diesel engine maintenance and powerboat seamanship 171
Decisions to Make Before Running an Inlet
Few things test the skipper’s integrity like the fi nal decision to enter an inlet.No hard and fast rules exist for running inlets. Ultimately it comes down to the
safety of your passengers, crew, and vessel. Do not enter any inlet in rough weather
without local knowledge. Even then, you must consider the capability of your boat
and crew.
Don’t expect to fi nd inlet buoys plotted on your chart or plotter. Th e Coast
Guard tries to reposition inlet buoys as bar conditions change, but this requires
good weather. It isn’t unusual to fi nd an inlet buoy out of position. Use this fi ve-step
evaluation process to guide your decision.
- Local knowledge. Check the Local Notices to Mariners for the previous
thirty days (see Chapter 1). When was the last recent buoy shift in the
area? Have new shoals built up inside one of the buoys? If you’re unsure,
call your Coast Guard District Waterways and Management offi ce. Th ey’re
up to snuff and can tell you. Don’t forget the local experts such as Sea Tow,
TowBoatU.S., or tugboat operators. Be sure you let them know your draft
and power capabilities. - Visibility and buoy identifi cation. You must have enough visibility to
identify all the characteristics of the inlet buoys, from entry to exit points.
Th e Coast Guard oft en uses small, plastic unlighted and lighted buoys. Th is
makes their job easier if they need to drag the buoy to a new position—but
it makes your job more diffi cult. Check the color, shape, and name of each
buoy. Use binoculars to fi nd the next buoy in the sequence. Study the water
for breaking seas. Ocean swells coming onto a beach or an inlet will form
a breaking sea when they move over a bottom only one to two times their
height. For instance, a 2-foot swell forms a breaking top in 2 to 4 feet of
water. (For more on waves and swell, see Chapter 12.) Seas that break inside
the buoy line of an inlet channel indicate that the sand has shift ed. Stay
clear and fi nd an alternative route up or down the coast. - Wind and sea. Onshore winds and seas slam into an ebb current, creating
steep breaking seas over the entrance bar. Study the tidal current and
calculate the times of maximum ebb, maximum fl ood, and slack water. Wait
for slack current or the beginning of a fl ood before you attempt the passage.
(See Chapter 5 for how to obtain information about tides and currents;
use this information for planning an inlet passage.) Know the height of the
tide inside the inlet. Large displacement power vessels can touch bottom
from going too fast in shallow water. Th eir stern sinks into the hole created
behind them (called squatting). Slower, deep-keel vessels could touch
bottom in the trough (deepest part of a wave train) between two waves.