As a kid in the early 80's, our family was stationed in Key West, it was my father's last station before he retired after 20 years of being in the Navy. He always wanted a boat and finally got one, a tiny 18' what looked like a homemade fiberglass cabin boat with a Johnson 90hp, it was sketchy but all we could afford at time and I remember one of our early boating experiences when we decided to go boating at night in what looks like some of the same areas and channels as in the video, Calda channel which we navigated fine in daylight quite a few times to get to the Gulf side, this was in the days before GPS and loran was a luxury. I remember my dad using a spotlight to look for that first marker before getting into the channel and running aground in pitch blackness in sand and grass beds and trying to push the boat to deeper waters for over an hour and being so disoriented that we ended up having to wait for daylight and the tide to rise before we could get ourselves out and back to Sigsbee Marina
Thanks to videos like this, I learned a lot about boating. I watched lots of these videos before my week boat rental down in Cape Coral last year and this year we went out again with no problem. Anyone who’s never boated and plans on it needs to watch these videos and read these stories. I went out as a very cautious boater.
Back in 2002, while vacationing in St. Pete with my bride, I rented an 18 ft center console boat for a day of fishing. Never operated any boat before but we had a great time. Unfortunately, we stayed out too long. It started getting dark and the sea got very choppy. i remember slamming that boat on the waves and wondering if the hull was gonna crack, and if that was normal... Then I realized that all the inlets looked pretty much the same, especially when it got darker, so I picked ... the wrong one. Lost some time, rushed to get back and got us stuck in the sand about half a mile from the shore. Who knew it could be so shallow so far from the shore? I remember feeling like an idiot, knee-deep in the water pushing the boat in the middle of the sea and wondering if that was normal... Thankfully, it ended well; I got the boat free and we rode the wake of a large boat to get back safely, but man.... I'll never forget being "captain" for the first time.
The FL keys is probably one of those places where all this tips help immensely!! Which is were most of not all this footage is from lol I ran a small grass flat one time in my little 17 mako chasing a down a buddy in his skiff... I was in an unfamiliar area an let the excitement get the best of me ! I’m way more cautious now and these tips definitely help ! Thanks again looking forward to the anchoring an sand bar edict ! Lots of ppl in SoFlo need that lol
Most fun navigating Malibu Rapids at Princess Louisa Inlet on an ebb in a 48’ converted troller , spinning a 360 and continuing on like you meant it. We get a few adventurous boaters up here from Washington State who’ve been to Jarvis Inlet and they will know the beauty of it
“Red right return” - depends where you are. IALA Region B is Green to Port, Red to Starboard. Region B applies to the America’s (the whole continent) Japan, Philippines and South Korea. Region A - red to port, green to starboard applies to the rest of the world. The shapes of a Can to Port and Cone to starboard apply to the whole world regardless of region.
I was always taught that when in unfamiliar sandy-bottomed shoal water, that you went in very slowly at _low_ tide, so that if you beached, you could float off when the tide came in...
Well first off, I’m happy to say it wasn’t me steering the boat! My dad had a 30 proline with twin I/Os, the boat was only about a year old and this was our first time taking it out into the Atlantic out by Morehead City in NC (we are used to the Gulf in NW Florida). We went fishing and when we were coming back in, we had gotten lost and my brother (who was at the helm) saw a 18ish foot boat that looked familiar when we launched so he chased him down not realizing the lead boat cut a marker by a good margin...Well, he hit a sandbar (that was still submerged) doing almost 50mph, dragging us almost 100’ into it before coming to a stop, engines still wide open, forced the stern drives up and spewing water (and sand) pretty high in the air at what we later found out that the tide was going out. My dad had to walk a few hundred yards to shore and ended up returning about 2 hours later in a small dredging boat...$20/foot length of the boat and $10/foot that the boat had to be dredged out. Needless to say, when my dad left, the boat was in a foot of water, when he came back the boat was sitting at a hard angle and there was nothing but sand for almost 150 feet...The tide over there is crazy! Oddly enough my dad still trusted my brother with the boat until what happened when picked it up from the shop after that incident...But that’s another store 😂😂 #E-SeaRider
I live in Fort Myers Fl. on the southwest gulf. We have a great fishing area known as Pine Island Sound. Anyone that fishes the area knows for sure how much brown ground there is. The water clarity doesn't even compare to the Florida Keys. We have the Caloosahatchee river which runs into the gulf of Mexico. So in turn we get a lot of run off from Lake Okeechobee; of which turns a lot of the fishing waters to a rusty brown color. So as you could expect we have to pay extra attention to the channel markers. The skinny water blends into the channel water. You get the point. I have hit the brown ground twice; one time was a hidden oyster bar i knew nothing about. Scraped the bottom of the boat so bad had to have it skimmed with faring material, sanded and repainted. Luckily there were no holes to fix. Learned my lesson pretty quick. Needless to say we are the captains of our boats and are responsible for all aboard as they expect to be returned to the dock safely. Thank You Dave T.
I was fishing for the first time on the Eastern Shore of Virginia. This area has some markers but mostly you need to navigate by sight as there are many shoals and shallow water areas. We were moving along in 15 to 20 feet when suddenly the depth alarm went off and then the boat bottomed out. We threw the anchor off the aft and was able to pull our boat free as the tide was incoming. But it gave us a greater respect to keep an eye on the water, not just the chart and soundings. #ESeaRider
My buddy picked up his brand new Scout 195 (first boat) and we headed down to the keys, specifically Big Pine Key. We were told by his cousin that when going through the "bay" to "keep her pinned". So we did. This worked when we headed out to local hangout spot. We then went out fishing and had a great day. On the way back, we kept her pinned and all of a sudden the motor started slamming up and down, the bottom got all stirred up and my buddy's face was just pure shock. We hit bottom......hard. Thank God its was a sandy bottom. No real damage aside from a bent skeg and some pride, but he was pretty bummed as the boat was pretty much brand new. I've never seen an outboard bounce up & down quite like that and was pretty surprised nothing broke, including the transom where the motor mounted. The rest of the trip was great and we learned a lot about knowing how to scope out an area and check charts prior to just letting it rip. Lol.
The dusky desperato is an amazing boat for the keys , took one out off the reef on a 6 footer day and it handled it like a champ , also plenty of points of contact for when going fast or when the seas get rough.
When in doubt slow down. Another thing a lot of people should consider, just because you saw someone else do it doesn't mean you should try it, especially around other boats.
Well I was in rock port texas in the bay off Fulton Beach and I was hauling ass in my 1232 jet jon and I found the muscle beds at 34 mph didn't hurt the boat but I went flying.
Watch urself when near the shore by marshfield MA ( south of boston harbor) major rocks just below the water at low tide. Almost clipped one. Now i go way out to deeper water especially at night..
Great video!! Local knowledge, if available, is the best way to go. However, these rules are really good to know. Another thing that needs to be considered is shoaling. We use the GICW all the time,and in certain spots you'll get a surprise! Good thing is its usually all sand. Cheers
I ran aground coming into a dock at my brothers place that I had been at before. My Garmin even had my previous position marked on screen but I didn’t trust it as visually the entrance appears to be on the other side. I was at a crawl and just kissed the shallow rock shelf a couple of times and was able to slip in neutral to minimize prop damage. 😡 All on me. $1500 mistake, props sent out for repair and balance. Thanks for all your video’s. Cheers, Mike #ESeaRider
Me and my old boss ran aground crossing the channel between Coco Cay and String Ray City enclosure in the Bahamas. It was my first time crossing that section, however I was not the captain that day since I had just started. I'm a local from that area so I knew the water and knew something was off but it was too late. We ran aground some where along the middle of the channel and bonus three of the company's vessels where right behind us, so you know what happened lol. Unfortunately my old boss had broke his pinky toe in the process, we decided to walk out on the flats to pick up some conch. We ended up picking up about 300 pounds of them between the four boats. We waited about four to five hours before the tide came in but it was worth it. We had a huge crack conch cook out that evening and one hell of a good laugh afterwards.
This applies sometimes in the Keys I've been there going on 30 Winters and this does not apply all the time common sense knowing where you are probably the best advice I can give go slow until you know does that sound good!
So much of the Fort Lauderdale intercoastal is no wake ! I was recently heading south on the intercoastal just south of the Dania beach bridge where I could finally open up the engine only to run aground! In my haste to increase the throttle I forgot to check that it was low tide and had veered slightly west of the marker. Nothing like going full speed and coming to a grinding halt! My skeg took the damage - losing a couple of chunks but still functional/operable. This is one of my normal areas I travel through and couldn’t believe I made such a careless mistake.
Make sure you know if the area is A or B. In U.K. and EU And other areas world wide, this red to starboard on entry becomes red to port, eg. There is no red port left.
I was taking my 36 foot sailboat into a small bay at Isle Royale on Lake Superior. The sun was high and the water was nice and dark which usually means deep water. The problem was that there was a big flat rock that was also dark. The keel of the boat rode right up on it and we were stuck for a hot minute. Fortunately we got away unscathed, but it took the rest of the day for my heart rate to return to normal. #Esearider
I have been stuck on sandbars a time or two but in Washington state we have logs floating in the water called dead heads. Almost all of the log is submerged. When you hit one going wide open it's scary, your outboard jumps out of the water.
I was trying to get my last fishing day of the year. When i ran a ground last November unloading my boat ,because the NY State took the docks out on oct. 31. I guess I should not fish in November
My dad tried to teach me boating tips. If it’s green your clean, if it’s white you might, if it is brown your aground. I think I’m color blind. The best tip is to not run full speed in unfamiliar areas. Don’t drink alcohol and boat. The two don’t work together. Always remember wind effect tides. You might think it’s high tide but the wind blew out all the water. So bring a book when you go fishing. You might be waiting awhile to get out.
Ha! My pelican intruder with a dinky Coleman engine is such a small little bass boat I run it aground in lakes, oceans, marsh, swamp, ponds on purpose for some of those sweet fishing spots but it is plastic so it doesn’t matter as much as a big boat
What material would be best for surviving a reef grounding if weight is important and money is no object? I was thinking carbon fiber construction of most of the vessel with a sacrificial bottom plating of either aluminum or UHMWPE or both.
Interestingly (at least to me ;-) this is exactly opposite for colours in Australia (and Europe, Oceana and most of Asia). Our marks (IALA "A") are green to Starboard, and red to Port. We use "Is there any RED PORT wine LEFT" as the nemonic.
I think it’s standardized. What you are saying is correct going out, but opposite when returning. Same with the lights on your boat- green on the starboard and red to port. When someone is heading straight at you, though- you see red on the right. “Red right returning” is a phrase I first heard from my flight instructor warning that if you’re flying at night and you see another plane’s lights with red on the right, they’re headed toward you.
Greater video for us beginners. I'm still learning to read water here in South Texas bays & channels. I do look at markers, etc. & go slow. I'll watch the other videos. Thanks 😊
Had a commercial crabbing license for a bit. Was out in the bay tending pots when a storm rolled in. Normally on a big body of water we can just maneuver around the storm. Stay away from it for the most part. Well it started to be all around us and I was in an aluminum boat. Decided it wasnt a good idea to be in an open body of water in an aluminum boat with a giant stainless steel rod pointing up in the sky (winder arm for pulling in the pots) so we headed straight for shore. We beached the boat in the marsh and ran about 100 yards away from it and hunkered down as best we could. The storm had gotten really bad and there was lightning all around us and we were getting soaked from the rain. About 20 minutes goes by and the storm passes and we walk back to the boat and the tide had gone down enough where we could not budge the 24' sea ark out of the mud. Ended up having to walk about 3 miles down the shore through the marsh and then get a ride from a local fisherman in a John boat across the canal at the boat ramp to the truck only to realize that I left my keys to the truck in the boat. Had to have the wife bring me my extra key and then wait about 10 hours to come back at around midnight with a friend's boat and pull it off the beach. Worst part was before we left the boat and accepted our fate and headed for the truck, we had to dump out every bushell basket that was full of crabs... essentially like throwing wads of cash into a fire... #ESeaRider
I ran aground while on vacation in emerald isle NC. Was out jet skiing in the intercostal way, didnt realize just how shallow some areas were. Luckily I realized what was happening and let off the throttle in time. The depth went from 4 feet to about 4 inches in a matter of seconds. Took a pretty good hit and flew about 10 feet.
Yup, Emerald is part of the Graveyard of the Atlantic for good reason. Not too far from there by the water in Beaufort is where Blackbeard’s Queen Anne’s Revenge ran aground.
I ran aground briefly (under sail) when taking evasive action in the Lake Havasu City channel that leads to the motel docks and passes under the London Bridge. It kind of surprised me, but I was running my swing keel, drawing 5-ft, 8-inches of depth, so shouldn't have been so surprising. After quickly dropping sail, my motoring attempts to free myself caused confusion for other boaters, but all turned out well, and the whole incident lasted maybe a minute thirty.
Easy rider should hear about this one ! As I was just about to stand up and go from the stern to the helm to tell my buddy( who was the captain of the boat) that the area he is headed for is really low we hit a depth that brought the boat to a complete stop. At the time we were only doing about 10 knots so it wasn’t too bad for everyone sitting down but I went flying ! The only good that came out of this was he won’t be cutting across that spot anymore.
Hit Bottom Florida Keys Tavernier Key a local shallow pass on the bay side known for the marker poles decorated by Toilet Seats hung off of them.... Was not up enough on a plane for a clear passage and hit bottom and bogged out. Had to wait about an hour for the tide to rise high enough to pole-push out to deeper water. #esearider #navigation #FloridaKeys #boating
My son and I rented a fish and ski outboard in Oyster Bay NY and we slowly eased out of the rather long no wake channel. We finally got out into Long Island Sound and headed to a local area where we anchored and swam and picnicked. We soon headed back to the dock. We rounded a point when I noticed several rocks jutting up out of the water. There seemed to be a few more than when we passed them earlier. I then began to turn away from shore and realized we had wandered into a rocky outcrop now visible. About the time we slammed into one it dawned on me we were not in a freshwater Texas lake and this area had tidal flows. Too late as we came to gut-tearing stop. I thought we breached the fiberglass hull so I opened the waterski compartment expecting salt water to be rushing in. Fortunately we were ok until we restarted the engine. We could slowly idle but when we gave a slight push on the throttle the engine sputtered and died. Idling along we limped back to the dock to meet the unhappy but understanding owner. Rental insurance and a couple of $1000 paid for a motor repair but the owner was out of commission for a couple of weeks. Lesson: ALWAYS have a chart, depth finder, and remember to get local info on new and unfamiliar areas. #ESea Rider would have helped cushion my granddaughter when we hit the rocks.
Miami / Rivo Alto Island… classic, wanted to cut the corner on my way to the sandbar… good was the quick reaction to level the boat by shifting the people and raising the outboards. Close call 😅
Yes, I forgot to mention that :( it's funny after putting a video together and you think you've thought of everything you need to put in it, and you still forget information! :) lol
Interesting you say red right return I always thought International signs were all the same in Australia the port side is red when Returning and green is starboard
Red right return is a navigation reference.. if you’re driving and see a boat out in the distance and their nav lights are on the right side, they are returning to you.
We were coming back from stuart, chatting away, the next thing you know the boat stopped and we all went forward! We hit a sandbar , not paying attention to the tides. And we have journeyed through this part so many times. Too busy talking. Lessons learned- no one was hurt, engine fine, ego's severely bruised. We were lucky!
