manager. "We have put him on notice that we're not happy with his performance."
McMillen said he is sending the Illinois-based Great Lakes Dock & Dredge an "interim unsatisfactory performance appraisal," the first formal step taken to make it more difficult for the dredging company to secure work from the federal government in the future.

Great Lakes, which has a $10 million contract with the corps to remove 600,000 cubic yards of sand from the clogged inlet, was expected to begin the work Dec. 5.

McMillen said the company's equipment was broken and hasn't been repaired.

Bill Hanson, an executive with Great Lakes Dock & Dredge, said the work would be completed.

"We are talking to the corps about our schedule, and we will get the job done," he said. "We would be disappointed if the corps wrote a letter of unsatisfactory service, but we cannot comment further."

Still, it seems unlikely that the work needed to clear the inlet of the shifting sands that serve as navigational hazards would begin Jan. 1, the date Treasure Coast boaters are demanding be a firm start date.

"We have 17,000 boaters and 3,000 visiting vessels in this area. When they find out that their recreational pastime is being compromised, they might get in arms more than they have," said Arthur Cox, the co-owner of A & J Boatworks in Port Salerno. "Boaters get mad. That's my opinion."

According to the contract, Great Lakes has until March 6 to complete the work without being forced to pay fines to the corps. If they don't complete the work by April 30, the start of sea turtle nesting season, the dredge equipment will be forced off the beach immediately, McMillen said.

McMillen said if that occurs, a permanent unsatisfactory appraisal will be issued — making it more difficult for a representative of the company to compete in the corps' bidding process.

"He doesn't want this black mark on his record," McMillen said. "It's not my fault that he doesn't show up on time. It's his responsibility."

WANT THE INLET DREDGED?

Area boat guides and owners started a letter-writing campaign encouraging officials to take a tough stance on the dredging delay. Here's how to participate:

E-mail the project manager for the Army Corps of Engineers, Rick McMillen, at [email protected]. Learn more at www.stlucieinlet.com.

Re: Rough day at the Inlet.
 

Got one blue runner on the inside putt putting home. I'm not sure why the motor cut out but, did change the coil due to a weak spark. Motor seems to run fine now. I'll avoid the Inlet on outgoing tides for a while till the motor has more problem free time under it's belt.
The lil' 6hp Jonny is perfect for trolling and limping home but, has it's limits.

Re: Rough day at the Inlet.
 

I did change the coil but, agree with it may have been a fuel problem. The carb is new and the tanks are clean but, it was really rough and the tanks weren't full.

The forward end of the bimini top rested on the top of the windshield and the rear end was held up by the 6'boathook. It was jerry rigged in about 30 seconds.
I had a clear view thru the W/S. Except for the stress it was fun being underway like that. Only problem was the boat wanted to breach with the following sea. Thankfully it was only about 200 yards I had to sweat it.

Re: Rough day at the Inlet.
 

I was ready to toss the anchor and wait for slack tide but didn't wanna be stuck in front to the inlets mouth either and I'm too cheap to pay Sea Tow to even call'm.
Had it not been windy I'd been SOL. The inlet is one of the worst on the Eastern seaboard.

Re: Rough day at the Inlet.
 

Sounds like that is a bad inlet. Hope they get that dredging company going. For $10 million that inlet should be 60 ft deep IMO. 8)

Re: Rough day at the Inlet.
 

Heck, for $10 mil, everybody that uses the inlet oughtta get a BLOW-JOB :o ...

Re: Rough day at the Inlet.
 

...or at least a reach around ;D