Rough day at the Inlet.

[Hammerhead]

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.

[willy]

Good job Hammer, quick thinking ;)

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

[Kajun]

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

[Franco]

Didja go out of St Lucie Inlet?

[macojoe]

Did ya get any fish??? ;)

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

[Blue_Runner]

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?

[Pipe_Dream]

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

[willy]

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.

[bassarama]

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.