Getting ready to cross a bar?

Gofirstclass

Well-Known Member
Apr 20, 2010
11,670
Tri Cities, WA
Boat Info
Boatless in WA
Engines
No motor
Here's a video I found that has some good tips about crossing bars. It's from Australia
and New Zealand but their bars seem to be pretty much like ours....deadly if you don't know what you're doing.

 
Is there a slack water time at a bar. Going north we go threw many rapids but all have a slack time. Some rapids can run to 14 knots and waves to 12 feet. We cross at slack or near slack. Have seen sail boats jet stuck in rapids as they have little power. With rapids we try to go when they will give us a slight push. Slack only lasts a few minutes. When you are in rapids and there is current and your wake is amplified so it is not nice to other boaters.
 
northern, yes, there is slack water when the flow stops and before the ebb starts. I've been across the infamous Columbia bar twice and both times we did it at slack water and it was a piece of cake.
 
Interesting video.....while we're landlocked, it's always good to see things done the right and safe way.
 
Thank you for posting the video - I watched it.

First question - are you across the bar?

Have heard about the bar's in the NW, wondered if they were similar to inlets on the east coast of FL. From what I got from the video - they are different. Similar, but different in the fact that you are in open water versus closed channel.

Every area has its own challenges.

Mark
 
Most inlets on the East Coast have a bar at the mouth where the fast moving water from the inlet slows down as it enters the ocean and drops its sand load. Jupiter inlet comes to mind as being a nasty inlet. Up north in the mid Atlantic, we have Indian River Inlet in Delaware, it can be a very nasty inlet in a wind against tide situation.
 
Thank you for posting the video - I watched it.

First question - are you across the bar?

Have heard about the bar's in the NW, wondered if they were similar to inlets on the east coast of FL. From what I got from the video - they are different. Similar, but different in the fact that you are in open water versus closed channel.

Every area has its own challenges.

Mark
Mark, I'm not sure I understand what you're asking in your first question. Could you ask again in a different way?

I think the main concept between east coast and west coast bars is about the same. I'm not sure why the west coast bars are so much more dangerous. I'm not sure why the waves are so much larger and why they take so many boats under. Google "Columbia River Bar" or "Cape Disappointment" and you'll see what I mean.

I've been across the Columbia River Bar twice, both times at full flood as it stops and starts to ebb, both times at full high tide. Both times were a piece of cake. All it takes is good planning and good timing.
 
Rephrase my question...

Did you make it across safely?

You had posted a couple of days ago that you were headed that way, was just wondering if it worked out ok.

Boated in the land of south florida inlets for a while.

Guessing that you did - your posting.

Mark
 
Mark, we weren't headed that far. We're going to be taking the boat 235 miles down to Portland to get new windows and bimini on the fly bridge. That's a 2.5 day trip, not because of the distance but because we have to pass through 4 locks on the way down. That adds another 2-3 hours to the trip, and that's if everything goes well.

When we get to Portland we'll still be about a hundred miles from the coast and the Columbia bar.

We're headed to AZ tomorrow for a week and when we get back we'll take the boat down there. We'll leave it there for the 2-3 weeks it takes to get all the canvas work done, then it's another 2.5 days back up river to our home slip.
 

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