Down to Mile 650
Posted by Bryan on Thursday, November 21, 2013
Under: ICW Travels
Nov 19th
We are getting south!! Although the Canadian weather is following us. We are trying to out run it, but that is hard at only 7 knots. It seems the current is always against us, sometimes up to 2 knots. Most of the locals talk about the unusual cold, however, it is still in the teens (Celsius). We are also trying to avoid the cold fronts that come across the country. The bring high winds that make anchoring unpleasant and the waves rough. We had 20 knot winds today with gusts up to 30+.
This rough water was created by a 30 knot wind blowing one direction, ocean swells coming in the sound from a different direction, and the currents of 2 different rivers meeting and flowing out into the ocean. Add in a few big power boats that zipped by and the waves are just crazy. Washing machine type affect. We were only in it for 30 minutes or so. This picture is looking out into the ocean as we rounded a point. It looks like we are in the middle of no where, but land is in every direction except this one. (trying to make the picture more dramatic, as the ocean is still 3 miles away here). Often times we are following dug canals through the rivers with little wiggle room . At low tide, some places are so shallow that we can walk 400 yards on mud to shore. And in some places we have to wait for high tide to get through, such as the "Mud River". Aptly named. Or Hell Gate. Also very shallow, only 4 -5 feet at low tide. But with the 8 foot tides, everything is good at high tide.
However, in one of the small water waves, we had dolphin playing in our wake and Sahara got one of them on film jumping next to the boat. Link to our you tube video here.
One of the interesting things here is the big tide they have. Over 8 feet on a full moon tide, as we just had. Closer to just 7.5 feet on a regular tide. This creates fast moving currents moving through this low country marsh area. It is hard to predict which direction the current is going as there are a few factors that affect them. Canals and "rivers" connect different sounds....that each have high tides at different times. Wind can also drive current up a bay or sound and push water through the cuts as well. So far Tara is about 3 for 25 at predicting which way the current is going, and she is winning the contest!
You can see the high water mark on the poles. The little boat is tied up to a "Floating" dock that rides up and down the poles. The ramp is hinged, so as the tide goes up, it moves with it. Most boat are on "Lift docks", as the boat on the right, you are looking at the stern end of the boat.
We are getting south!! Although the Canadian weather is following us. We are trying to out run it, but that is hard at only 7 knots. It seems the current is always against us, sometimes up to 2 knots. Most of the locals talk about the unusual cold, however, it is still in the teens (Celsius). We are also trying to avoid the cold fronts that come across the country. The bring high winds that make anchoring unpleasant and the waves rough. We had 20 knot winds today with gusts up to 30+.
This rough water was created by a 30 knot wind blowing one direction, ocean swells coming in the sound from a different direction, and the currents of 2 different rivers meeting and flowing out into the ocean. Add in a few big power boats that zipped by and the waves are just crazy. Washing machine type affect. We were only in it for 30 minutes or so. This picture is looking out into the ocean as we rounded a point. It looks like we are in the middle of no where, but land is in every direction except this one. (trying to make the picture more dramatic, as the ocean is still 3 miles away here). Often times we are following dug canals through the rivers with little wiggle room . At low tide, some places are so shallow that we can walk 400 yards on mud to shore. And in some places we have to wait for high tide to get through, such as the "Mud River". Aptly named. Or Hell Gate. Also very shallow, only 4 -5 feet at low tide. But with the 8 foot tides, everything is good at high tide.
One of the interesting things here is the big tide they have. Over 8 feet on a full moon tide, as we just had. Closer to just 7.5 feet on a regular tide. This creates fast moving currents moving through this low country marsh area. It is hard to predict which direction the current is going as there are a few factors that affect them. Canals and "rivers" connect different sounds....that each have high tides at different times. Wind can also drive current up a bay or sound and push water through the cuts as well. So far Tara is about 3 for 25 at predicting which way the current is going, and she is winning the contest!
You can see the high water mark on the poles. The little boat is tied up to a "Floating" dock that rides up and down the poles. The ramp is hinged, so as the tide goes up, it moves with it. Most boat are on "Lift docks", as the boat on the right, you are looking at the stern end of the boat.
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Anchoring Lessons.
Anchoring Lessons.
There are four things you must take into account when anchoring:
1. The direction of the wind.
2. The depth of the water....at low tide. Don't want to wake up in the mud!.
3. The waves.
4. The current.
We anchored in a place that we through would be good for all 4, and turned out bad for 3. We thought there would be trees to block the wind. nope. And the waves wouldn't be too bad. Well with 35 knot winds, it did not take much room to make waves. Then the current was going in the opposite direction to to current, which causes the waves to get big fast. The current would switch north/south with the tide and the wind was from the north. The boat didn't know what way to go. To the sailors out there, imagine anchored in 35 knot winds, and when you go to pull up the anchor, the line goes back under the boat? A real head scratcher. The current was stronger than the force of the wind. So we spun in circles all night. No harm or danger, just a good lesson learned about anchoring. Pay attention to all 4.
1. The direction of the wind.
2. The depth of the water....at low tide. Don't want to wake up in the mud!.
3. The waves.
4. The current.
We anchored in a place that we through would be good for all 4, and turned out bad for 3. We thought there would be trees to block the wind. nope. And the waves wouldn't be too bad. Well with 35 knot winds, it did not take much room to make waves. Then the current was going in the opposite direction to to current, which causes the waves to get big fast. The current would switch north/south with the tide and the wind was from the north. The boat didn't know what way to go. To the sailors out there, imagine anchored in 35 knot winds, and when you go to pull up the anchor, the line goes back under the boat? A real head scratcher. The current was stronger than the force of the wind. So we spun in circles all night. No harm or danger, just a good lesson learned about anchoring. Pay attention to all 4.
In : ICW Travels