Easyrider. Bad shoal showing itself again after 10 years of being 4 feet below the surface. Now since we lost 24” of water this year and continually losing water as the drought continues. The shoal is the size of a small island and is right in the middle of a throughway between two islands. Also all shorelines have been extended and shelf’s have risen enough to destroy lower ends of any boat that drafts 24”
I live in Virginia Beach on the Lynnhaven River and use these tips all the time. I love watching your channel and you have inspired me to change my steering cable and binnacle cables in my boat. I check the tides all the time because where we keep our 1986 boston whler is based off the tides and channels. I would love to have the #esearider
Ran aground while talking on the phone in a tricky area by Oregon Inlet, NC. A 20 min struggle to get out, but we got out under our own power. Solid lesson learned: Pay attention to what you are doing, even if you have done this hundreds of times. #EseaRider
Forgot the red right return rule just once, and our daughter painted my right toenail red and put an S on it Green and a P on the other Had to wear it for a week. Learning.
newbie here. what is that entrance/exit looking structure built under bridges that has the height/depth to the water to the bridge called? what is the purpose of it? is that the only way to pass through a bridge and not anywhere else?
I think I'm confused. Are you talking about on some bridges it gives you a sign that has the height on it? That is just to let you know the height from the bridge to the water
Born Again Boating yea that! I was wondering if there was any more use to them And also, do all water crafts have to pass through them even if there is more room on other parts of the bridge?
P JB you can go thru any other regular opening in the bridge. In fact on a jet ski theres no reason to go thru the middle if its busy. Its made for the big boats. Deepest and widest area of the bridge and also sometimes is a draw-bridge like where i am we have a few for ocean access from LI.
I fish out of Tavernier Creek. Unfortunately it’s one of the few channels that hasn’t been dredged out so it’s very shallow. I’m in a 30’ single diesel so I draft a lot. Just about 3 foot. I’ve bumped bottom 1 or 2 times but luckily never had damage. Now I just plan accordingly and leave as close to dead high tide as I can.
Here in Delaware more specifically Indian River inlet. This past season burning December the state pulled all the bouy markers. Flew strictly by GPS and was too far to port and watched the depthfinder go from 12ft to 2 ft real quick and struck bottom. I was able to pull back on the throttles fast enough and with not much effort make it out of the situation. Lesson to be learned here about GPS accuracy. #esearider
#ESeaRider Was new to boating on lake Michigan. Visiting Saugatuck Michigan and ran aground in the middle of the inlet coming into the harbor. Mud was sucked into our outdrive and into the water pump. Overheated it taking it back to the slip. Had to have a guy come to the boat, remove the water pump, force water through the system to rinse out all the mud and put all back together. Was an expensive lesson.
#ESeaRider Thanks for this video! It was so helpful because just 2 days ago my wife and I took our very first boat out on lake Superior. We had just bought it. It is a 1990 OMC Cobra Phantom 160 Forester Sterndrive, I had been working on the carb and we were really only testing it out. Everything went pretty well loading and unloading it, and most of the boating experience. We decided to go under a train tressel that other boats were returning from the larger body of water to our left, as we entered the larger body I stayed to the right of center a little and we were cruising at 25mph (top speed at that time) and all of a sudden we hit something that shook the boat and the steering wheel was ripped out of my hands as it went back and forth very quickly. I quickly lowered the throttle after gaining control and wondered what I had hit. After getting back to the dock, I looked the boat over and the prop had some swirl marks on it and the hull had big orangish colored stains on both sides with a couple deep scratches and small chips in the fiber glass. Nothing serious. When we got home, I pulled the 2" water hose at the water pump and didn't see much sand at all. Just a small amount of black sand that was tiny granuals. This experience shook me so much being my first time ever taking a boat out that I'm afraid to go out again. I downloaded a navigating app for boats and saw that the lake where we hit was from 0 to 1 meter deep... no wonder! Thank you for letting me share this unusual experience with you and other youtubers!
Thank you! Depends on how thick the weeds are and how big of a patch! For the most part, in most situations, it's not that bad. But you want to make sure you don't suck any of the weeds up and clog up the water pick ups or the impeller. So just be cautious in that kind of a situation, if it's a big long thick patch of weeds.
I wish I could tell you abt the time I hit the bottom but it wasn't in my boat! The judge is still trying to figure out how to Is prosecute that river.
This is great when you have perfect weather conditions and its not raining sideways 😁👍 I was in a 23 scout in our local bay on a cold winter day. It was probably about 50° outside AND it was raining. No cabin, no major protection. Just a cut and dry t-top with a windshield and me with a jacket and jeans on freezing my fucking ass off. Obviously it was super overcast, raining and cold and the wind was pretty heavy so naturally you have waves at a consistent 3ft. I'm going back to a marina from a barrier island and decided to take a route I knew existed but wasn't necessarily familiar with. Long story short i'm going out of the channel into the ICW pretty slowly watching my depth finder and its slowly ticking down. It started at 7ft, 6ft, 5ft, 4.4ft, 3ft... can't see fucking shit, 2.5ft, 2.5 is where my panic set in. I slightly raised the motor got to the bow to try and see what the hell was going on. I changed my direction and said angrily under my breath, "I don't have time for this shit" while shaking from being so fucking cold and wet and said, "c'mon you son of a bitch" and instantly floored that mf. Went over that mfn sandbar with only about a foot and a half of water under me and starting laughing maniacally. Never got stuck, but was cursing every living object on the planet on my way back 👍
America has the IALA B buoyage system. In the rest of the world, we have the IALA A system, which is the opposite of the American IALA B system of buoyage. Thus to enter port in Australia, your red markers will be on the left, and your right markers will be on the right. Keep your starboard light and starboard markers together when entering port. Green to red when going to sea.
Here in the Carolinas (Cape Lookout NC), in behind the barrier islands, the channels shift like sand in a windy desert. You have to be careful all the time but especially after big storms or you can get yourself in a real bind in both natural channels and man made ones. Was running at cruising speed in a spot we knew the channel well shortly after hurricane Florence and the water almost completely disappeared in front of us. Had time to trim up the outboard and avoid sucking up sand but not quick enough to avoid a significant grounding in our 23ft bay boat. Took me, the wife, and two kids digging and rocking for 30 min to drift her back out but could have been worse. I’ve seen guys run completely out of the water going wide open! Now let me get that #esearider so it’s not so hard on the tush!
The marina where my boat is has a dredged channel that’s about 2 km long and uses white pilings which are only on the port side as you enter. If you took this advice to enter you would run aground.
The channel markers are pointed (RED) and the other side is flat on top that's so you can tell them apart during early dark or during difficult times to see the colors.
I can remember like it was yesterday that my wife ran us up on a sandbar. She always wanted to learn how to drive the boat just in case something was to happen to me. So she did not want to learn out in the middle of the Chesapeake so we went back into one of the river branches of the waterway. This is a place that are most every time we go out we got back there and see if any of our friends are there. So when we were coming out I asked her did she want to take the helm and she said yes. I put her dead center easily 30ft on either side of us. Showed her how to read a compass and the GPS. I am not even exaggerating it wasn't even 5 minutes after she talked over that somehow she was able to get the boat over on the port side and we were hung up. Lucky enough I always had a tide chart with me anytime before we went out. This is before a smartphone. So we sat there for 20 minutes the tide was coming in. Once I felt the boat loading again I backed us out off of the sandbar and was able to make it back to the marina. I did like the theme of this video. In all the years I have spent out one on the water I've never heard anyone talk about the colors. Cannot wait to see your next video.
Nice tips but mostly applicable in the tropical regions. Here in the PNW most of those tips don't apply, of course our waters aren't as shallow either.
So glad I`m a freshwater boater and don't have to worry about salt, tides, sharks, Jellyfish etc. Only problem is the water can get a little hard in the winter.
My first grounding was in the Atlantic ICW. I got out of the main channel to spend the night. Next morning when I returned to the channel I did not retrace my track. Very quickly my keel got stuck on a sand bar that didn’t register on my depth gauge quickly enough. Good thing for Towing contracts. #Esearider
2 Years ago staying at Pirates Cove in Central Florida..I was in the channel and during low tide bottomed out. I was totaly pissed and it pulled all the paint off my skeg! Thank goodness it was only sand! ..#esearider
When my pop had a 17 foot aluminum StarCraft in the early 80's we got bottom all the time in Barnegate Nj. We always left the engine unlocked so when we hit at speed the engine would fly out of the water screaming. .. good times....
Last year we ran aground on the 22' bayboat while fishing (white sand) and got out of the boat and it floated enough to walk beside it and push it to a deeper hole. That deeper hole turned out to be a great trout fishing spot and we found a way out on the other side. #E-SeaRider
Subscribe for sure! I rented a boat on a lake in VA years ago. It had a number of little creeks nice for sightseeing homes. The outfit asked us to be careful as water was low with lack of rain that summer so we did our best. However, going slowly (not slow enuf?) down one creek looking at homes,, some friendly folks waived at us so we did so in kind. Yeah, you know what's next. They were trying to waive us off. Boom, we jumped right up on some rocks, right in the middle. We planted atop a fairly large flat rock and got out of the boat and were able to practically spin the boat around ! We got pulled off and when we finally returned the boat I was sure that if they inspected it my deposit and then some, would be toast. Alas, one of the two babes aboard (yeah, we were all a bit drunk) said "I got this". She did a great job of distracting the would be inspector enough that he didn't do a careful bottom check and we got out of there. Probably wasn't much damage anyway as we were going slow and the boat functioned fine. But I was grateful non the less.
I was heading down river as the tide was nearing low tide, on the upper Ogeechee River in Savannah,Ga. Center of the river, and I ran aground, I was left sitting on a sand bar, and got out and walked around for 1/2 hour before the tide came back in. I have a photo of the boat sitting high and dry, but can’t figure out how to attach it.
I hit a submerged pylon that was left in place when Pyramid lake was filled. The dock was removed when they filled the lake. But as the water dropped in a drought several years ago, the two pylons were about 12in under water, in a skiing area. And ofcourse I hit one and tore an blade off a $500. prop. #ESeaRider Matt J
Just recently I bought a Supra wake boat. Having never operated in salt water or even outside of a lake, I took a boater Ed course. Took the boat to Orange beach AL and not even an hour in, struck an unmarked jetty and tore a big hole in the keek. We took on water so fast that we had to go ahead and Abandon abs swim about 40 yards to safety. Marine police came and then left us until 10 pm on a little island with no fresh water , phone dying , boat swamped and no light. Sea tow rescued us and was shocked that the police left us. It was also our anniversary.....
Well. I bought a boat with a 25” shaft with a 20” transom. Was in 4ft of water in the channel and low tide, tried to get on plane and boom hit bottom. Lesson learned from your other episode. Raised up motor and nice and easy now. #esearider
I hit a rock in crystal River. Rocks are everywhere. Just have to know the areas. I fish a lot of rocky places. Tides need to be right or it’s can be a graveyard for lower units. #Esearider
So if my draft is 8" and I park at at 2.5' at high tide on the sand bar, even if the tide drops 2 feet, I will still be floating. That is how I look at it.
Ran aground at Ono Island when I was in high school. Low tide on a sandbar; draft was only 12” on a Sea-Doo boat. We luckily were able to push off the bar as we were creeping in. #easyrider
First time boating in the keys this past fall. Stayed in key colony beach!! Didnt go full speed creeped up on our spot agound it was. Have spent alot of time on a boat. The keys is a whole new game!! #Esearider Just love your channel
Got that right and you have to consider the rock or coral outcroppings that come up from the bottom. At least in the Keys you have the pretty, mostly clear water that you get these clear, distinctive water color changes. Go boat the tidal waters around places like Savannah, Hilton Head, etc and these rules change because the water is mostly a consistent grey color because it carries the decayed plant life of the coastal tidal marshes. There, like inland rivers, you have to watch for the ripples, eddies and such that mark the current flowing over structures on the bottom.
I was riding on a buddies boat one time, while we were following about 25 of his previous gps track lines. In the middle of discussing the water depth, due to it very silty color, we slowly came to a stop. Sure enough, sitting in the mud at low tide. Thankfully, we sat back and chilled for about 2 hours until the boat floated free. Could have used a #ESeaRider
ESea Rider: Was looking at GPS and somewhere I could go in the summer but winter ran a ground. I just moved people to the front of the boat and floated off.
I remember one time in the bay over here in Texas looking at a new area to fish, going at the pace of the trolling motor heard the hull hit a rock. Went back out the same way I came in not wanting to hit anything else. #ESeaRider
My buddy and I took his boat to a small island and met some friends there. We hung out on the beach for most of the day and before we knew it the tide had dropped too low to get the boat back out. It got dark and we didn’t have supplies to camp so we had to sit in the dark while getting eaten up by noseeums until the tide came back up! #ESeaRider
2018 in the Bahamas, Abaco to be specific, our 125 foot yacht got stuck on the shallow sandbar inside Abaco Beach Resort Marina. Luckily, we were departing on rising tide so we had to wait 30 minutes until the water lifted the boat off seafloor and for the props to clear the sand. Evidently there was not only sand underneath us but a few rocks too. Pretty creepy to hear them grinding on the hull. #Esearider
Learn tons of Tricks & Skills like this with Step-by-Step courses @ BornAgainBoating.com
I remember that time I ran aground in the Suez Canal. Got that darn ship turned sideways and blocked traffic for over a week. Good times..
Oh damn, that was you!? I think i saw that on tv.
Man i hate it when that happens 🤣
That was the clown Joe Biden
Evergreen horn
Few to many beers that’s night
As a kid in the early 80's, our family was stationed in Key West, it was my father's last station before he retired after 20 years of being in the Navy. He always wanted a boat and finally got one, a tiny 18' what looked like a homemade fiberglass cabin boat with a Johnson 90hp, it was sketchy but all we could afford at time and I remember one of our early boating experiences when we decided to go boating at night in what looks like some of the same areas and channels as in the video, Calda channel which we navigated fine in daylight quite a few times to get to the Gulf side, this was in the days before GPS and loran was a luxury. I remember my dad using a spotlight to look for that first marker before getting into the channel and running aground in pitch blackness in sand and grass beds and trying to push the boat to deeper waters for over an hour and being so disoriented that we ended up having to wait for daylight and the tide to rise before we could get ourselves out and back to Sigsbee Marina
Thanks to videos like this, I learned a lot about boating. I watched lots of these videos before my week boat rental down in Cape Coral last year and this year we went out again with no problem. Anyone who’s never boated and plans on it needs to watch these videos and read these stories. I went out as a very cautious boater.
Back in 2002, while vacationing in St. Pete with my bride, I rented an 18 ft center console boat for a day of fishing. Never operated any boat before but we had a great time. Unfortunately, we stayed out too long. It started getting dark and the sea got very choppy. i remember slamming that boat on the waves and wondering if the hull was gonna crack, and if that was normal... Then I realized that all the inlets looked pretty much the same, especially when it got darker, so I picked ... the wrong one. Lost some time, rushed to get back and got us stuck in the sand about half a mile from the shore. Who knew it could be so shallow so far from the shore? I remember feeling like an idiot, knee-deep in the water pushing the boat in the middle of the sea and wondering if that was normal...
Thankfully, it ended well; I got the boat free and we rode the wake of a large boat to get back safely, but man.... I'll never forget being "captain" for the first time.
I still make those silly mistakes 10 years later of being my own capitan. I never got any boat stuck, but I sure have had some close calls.
The FL keys is probably one of those places where all this tips help immensely!! Which is were most of not all this footage is from lol I ran a small grass flat one time in my little 17 mako chasing a down a buddy in his skiff... I was in an unfamiliar area an let the excitement get the best of me ! I’m way more cautious now and these tips definitely help ! Thanks again looking forward to the anchoring an sand bar edict ! Lots of ppl in SoFlo need that lol
Most fun navigating Malibu Rapids at Princess Louisa Inlet on an ebb in a 48’ converted troller , spinning a 360 and continuing on like you meant it. We get a few adventurous boaters up here from Washington State who’ve been to Jarvis Inlet and they will know the beauty of it
“Red right return” - depends where you are.
IALA Region B is Green to Port, Red to Starboard. Region B applies to the America’s (the whole continent) Japan, Philippines and South Korea.
Region A - red to port, green to starboard applies to the rest of the world. The shapes of a Can to Port and Cone to starboard apply to the whole world regardless of region.
you are 100% correct !
I was always taught that when in unfamiliar sandy-bottomed shoal water, that you went in very slowly at _low_ tide, so that if you beached, you could float off when the tide came in...
Well first off, I’m happy to say it wasn’t me steering the boat! My dad had a 30 proline with twin I/Os, the boat was only about a year old and this was our first time taking it out into the Atlantic out by Morehead City in NC (we are used to the Gulf in NW Florida). We went fishing and when we were coming back in, we had gotten lost and my brother (who was at the helm) saw a 18ish foot boat that looked familiar when we launched so he chased him down not realizing the lead boat cut a marker by a good margin...Well, he hit a sandbar (that was still submerged) doing almost 50mph, dragging us almost 100’ into it before coming to a stop, engines still wide open, forced the stern drives up and spewing water (and sand) pretty high in the air at what we later found out that the tide was going out. My dad had to walk a few hundred yards to shore and ended up returning about 2 hours later in a small dredging boat...$20/foot length of the boat and $10/foot that the boat had to be dredged out. Needless to say, when my dad left, the boat was in a foot of water, when he came back the boat was sitting at a hard angle and there was nothing but sand for almost 150 feet...The tide over there is crazy! Oddly enough my dad still trusted my brother with the boat until what happened when picked it up from the shop after that incident...But that’s another store 😂😂 #E-SeaRider
I live in Fort Myers Fl. on the southwest gulf. We have a great fishing area known as Pine Island Sound. Anyone that fishes the area knows for sure how much brown ground there is. The water clarity doesn't even compare to the Florida Keys. We have the Caloosahatchee river which runs into the gulf of Mexico. So in turn we get a lot of run off from Lake Okeechobee; of which turns a lot of the fishing waters to a rusty brown color. So as you could expect we have to pay extra attention to the channel markers. The skinny water blends into the channel water. You get the point. I have hit the brown ground twice; one time was a hidden oyster bar i knew nothing about. Scraped the bottom of the boat so bad had to have it skimmed with faring material, sanded and repainted. Luckily there were no holes to fix. Learned my lesson pretty quick. Needless to say we are the captains of our boats and are responsible for all aboard as they expect to be returned to the dock safely. Thank You Dave T.
I was fishing for the first time on the Eastern Shore of Virginia. This area has some markers but mostly you need to navigate by sight as there are many shoals and shallow water areas. We were moving along in 15 to 20 feet when suddenly the depth alarm went off and then the boat bottomed out. We threw the anchor off the aft and was able to pull our boat free as the tide was incoming. But it gave us a greater respect to keep an eye on the water, not just the chart and soundings. #ESeaRider
Every winter I'm in Florida and love it. Water is much better there than here in Rhode Island where its muddy dark all the time. Great video
My buddy picked up his brand new Scout 195 (first boat) and we headed down to the keys, specifically Big Pine Key. We were told by his cousin that when going through the "bay" to "keep her pinned". So we did. This worked when we headed out to local hangout spot. We then went out fishing and had a great day. On the way back, we kept her pinned and all of a sudden the motor started slamming up and down, the bottom got all stirred up and my buddy's face was just pure shock. We hit bottom......hard. Thank God its was a sandy bottom. No real damage aside from a bent skeg and some pride, but he was pretty bummed as the boat was pretty much brand new. I've never seen an outboard bounce up & down quite like that and was pretty surprised nothing broke, including the transom where the motor mounted. The rest of the trip was great and we learned a lot about knowing how to scope out an area and check charts prior to just letting it rip. Lol.
What does "Keep her pinned" mean? I've been a boat owner for 30 years on Florida Gulf Coast, never heard that term.
@@Ocean_breezes full throttle
The dusky desperato is an amazing boat for the keys , took one out off the reef on a 6 footer day and it handled it like a champ , also plenty of points of contact for when going fast or when the seas get rough.
They forgot one of my benchmark statements: NEVER go faster than you want to hit something.
When in doubt slow down. Another thing a lot of people should consider, just because you saw someone else do it doesn't mean you should try it, especially around other boats.
Well I was in rock port texas in the bay off Fulton Beach and I was hauling ass in my 1232 jet jon and I found the muscle beds at 34 mph didn't hurt the boat but I went flying.
Watch urself when near the shore by marshfield MA ( south of boston harbor) major rocks just below the water at low tide. Almost clipped one. Now i go way out to deeper water especially at night..
Great video!!
Local knowledge, if available, is the best way to go. However, these rules are really good to know.
Another thing that needs to be considered is shoaling. We use the GICW all the time,and in certain spots you'll get a surprise! Good thing is its usually all sand.
Cheers
I ran aground coming into a dock at my brothers place that I had been at before. My Garmin even had my previous position marked on screen but I didn’t trust it as visually the entrance appears to be on the other side. I was at a crawl and just kissed the shallow rock shelf a couple of times and was able to slip in neutral to minimize prop damage. 😡 All on me. $1500 mistake, props sent out for repair and balance. Thanks for all your video’s. Cheers, Mike
#ESeaRider
Me and my old boss ran aground crossing the channel between Coco Cay and String Ray City enclosure in the Bahamas. It was my first time crossing that section, however I was not the captain that day since I had just started.
I'm a local from that area so I knew the water and knew something was off but it was too late. We ran aground some where along the middle of the channel and bonus three of the company's vessels where right behind us, so you know what happened lol.
Unfortunately my old boss had broke his pinky toe in the process, we decided to walk out on the flats to pick up some conch. We ended up picking up about 300 pounds of them between the four boats. We waited about four to five hours before the tide came in but it was worth it.
We had a huge crack conch cook out that evening and one hell of a good laugh afterwards.
This applies sometimes in the Keys I've been there going on 30 Winters and this does not apply all the time common sense knowing where you are probably the best advice I can give go slow until you know does that sound good!
So much of the Fort Lauderdale intercoastal is no wake ! I was recently heading south on the intercoastal just south of the Dania beach bridge where I could finally open up the engine only to run aground! In my haste to increase the throttle I forgot to check that it was low tide and had veered slightly west of the marker. Nothing like going full speed and coming to a grinding halt! My skeg took the damage - losing a couple of chunks but still functional/operable. This is one of my normal areas I travel through and couldn’t believe I made such a careless mistake.
William Duval glad you’re ok!
Make sure you know if the area is A or B. In U.K. and EU And other areas world wide, this red to starboard on entry becomes red to port, eg. There is no red port left.
I was taking my 36 foot sailboat into a small bay at Isle Royale on Lake Superior. The sun was high and the water was nice and dark which usually means deep water. The problem was that there was a big flat rock that was also dark. The keel of the boat rode right up on it and we were stuck for a hot minute. Fortunately we got away unscathed, but it took the rest of the day for my heart rate to return to normal. #Esearider
Lol :) No one likes that feeling when you feel the impact :) The next week is spend looking at the charts before you go anywhere lol
I have been stuck on sandbars a time or two but in Washington state we have logs floating in the water called dead heads. Almost all of the log is submerged. When you hit one going wide open it's scary, your outboard jumps out of the water.
I was trying to get my last fishing day of the year. When i ran a ground last November unloading my boat ,because the NY State took the docks out on oct. 31.
I guess I should not fish in November
My dad tried to teach me boating tips. If it’s green your clean, if it’s white you might, if it is brown your aground. I think I’m color blind. The best tip is to not run full speed in unfamiliar areas. Don’t drink alcohol and boat. The two don’t work together. Always remember wind effect tides. You might think it’s high tide but the wind blew out all the water. So bring a book when you go fishing. You might be waiting awhile to get out.
Ha! My pelican intruder with a dinky Coleman engine is such a small little bass boat I run it aground in lakes, oceans, marsh, swamp, ponds on purpose for some of those sweet fishing spots but it is plastic so it doesn’t matter as much as a big boat
What material would be best for surviving a reef grounding if weight is important and money is no object? I was thinking carbon fiber construction of most of the vessel with a sacrificial bottom plating of either aluminum or UHMWPE or both.
Are you planning on hitting the reef? Lol :)
Born Again Boating Lol! Planning on sailing around the world, so eventually, statistically speaking, I will hit something dangerous with my boat haha
This was a really interesting video to watch. It was informational too. Keep posting more such videos. Good luck.
Interestingly (at least to me ;-) this is exactly opposite for colours in Australia (and Europe, Oceana and most of Asia). Our marks (IALA "A") are green to Starboard, and red to Port. We use "Is there any RED PORT wine LEFT" as the nemonic.
Green right entering, odd numbers, cones: GREENOC
I think it’s standardized. What you are saying is correct going out, but opposite when returning. Same with the lights on your boat- green on the starboard and red to port. When someone is heading straight at you, though- you see red on the right. “Red right returning” is a phrase I first heard from my flight instructor warning that if you’re flying at night and you see another plane’s lights with red on the right, they’re headed toward you.
@@beef1481 here in Aus, when returning to a port/marina/heading upstream, you keep red on the left and green on the right.
Very nice. I've been wanting to learn more about boating. Your videos are super helpful.
Thank you!
Greater video for us beginners. I'm still learning to read water here in South Texas bays & channels. I do look at markers, etc. & go slow. I'll watch the other videos. Thanks 😊
Had a commercial crabbing license for a bit. Was out in the bay tending pots when a storm rolled in. Normally on a big body of water we can just maneuver around the storm. Stay away from it for the most part. Well it started to be all around us and I was in an aluminum boat. Decided it wasnt a good idea to be in an open body of water in an aluminum boat with a giant stainless steel rod pointing up in the sky (winder arm for pulling in the pots) so we headed straight for shore. We beached the boat in the marsh and ran about 100 yards away from it and hunkered down as best we could. The storm had gotten really bad and there was lightning all around us and we were getting soaked from the rain. About 20 minutes goes by and the storm passes and we walk back to the boat and the tide had gone down enough where we could not budge the 24' sea ark out of the mud. Ended up having to walk about 3 miles down the shore through the marsh and then get a ride from a local fisherman in a John boat across the canal at the boat ramp to the truck only to realize that I left my keys to the truck in the boat. Had to have the wife bring me my extra key and then wait about 10 hours to come back at around midnight with a friend's boat and pull it off the beach. Worst part was before we left the boat and accepted our fate and headed for the truck, we had to dump out every bushell basket that was full of crabs... essentially like throwing wads of cash into a fire... #ESeaRider
That's harsh :(
I ran aground while on vacation in emerald isle NC. Was out jet skiing in the intercostal way, didnt realize just how shallow some areas were. Luckily I realized what was happening and let off the throttle in time. The depth went from 4 feet to about 4 inches in a matter of seconds. Took a pretty good hit and flew about 10 feet.
One of my favorite places.. Definitely a learning curve there about as sharp as the edge of those sandbars
Yup, Emerald is part of the Graveyard of the Atlantic for good reason.
Not too far from there by the water in Beaufort is where Blackbeard’s Queen Anne’s Revenge ran aground.
My jetski regularly runs in 4 inches or less of water, just needs to be going full noise
I ran aground briefly (under sail) when taking evasive action in the Lake Havasu City channel that leads to the motel docks and passes under the London Bridge. It kind of surprised me, but I was running my swing keel, drawing 5-ft, 8-inches of depth, so shouldn't have been so surprising. After quickly dropping sail, my motoring attempts to free myself caused confusion for other boaters, but all turned out well, and the whole incident lasted maybe a minute thirty.
Easy rider should hear about this one ! As I was just about to stand up and go from the stern to the helm to tell my buddy( who was the captain of the boat) that the area he is headed for is really low we hit a depth that brought the boat to a complete stop. At the time we were only doing about 10 knots so it wasn’t too bad for everyone sitting down but I went flying ! The only good that came out of this was he won’t be cutting across that spot anymore.
Lol the infamous grounding event!
Hit Bottom Florida Keys Tavernier Key a local shallow pass on the bay side known for the marker poles decorated by Toilet Seats hung off of them.... Was not up enough on a plane for a clear passage and hit bottom and bogged out. Had to wait about an hour for the tide to rise high enough to pole-push out to deeper water. #esearider #navigation #FloridaKeys #boating
My son and I rented a fish and ski outboard in Oyster Bay NY and we slowly eased out of the rather long no wake channel. We finally got out into Long Island Sound and headed to a local area where we anchored and swam and picnicked. We soon headed back to the dock. We rounded a point when I noticed several rocks jutting up out of the water. There seemed to be a few more than when we passed them earlier. I then began to turn away from shore and realized we had wandered into a rocky outcrop now visible. About the time we slammed into one it dawned on me we were not in a freshwater Texas lake and this area had tidal flows. Too late as we came to gut-tearing stop. I thought we breached the fiberglass hull so I opened the waterski compartment expecting salt water to be rushing in. Fortunately we were ok until we restarted the engine. We could slowly idle but when we gave a slight push on the throttle the engine sputtered and died. Idling along we limped back to the dock to meet the unhappy but understanding owner. Rental insurance and a couple of $1000 paid for a motor repair but the owner was out of commission for a couple of weeks. Lesson: ALWAYS have a chart, depth finder, and remember to get local info on new and unfamiliar areas. #ESea Rider would have helped cushion my granddaughter when we hit the rocks.
Miami / Rivo Alto Island… classic, wanted to cut the corner on my way to the sandbar… good was the quick reaction to level the boat by shifting the people and raising the outboards. Close call 😅
Red Right Return - applies only in North America and a handful of other countries, right? In other countries the colors are flipped if I'm correct.
Yes, I forgot to mention that :( it's funny after putting a video together and you think you've thought of everything you need to put in it, and you still forget information! :) lol
I grew up on the water, and I agree 👍 💯
-Lake Michigan
Interesting you say red right return I always thought International signs were all the same in Australia the port side is red when Returning and green is starboard
I like this one - Rock Rock........STOP! Happened to me this summer when I saw rocks in the close distance!
Red right return is a navigation reference.. if you’re driving and see a boat out in the distance and their nav lights are on the right side, they are returning to you.
We were coming back from stuart, chatting away, the next thing you know the boat stopped and we all went forward! We hit a sandbar , not paying attention to the tides. And we have journeyed through this part so many times. Too busy talking. Lessons learned- no one was hurt, engine fine, ego's severely bruised. We were lucky!
#ESearider
#ESeaRider
Easyrider. Bad shoal showing itself again after 10 years of being 4 feet below the surface. Now since we lost 24” of water this year and continually losing water as the drought continues. The shoal is the size of a small island and is right in the middle of a throughway between two islands. Also all shorelines have been extended and shelf’s have risen enough to destroy lower ends of any boat that drafts 24”
I live in Virginia Beach on the Lynnhaven River and use these tips all the time. I love watching your channel and you have inspired me to change my steering cable and binnacle cables in my boat. I check the tides all the time because where we keep our 1986 boston whler is based off the tides and channels. I would love to have the #esearider
Ran aground while talking on the phone in a tricky area by Oregon Inlet, NC. A 20 min struggle to get out, but we got out under our own power. Solid lesson learned: Pay attention to what you are doing, even if you have done this hundreds of times. #EseaRider
Forgot the red right return rule just once, and our daughter painted my right toenail red and put an S on it Green and a P on the other Had to wear it for a week. Learning.
I have the exact same Garmin chart plotters, one used for sounder other optimized for navigation.
newbie here. what is that entrance/exit looking structure built under bridges that has the height/depth to the water to the bridge called? what is the purpose of it? is that the only way to pass through a bridge and not anywhere else?
I think I'm confused. Are you talking about on some bridges it gives you a sign that has the height on it? That is just to let you know the height from the bridge to the water
Born Again Boating yea that! I was wondering if there was any more use to them And also, do all water crafts have to pass through them even if there is more room on other parts of the bridge?
P JB you can go thru any other regular opening in the bridge. In fact on a jet ski theres no reason to go thru the middle if its busy. Its made for the big boats. Deepest and widest area of the bridge and also sometimes is a draw-bridge like where i am we have a few for ocean access from LI.
@@mxracingunlimitedltd7784 thank you so much for the information. i totally understand now.
I fish out of Tavernier Creek. Unfortunately it’s one of the few channels that hasn’t been dredged out so it’s very shallow. I’m in a 30’ single diesel so I draft a lot. Just about 3 foot. I’ve bumped bottom 1 or 2 times but luckily never had damage. Now I just plan accordingly and leave as close to dead high tide as I can.
Awesome! You could get a really cheap prop and make some passes through the channel ;) you know, just to clear out the sand that came in from IRMA :)
Very clear and informative. Thank you.
Red right return is applicable in US and Philippines only, in all other parts of the world is opposite
thx for the offer for bean bag .......very nice...I know others can use it.
luv the vid nice job
Here in Delaware more specifically Indian River inlet. This past season burning December the state pulled all the bouy markers. Flew strictly by GPS and was too far to port and watched the depthfinder go from 12ft to 2 ft real quick and struck bottom. I was able to pull back on the throttles fast enough and with not much effort make it out of the situation. Lesson to be learned here about GPS accuracy. #esearider
HA! Come to Coastal Georgia. Our water is always mud brown no mater how deep!
Thanks, Liked this content better then you others wish I knew it two props and one skeg ago :). Again thanks for all your content.
#ESeaRider Was new to boating on lake Michigan. Visiting Saugatuck Michigan and ran aground in the middle of the inlet coming into the harbor. Mud was sucked into our outdrive and into the water pump. Overheated it taking it back to the slip. Had to have a guy come to the boat, remove the water pump, force water through the system to rinse out all the mud and put all back together. Was an expensive lesson.
#ESeaRider
Thanks for this video! It was so helpful because just 2 days ago my wife and I took our very first boat out on lake Superior. We had just bought it. It is a 1990 OMC Cobra Phantom 160 Forester Sterndrive, I had been working on the carb and we were really only testing it out. Everything went pretty well loading and unloading it, and most of the boating experience. We decided to go under a train tressel that other boats were returning from the larger body of water to our left, as we entered the larger body I stayed to the right of center a little and we were cruising at 25mph (top speed at that time) and all of a sudden we hit something that shook the boat and the steering wheel was ripped out of my hands as it went back and forth very quickly. I quickly lowered the throttle after gaining control and wondered what I had hit. After getting back to the dock, I looked the boat over and the prop had some swirl marks on it and the hull had big orangish colored stains on both sides with a couple deep scratches and small chips in the fiber glass. Nothing serious. When we got home, I pulled the 2" water hose at the water pump and didn't see much sand at all. Just a small amount of black sand that was tiny granuals. This experience shook me so much being my first time ever taking a boat out that I'm afraid to go out again. I downloaded a navigating app for boats and saw that the lake where we hit was from 0 to 1 meter deep... no wonder! Thank you for letting me share this unusual experience with you and other youtubers!
Thank you for these videos. I’ve seen boaters run through weed line. Is this a bad idea for outboard motors?
Thank you! Depends on how thick the weeds are and how big of a patch! For the most part, in most situations, it's not that bad. But you want to make sure you don't suck any of the weeds up and clog up the water pick ups or the impeller. So just be cautious in that kind of a situation, if it's a big long thick patch of weeds.
I wish I could tell you abt the time I hit the bottom but it wasn't in my boat! The judge is still trying to figure out how to Is prosecute that river.
This is great when you have perfect weather conditions and its not raining sideways 😁👍
I was in a 23 scout in our local bay on a cold winter day. It was probably about 50° outside AND it was raining. No cabin, no major protection. Just a cut and dry t-top with a windshield and me with a jacket and jeans on freezing my fucking ass off. Obviously it was super overcast, raining and cold and the wind was pretty heavy so naturally you have waves at a consistent 3ft. I'm going back to a marina from a barrier island and decided to take a route I knew existed but wasn't necessarily familiar with. Long story short i'm going out of the channel into the ICW pretty slowly watching my depth finder and its slowly ticking down. It started at 7ft, 6ft, 5ft, 4.4ft, 3ft... can't see fucking shit, 2.5ft, 2.5 is where my panic set in. I slightly raised the motor got to the bow to try and see what the hell was going on. I changed my direction and said angrily under my breath, "I don't have time for this shit" while shaking from being so fucking cold and wet and said, "c'mon you son of a bitch" and instantly floored that mf. Went over that mfn sandbar with only about a foot and a half of water under me and starting laughing maniacally. Never got stuck, but was cursing every living object on the planet on my way back 👍
there are two types of boaters on Moreton Bay QLD Australia - those that have run aground and those that lie about it! #esearider
Very true David, damn that sand bar to the north of Peel. Greetings from Corinda on Anzac Day. 🇦🇺🇦🇺
Also same for Townsville, Bohle river mouth
America has the IALA B buoyage system. In the rest of the world, we have the IALA A system, which is the opposite of the American IALA B system of buoyage.
Thus to enter port in Australia, your red markers will be on the left, and your right markers will be on the right. Keep your starboard light and starboard markers together when entering port.
Green to red when going to sea.
Here in the Carolinas (Cape Lookout NC), in behind the barrier islands, the channels shift like sand in a windy desert. You have to be careful all the time but especially after big storms or you can get yourself in a real bind in both natural channels and man made ones.
Was running at cruising speed in a spot we knew the channel well shortly after hurricane Florence and the water almost completely disappeared in front of us.
Had time to trim up the outboard and avoid sucking up sand but not quick enough to avoid a significant grounding in our 23ft bay boat. Took me, the wife, and two kids digging and rocking for 30 min to drift her back out but could have been worse. I’ve seen guys run completely out of the water going wide open! Now let me get that #esearider so it’s not so hard on the tush!
The marina where my boat is has a dredged channel that’s about 2 km long and uses white pilings which are only on the port side as you enter. If you took this advice to enter you would run aground.
Local knowledge should be considered over anything said on the internet
Excellent video. I wrote down your five phrases.. thank you..
Excellent ! Know before you go and come back With the tide not against it.
If in doubt don't go out 🙂
The channel markers are pointed (RED) and the other side is flat on top that's so you can tell them apart during early dark or during difficult times to see the colors.
In au marker saying are green to green when going upstream and green to red when seas are ahead that's that the maritime teach ya
Nice! :) It's crazy that there isn't a universal standard for waterway markings :(
@@BornAgainBoating I 100% agree there and thankyou for responding and liking my comment too
PS: we don't have shallow water markers to my knowledge
I can remember like it was yesterday that my wife ran us up on a sandbar. She always wanted to learn how to drive the boat just in case something was to happen to me. So she did not want to learn out in the middle of the Chesapeake so we went back into one of the river branches of the waterway. This is a place that are most every time we go out we got back there and see if any of our friends are there. So when we were coming out I asked her did she want to take the helm and she said yes. I put her dead center easily 30ft on either side of us. Showed her how to read a compass and the GPS. I am not even exaggerating it wasn't even 5 minutes after she talked over that somehow she was able to get the boat over on the port side and we were hung up. Lucky enough I always had a tide chart with me anytime before we went out. This is before a smartphone. So we sat there for 20 minutes the tide was coming in. Once I felt the boat loading again I backed us out off of the sandbar and was able to make it back to the marina.
I did like the theme of this video. In all the years I have spent out one on the water I've never heard anyone talk about the colors. Cannot wait to see your next video.
Nice tips but mostly applicable in the tropical regions. Here in the PNW most of those tips don't apply, of course our waters aren't as shallow either.
Interesting!
So glad I`m a freshwater boater and don't have to worry about salt, tides, sharks, Jellyfish etc. Only problem is the water can get a little hard in the winter.
My first grounding was in the Atlantic ICW. I got out of the main channel to spend the night. Next morning when I returned to the channel I did not retrace my track. Very quickly my keel got stuck on a sand bar that didn’t register on my depth gauge quickly enough. Good thing for Towing contracts. #Esearider
2 Years ago staying at Pirates Cove in Central Florida..I was in the channel and during low tide bottomed out. I was totaly pissed and it pulled all the paint off my skeg! Thank goodness it was only sand! ..#esearider
When my pop had a 17 foot aluminum StarCraft in the early 80's we got bottom all the time in Barnegate Nj. We always left the engine unlocked so when we hit at speed the engine would fly out of the water screaming. .. good times....
Barnaget bay is SKETCHY! 1 second you’re in 8 feet of water, the next second you’re in a sandbar by island beach state park.
@@veeco3110 so true! The light house inlet was treacherous sometimes it was gorgeous and others it seemed like haulover inlet in Miami.
Would it not better to go into unknown shallows at low tide so a rising tide can float the boat just in case?
OMG the ocean is so beautiful!
Indeed!
Last year we ran aground on the 22' bayboat while fishing (white sand) and got out of the boat and it floated enough to walk beside it and push it to a deeper hole. That deeper hole turned out to be a great trout fishing spot and we found a way out on the other side. #E-SeaRider
Subscribe for sure! I rented a boat on a lake in VA years ago. It had a number of little creeks nice for sightseeing homes. The outfit asked us to be careful as water was low with lack of rain that summer so we did our best. However, going slowly (not slow enuf?) down one creek looking at homes,, some friendly folks waived at us so we did so in kind. Yeah, you know what's next. They were trying to waive us off. Boom, we jumped right up on some rocks, right in the middle. We planted atop a fairly large flat rock and got out of the boat and were able to practically spin the boat around ! We got pulled off and when we finally returned the boat I was sure that if they inspected it my deposit and then some, would be toast. Alas, one of the two babes aboard (yeah, we were all a bit drunk) said "I got this". She did a great job of distracting the would be inspector enough that he didn't do a careful bottom check and we got out of there. Probably wasn't much damage anyway as we were going slow and the boat functioned fine. But I was grateful non the less.
I was heading down river as the tide was nearing low tide, on the upper Ogeechee River in Savannah,Ga. Center of the river, and I ran aground, I was left sitting on a sand bar, and got out and walked around for 1/2 hour before the tide came back in. I have a photo of the boat sitting high and dry, but can’t figure out how to attach it.
I hit a submerged pylon that was left in place when Pyramid lake was filled. The dock was removed when they filled the lake. But as the water dropped in a drought several years ago, the two pylons were about 12in under water, in a skiing area. And ofcourse I hit one and tore an blade off a $500. prop. #ESeaRider
Matt J
Just recently I bought a Supra wake boat. Having never operated in salt water or even outside of a lake, I took a boater Ed course. Took the boat to Orange beach AL and not even an hour in, struck an unmarked jetty and tore a big hole in the keek. We took on water so fast that we had to go ahead and Abandon abs swim about 40 yards to safety. Marine police came and then left us until 10 pm on a little island with no fresh water , phone dying , boat swamped and no light. Sea tow rescued us and was shocked that the police left us. It was also our anniversary.....
That sucks :(
Well. I bought a boat with a 25” shaft with a 20” transom. Was in 4ft of water in the channel and low tide, tried to get on plane and boom hit bottom. Lesson learned from your other episode. Raised up motor and nice and easy now. #esearider
I hit a rock in crystal River. Rocks are everywhere. Just have to know the areas. I fish a lot of rocky places. Tides need to be right or it’s can be a graveyard for lower units. #Esearider
I usually go out of Ft. Island Trail..
So if my draft is 8" and I park at at 2.5' at high tide on the sand bar, even if the tide drops 2 feet, I will still be floating. That is how I look at it.
Ran aground at Ono Island when I was in high school. Low tide on a sandbar; draft was only 12” on a Sea-Doo boat. We luckily were able to push off the bar as we were creeping in. #easyrider
First time boating in the keys this past fall. Stayed in key colony beach!! Didnt go full speed creeped up on our spot agound it was. Have spent alot of time on a boat. The keys is a whole new game!! #Esearider Just love your channel
Got that right and you have to consider the rock or coral outcroppings that come up from the bottom. At least in the Keys you have the pretty, mostly clear water that you get these clear, distinctive water color changes. Go boat the tidal waters around places like Savannah, Hilton Head, etc and these rules change because the water is mostly a consistent grey color because it carries the decayed plant life of the coastal tidal marshes. There, like inland rivers, you have to watch for the ripples, eddies and such that mark the current flowing over structures on the bottom.
Just subscribed looking forward to watching your videos 👍🏻👍🏻
FORTNIGHT FISHING
PEMBROKESHIRE 🤟🏻🤟🏻
I was riding on a buddies boat one time, while we were following about 25 of his previous gps track lines. In the middle of discussing the water depth, due to it very silty color, we slowly came to a stop. Sure enough, sitting in the mud at low tide. Thankfully, we sat back and chilled for about 2 hours until the boat floated free. Could have used a #ESeaRider
ESea Rider: Was looking at GPS and somewhere I could go in the summer but winter ran a ground. I just moved people to the front of the boat and floated off.
I remember one time in the bay over here in Texas looking at a new area to fish, going at the pace of the trolling motor heard the hull hit a rock. Went back out the same way I came in not wanting to hit anything else. #ESeaRider
red right return also means when you see a boats navigation lights and its red light to the right of its green light, that boat is heading towards you
My buddy and I took his boat to a small island and met some friends there. We hung out on the beach for most of the day and before we knew it the tide had dropped too low to get the boat back out. It got dark and we didn’t have supplies to camp so we had to sit in the dark while getting eaten up by noseeums until the tide came back up! #ESeaRider
In Australia its
Blue - go on through
Green - if youre keen
Brown - go around
This refers to reef areas 🇦🇺
2018 in the Bahamas, Abaco to be specific, our 125 foot yacht got stuck on the shallow sandbar inside Abaco Beach Resort Marina. Luckily, we were departing on rising tide so we had to wait 30 minutes until the water lifted the boat off seafloor and for the props to clear the sand. Evidently there was not only sand underneath us but a few rocks too. Pretty creepy to hear them grinding on the hull. #Esearider
Ran aground twice in Bogue Sound, with one being just east of marker 12 on ICW. Both times when big wind pushed water out of the sound. #EseaRider