Running the inlet

[coach]

This time of year I start to miss getting out on the water. I found this video of boats returning to Ocean City, Md. The inlet is only a couple hundred yards wide and connects the Atlantic to the back bay behind the barrier island that is Ocean City. The tides and winds makes for some big water.
https://youtu.be/HuzOFOBWfVw

 

[tinman]

Yikes!!

 

[jimd441]

I remember that inlet well! Summers during college and a few years after I was working in offshore charterboat fishing there. My memory tells me that an East wind with a strong ebb tide (wind against the tide when coming home) was the worst by far, which makes sense. The opposite was true but to a lesser extent because the wind would be coming off the land and didn't blow over the water for much of a distance. The video shows the effect of that well, notice the relative calm seas vs the inlet. Fond memories...

Jim

 

[Fox Mike]

That short stretch of water is definitely rough. Smaller boats, smaller than most seen in the video, really get thrown around. Never been through it but have sat in the parking lot off 52 street and watched many boats go through.

 

[powder smoke]

Been in a washing machine like that before. A boat needs plenty of power to navigate that!
Get sideways your done! :shock: ps

 

[WAYNO]

In watching this and other videos of this crossing, I see boats making mistakes that are only mitigated because the size of the boats are so large.

We have some serious bar crossings on the West Coast, and the average boat size is much smaller. Mistakes are not tolerated. We roll boats over every year.





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[coach]

The Baltimore Canyon about 60 miles off the coast is home to many fish from marlin to tuna and attracts lots of sportsman. Besides the tide, wind and shoaling, the wakes from the big boats can really make a chop. I noticed skippers making what appear to be mistakes that would likely swamp my little boat, but at times the inlet can get mighty congested.

 

[foxtrapper]

Give the haulover inlet Miami fla a view on the utube!

 

[Phoenix too]

Child's play. :wink:

This is running the inlet: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ByGSMmenPDM&feature=youtu.be

:shock:

 

[Skoopski]

As a born and raised Missourian, I want absolutely no part of any of that, thank you.

 

[AJGUNNER]

That looks just about like the Tillamook Bay bar crossing on the Oregon coast. You put a bunch of your trust in the captain to know when to go and when to pass. Conditions change real fast. From wind, to fog, to changing tides, the guy running the boat has to know what he is doing. Even with the worlds best Coast Guard team only 5-10 minutes away, I personally don't want to be swimming in 50-60 degree water, even on the warmest day.

 

[Fox Mike]

Showed my wife the video. She said she would be blowing lunch in two minutes in water like that. I told her that it isn't hitting the bottom of the trough that gets you, it's the period at the top when you start the drop.

 

[coach]

Child's play. :wink:

This is running the inlet: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ByGSMmenPDM&feature=youtu.be

:shock:

What were those boats actually doing? I couldn’t tell if they were moving, pulling nets or just trying to keep from getting swamped. Just saying, that’s not the kind of getting out on the water I miss. :shock: 8) BTW I’ve been through the inlet at OC a number of times and it usually isn’t too bad. Anyway it’s short.

 

[Jeepnik]

Destin East Pass in Florida gets a few. Smart folks check the tide and wait for slack tide to run it.

 

[Phoenix too]

Columbia River Bar. Other than attempting to avoid capsizing, I cannot attest to what they were doing.

Tillamook looks pretty nasty also.

My only similar 'experience' was exiting the Cape Cod Canal into Cape Cod Bay, ~ 5 knots of current with us, and 20 - 25 mph of opposing wind. Crazy. I've looked for videos, but thus far haven't found any.

 

[314Chevy]

This time of year I start to miss getting out on the water. I found this video of boats returning to Ocean City, Md. The inlet is only a couple hundred yards wide and connects the Atlantic to the back bay behind the barrier island that is Ocean City. The tides and winds makes for some big water.
https://youtu.be/HuzOFOBWfVw

Isn't that bay called Big Assawoman Bay?

 

[graygun]

I've been through there a few times and a 17' deep v bow rider was the largest boat I ever owned,140 MerCruiser. It was pretty rough one time I remember. Have not been to OC since the 90s.

 

[coach]

Isn't that bay called Big Assawoman Bay?

It is. The inlet was carved out by a hurricane in 1933 when the town was nearly flooded off the island. As a result there was now easy access to the ocean that helped spawn a fishing and resort industry. Actually the hurricane resulted in so much rain that the bay basically breached the barrier island trying to drain back to the ocean. For those unfamiliar with barrier islands they are just made of sand deposited in front of the mainland. There not much holding them together. Given their own devices they will actually move and change shape over time. They are a common feature along the Atlantic coast. Geography & history lesson over. :wink: