Awwww, crap. I managed to put a big damper on one of the nicest days we've had in awhile - this past Monday...
Why? Well, to put it simply, I found a way to hit a rock while ANCHORED. Let me explain:
My friend and I go out every year about this time to do some fishing. We either take one of my little boats out to the Sound, or we take the Glastron out and fish for bass or the big cats you can catch out in the River. That's what we did on Monday...
After puttering around the Rondout for awhile we went to a very good spot for cats, which is the tide rip along those rocks on the northern edge of Esopus Island, right in front of Norrie Park Marina. The water goes from 50 feet to nothing in a matter of a few yards, and as the tide drops a very nice little tide rip sets up there. Being such an idyllic, calm day, we slowly moved in and anchored right next to the rip, about 15-20 feet from the rocks. For the next several hours we caught some beautiful big fish, laughed, talked and enjoyed the day. Many boats went by - about 30 of the members of the Antique Boat Club that was running up to the Steel House. Also some big yachts, probably being ferried by their captains to some new port of call for the owner to meet up with them. All was well...
Along about 3:00 we were contemplating moving because the fishing had slacked off, when another large yacht raced by, throwing a very, very big wake behind it. We'd already been waked by several big boats, but something about this one seemed different. My friend Gary seemed to think the rocks now sticking up between us and the boat would attenuate the wake, but I still was uncomfortable, so I asked him to go forward and uncleat the anchor rope so that the current would pull us back a few feet. As he was doing this, I heard the waves begin to crash on the nearby rocks, and was stunned to see them coming in on our starboard QUARTER, rather than the starboard bow as I expected. Also, the boat wasn't drifting backwards with the current, it was going sideways right into those damn rocks!!!
Some anxious moments ensued, as I raced forward to hand Gary the paddle to push off the rocks, then we both braced ourselves as the bow came down for the first time right on top of the rocks. Realizing it would be better to get some weight off the bow pronto, I went back to the stern as the boat again came down on the rocks at least 3 or 4 more times. Gary was trying to push us off with the paddle, and it seemed a lost cause when the last big wave hit and somehow the boat floated free...
As the waves calmed down we were now floating a few feet from the rocks, anchor lines and fishing lines completely tangled, outdrive facing the rocks, 180 degrees from where we started. Thankfully the calm sea returned and we straightened things out. I checked everything - opened all the storage compartments to look for water coming in, checked the access ports to the fuel tank compartment to sniff for fumes, checked the engine compartment, then started up, pulled anchor and made our way slowly into Norrie Point Marina to check the bottom over at the launch ramp...
I noticed some gouges in the gel coat along the port sponson (my Glastron is a tri hull) and a fairly big, fist sized impact area on the keel near where the bow turns into the bottom of the boat. It seemed mostly cosmetic as far as I could tell, so we went back out, did some more fishing and finished the day. On the way back to the creek I ran it at 20 knots without incident...
Needless to say, for somebody who prides himself on staying away from foolish mishaps, I'm pretty upset. Obviously as a captain I should have kept us a little bit farther from the rocks (as low tide approached we were obviously closer to them than when we first anchored). Also, I should have reacted faster when the big boat passed. I should have considered the effects of the "hydraulic" behind the rock outcropping (IMHO it acted just as those "low head" dams do, roiling the water under itself and keeping us close to the rocks rather than floating backwards with the river current when we released the anchor. And finally, I should have considered the refractive effects of the rocks on the wave train from the boat. That's probably why we got hit on the quarter instead of the bow as I had figured...
But what sucks is that we had been sitting there just fine for hours on a perfectly calm day, until some SOB from some foreign country (flag on the fantail) comes thrashing down the Hudson and threw us all for a loop. Sure he's responsible for his wake, but how the Hell would I prove anything? So, because I failed to anticipate that some big boat might knock us all to Hell, I've likely got a thousand dollar repair job on my boat to contend with in this off-season...
Oh well. Now I know why I like hanging out in the friendly confines of Rondout Creek so much...
Why? Well, to put it simply, I found a way to hit a rock while ANCHORED. Let me explain:
My friend and I go out every year about this time to do some fishing. We either take one of my little boats out to the Sound, or we take the Glastron out and fish for bass or the big cats you can catch out in the River. That's what we did on Monday...
After puttering around the Rondout for awhile we went to a very good spot for cats, which is the tide rip along those rocks on the northern edge of Esopus Island, right in front of Norrie Park Marina. The water goes from 50 feet to nothing in a matter of a few yards, and as the tide drops a very nice little tide rip sets up there. Being such an idyllic, calm day, we slowly moved in and anchored right next to the rip, about 15-20 feet from the rocks. For the next several hours we caught some beautiful big fish, laughed, talked and enjoyed the day. Many boats went by - about 30 of the members of the Antique Boat Club that was running up to the Steel House. Also some big yachts, probably being ferried by their captains to some new port of call for the owner to meet up with them. All was well...
Along about 3:00 we were contemplating moving because the fishing had slacked off, when another large yacht raced by, throwing a very, very big wake behind it. We'd already been waked by several big boats, but something about this one seemed different. My friend Gary seemed to think the rocks now sticking up between us and the boat would attenuate the wake, but I still was uncomfortable, so I asked him to go forward and uncleat the anchor rope so that the current would pull us back a few feet. As he was doing this, I heard the waves begin to crash on the nearby rocks, and was stunned to see them coming in on our starboard QUARTER, rather than the starboard bow as I expected. Also, the boat wasn't drifting backwards with the current, it was going sideways right into those damn rocks!!!
Some anxious moments ensued, as I raced forward to hand Gary the paddle to push off the rocks, then we both braced ourselves as the bow came down for the first time right on top of the rocks. Realizing it would be better to get some weight off the bow pronto, I went back to the stern as the boat again came down on the rocks at least 3 or 4 more times. Gary was trying to push us off with the paddle, and it seemed a lost cause when the last big wave hit and somehow the boat floated free...
As the waves calmed down we were now floating a few feet from the rocks, anchor lines and fishing lines completely tangled, outdrive facing the rocks, 180 degrees from where we started. Thankfully the calm sea returned and we straightened things out. I checked everything - opened all the storage compartments to look for water coming in, checked the access ports to the fuel tank compartment to sniff for fumes, checked the engine compartment, then started up, pulled anchor and made our way slowly into Norrie Point Marina to check the bottom over at the launch ramp...
I noticed some gouges in the gel coat along the port sponson (my Glastron is a tri hull) and a fairly big, fist sized impact area on the keel near where the bow turns into the bottom of the boat. It seemed mostly cosmetic as far as I could tell, so we went back out, did some more fishing and finished the day. On the way back to the creek I ran it at 20 knots without incident...
Needless to say, for somebody who prides himself on staying away from foolish mishaps, I'm pretty upset. Obviously as a captain I should have kept us a little bit farther from the rocks (as low tide approached we were obviously closer to them than when we first anchored). Also, I should have reacted faster when the big boat passed. I should have considered the effects of the "hydraulic" behind the rock outcropping (IMHO it acted just as those "low head" dams do, roiling the water under itself and keeping us close to the rocks rather than floating backwards with the river current when we released the anchor. And finally, I should have considered the refractive effects of the rocks on the wave train from the boat. That's probably why we got hit on the quarter instead of the bow as I had figured...
But what sucks is that we had been sitting there just fine for hours on a perfectly calm day, until some SOB from some foreign country (flag on the fantail) comes thrashing down the Hudson and threw us all for a loop. Sure he's responsible for his wake, but how the Hell would I prove anything? So, because I failed to anticipate that some big boat might knock us all to Hell, I've likely got a thousand dollar repair job on my boat to contend with in this off-season...
Oh well. Now I know why I like hanging out in the friendly confines of Rondout Creek so much...
!!!
