I was out in my little boat in the salt for the first time this past weekend. I got to thinking…
The boat sits LOW in the water. Luckily, we didn’t come across any “large boat” traffic where we were. However, I do want to take it other places that may see larger boats/wakes.
Is there any GOOD advice for surviving some of the huge wakes some of the larger pleasure/fishing boats put out?
Hell, we about got swamped by a 60’ boat’s wake in my 175 Scout last year while anchored. Boat was about 150 yards away, but when the wake hit us broadside, it jarred us enough to knock a beer out of a cup holder. If it had been the boat pictured below, we would have been swimming…
My best guess would be be sitting idle waiting for the wake, as it arrives, slowly power into it ready to throttle up to see how I get thrown.
Any good advice:question:
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‘05 Wellcraft 232 Coastal rockin’ a Yammie F225
‘00 Aqua Force Flats 15 w/ Yammie F25
"Kiss my ass, I bought a boat; I’m goin’ out to sea." (Jimmy Buffett covering Lovett)
If it’s a tug or container ship, I usually pull anchor and point the bow into the wake, but not straight on. Don’t power hard into the wake or when you come down the other side, your bow will go under the next one. Just keep it idle speed and keep your hand off the throttle or when you get bumped you might throw it full throttle.
If you are anchored and see a large boat approaching with a huge wake; pull anchor and crank up ASAP. If near the bank in shallow water; get to deeper water fast as the large vessel will suck the water out from under you. You could be sitting on the bottom as the wake returns to slam you.
If you are underway in a wide body of water and must confront a huge wake; move as far down the wake as possible before crossing it to avoid the curl.
If you are being approached in a narrow body of water by a large vessel with a huge wake; approach him head on to let him know you are small and to slow down as he is responsible for his wake. Be prepared to turn and run if the idiot continues at full throttle.
In every case, if you have a VHF, you can hail the oncoming boat and ask for a little courtesy.
The angle to cross a wake will vary with you and your comfort zone and may change as you get experience. As mentioned before, you should get as far away from the large vessel as possible before crossing. That alone will cause the wakes to be further apart and let you go from 90 degree crossings to a very comfortable 45 degree crossing. This is something you are going to have to feel out for yourself through experience.
In SC, it is my understanding that every vessel is responsible for their wake ( No Wake Zone or not ).
Speed Regulations
Failure to regulate speed is defined as operating a boat or PWC at speeds that may cause danger, injury, damage, or unnecessary inconvenience.
You may not operate a boat or PWC in excess of idle speed within 50 feet of:
A moored or anchored boat
A wharf, pier, or dock
A person in the water
Operating in excess of idle speed within 100 yards of the Atlantic coastline is prohibited.
You must maintain idle speed when in the vicinity of a boat flashing a blue light.
Vessel operators are responsible for any damage caused by their wake.
That doesn’t mean that every operator knows the law. A vessel that operates say in the intracoastal with a huge wa
misslily,
that’s the best, and most descriptive advice I’ve seen written on the subject. I’m going to print it out and put a copy in my boat for reference.
If you’re anchored and fishing in ICW about 3/4 of the big boats do right. The rest you better be ready like they said above. It’s not a coincidence but, the brand new ones are are ones to watch most of the time???
90% of the boats slow down, but you will get the occasional knuckle head. Be extra careful around the bridges because you do not have an out if you get a knuckle head going through at the same time. I had a 50 Sporty almost run me over last year while crossing under a bridge and the Captain yelled to me that he “couldn’t slow down.” I have been on many big boat and I understand that large boats have large props. This guy apparently didn’t know that his boat had neutral and/or could run with one engine to prevent himself from running over other boats. I would love to see him dock if he “couldn’t slow down.”
Moral - don’t assume that they know what they are doing just because they are in a large boat.
some of the big boats have to maintain a certain speed to keep controll of the vessel, especially if wind and current are affecting them. If they have made a commitment to go thru a confined area(like under a bridge), they usually try to maintain their speed, just give them some room, big boats are harder to controll at slow speed. Some captains go a bit overboard using this as an excuse. I’ve ridden in a bunch of large boats, and in their defence, the wakes don’t look that large from the bridge of a large boat. I’ve seen big boats slow down, but they were still trowing up a large wave. From the captains view, it probably didn’t seem that big. From a flats boat view, it looked like a tsunami. Watch out for the comercial boats, they ususlly could care less about soemone fising.
