"The Cut" - New construction warning... Almost found out the hard way....

Update: According to this article, the work on the cut was completed about a month ago.

I can't imagine working out there on the water all winter. I stood at the end of the dock in a 15 mph breeze on a 35 degree day in December and I was done with that in about 2 minutes. Brrr... At least the workers had no problems keeping their beer cold.

I'm really looking forward to this season. It looks like Overextended and I can each have our own side of the channel and TWO nimnuts will be able take their half out of the center - between us. :grin:

8' at low tide...

austin-powers-cocktail-glass-4900072.jpg
 
skibum said:
Update: According to this article, the work on the cut was completed about a month ago.

I can't imagine working out there on the water all winter. I stood at the end of the dock in a 15 mph breeze on a 35 degree day in December and I was done with that in about 2 minutes. Brrr... At least the workers had no problems keeping their beer cold.

I'm really looking forward to this season. It looks like Overextended and I can each have our own side of the channel and TWO nimnuts will be able take their half out of the center - between us. :grin:

8' at low tide...

austin-powers-cocktail-glass-4900072.jpg
Click to expand...


I volunteer to be one of the “nimunts” if you would like a test! :grin: Really can't wait to use this. The first time will be early April when we go to Fell's Point
 
Maybe you could ask Hans to be "nimnut #2"?

Well when you do come through, make a turn to starboard half way. Turn to port around the back of the breakwall. The last slip at the far end on your starboard has a floating dock that goes up to the marina on the far side. I'm usually one of the first three boats at the end of that dock. If I'm there, we'll get ya' tied up for a bit and I'll buy you a beer. There is also an inner floating dock that visitors can tie up to. My boat might be tied up there, too. You can see the layout in Google satellite view. Water is plenty deep inside of the wall, just don't hug it too closely. I might not need to "buy" you a beer. Once you start shaking hands on our dock, they just seem to magically appear.

Oh... the next set of piers over belongs to the Dock of The Bay, not the marina. Its a Hatfield–McCoy type thing. Its cool (from the marina owners' point of view) to dock at the restaurant and walk around to the marina, but under no circumstances dock at the marina and go to the restaurant. That would be a violation, and I'd have to pretend that I didn't know ya'. :smt043

Saw your thread regarding Fells' point in April. I keep typing in partial responses and getting interrupted. Haven't finished one yet. I will. Maybe today...
 
Last edited:
I will be taking one of my “boat weekends” that week, which means I take a vacation day on Friday so I can leave on Friday morning. But if I don’t catch up with you then I can stop by on the way home on Sunday. Hopefully the weather will cooperate that weekend and I don’t get my usual 4 foot bay waves on the way home!
 
hack4alivin said:
Well I may be right behind George; I do remember gas at 25 cents a gallon as well. I can’t tell you about the beer, as I was too young to buy it. I used to walk up to the corner gas station for gas for the lawn mower; coke was 10 cents a bottle! George, “too many NUT’s in the cut”???? I usually run into them after the cut, behind Hart Miller!
Click to expand...

5 cents for the return of the RC Coke bottle-those were the days!
 
Great lesson learned for everyone, skibum. Thanks for sharing.

Just an FYI, anyone can sign up for the USCG Local Notice to Mariners that lists all of the Nav discrepancies by district.

They send out a weekly email summary and Special Notices for each District.

It lists all ATON changes, off station, lights off, temporary changes, hazards and obstructions as well as all permitted construction projects.

Local CG stations also broadcast new LNM and Pan Pan info periodically on channel 16.

You can get the weekly LNM digests at the Navigation Center. Click on your District and there's a link to sign up for email LNMS.

http://www.navcen.uscg.gov/?pageName=lnmMain

The flip side to that is if you observe a Nav discrepancy, you should report it to the USCG so they can issue an alert.
 
Anyone know if they did any dredging between pleasure Is. & Hart/Miller?

I used to go through there alot years ago when i had a smaller boat and it was fine then (at least 4 ft) in the center.

I did my last fishing trip late last november and the cut was closed because they had a cable pulled up and were'nt letting anyone through. I decided to try going between the islands and I had no trouble at all and it seemed that it was definately deeper. Cant remember the exact depth right now.

If I could buzz through there on the weekends instead of doing 6 knots through the cut it would definately save me some time and allow me to fish longer!! It could also cut down on the cut traffic, if smaller boats can go through there.
 
Last edited:
I've seen maybe 20 boats go between the 2 islands in my 3 1/2 years there. All of them were small fishing boats with outboards. You are the 1st person with an outdrive that I have ever heard saying that they've gone through there. Four feet, eh? Must have been high tide?

Everyone I have ever spoken with just says "Don't go between them". The owners of the marina tell me that there is at least one sunken boat over there from "way back", and they were very clear that I shouldn't go through.
 
Used to go through there all the time with a 17' bayliner with outboard and also went through there alot with a 20' walkaround with a 4.3 sterndrive with no problems.

Ive always just watched the gps chart to stay near the middle. Theres a long point that comes out from pleasure island that i just made sure I didnt cross.

If I'm not mistaken, there was a couple markers over there last season that i stayed between when i went through. Thats why i was wondering if they had done some dredging through there. There was also the same steel pole markers (just like there was at the cut entrances) on the outside area with achored barges near them.
 
1) I would take any smaller boat between the islands as long it was not a "blow-out" low tide. Will check it out next time I am out to see if there is a deeper channel that way.

2) Went for a ride yesterday and realized exactly how worthless the Maryland Department of Natural Resources Police really are....see story:

Tide was a blow out low tide yesterday and at the bay side opening of the newly dredged channel there were four of those steel pipes used to mark where they were going to dredge that were canted over and barely visibile with no refelctive tape or markings. They were canted in such a way that they would be just under the surface of the water at a regular low tide. They are pretty serious pieces of metal. I tried to pull one out with no luck. They also stick out at an angle where I could see one going through someone's hull or guest if they hit it at night.

I called DNR on my mobile. They had a boat in the area with a crew. He said that he appreciated the report but they would do nothing about it. He said it was a Coast Guard issue or an Army Corps of Engineers issue. I explained that I was on the boat trying to mark the locations of the stakes with the GPS and that they would need to be pulled out and that the window of opportunity to get them would be slim. He said it was not his or DNR responsibility and then wished me a good day. I asked if he would call the Coast Guard - no, can you transfer me to the right person at the Coast Guard - no, are you making any sort of report to the near-by patrol boat - no.

I'll bet your ass if I was fishing they would come over and be up my ass to see if I had a 17" rock fish vs an 18" fish!?!?!

I was so pissed.

Called the Coast Guard when I got home (station at curtis bay). Explained the whole story and locations of the markers to the three people I was transferred to and the result was that they will file a report to the Army Corps of Engineers to pass along to the contractor that did the dredging. So my guess is that those stakes will be there for a while - beware.

The locations of the stakes on the bay-side are just outside of the channel on each side of the channel. You will miss them if you take a direct shot at the channel from the bay vs coming in at an angle. On the inside end of the channel same story. Approx four metal stakes at each end.

Safe travels!
 
Overextended said:
Went for a ride yesterday and realized exactly how worthless the Maryland Department of Natural Resources Police really are....see story:
Click to expand...

Thanks for the important info. Unfortunately, I'm not surprised by your story. I'm not sure what they're good at. I tried for a week to email and phone the two closest MD DNR locations concerning giving them money to pay my tax on my new boat. I finally got someone on the other end of the phone, but they never did call ME back. Nearly a month went by and I get an email from someone at DNR, very unprofessional "I may have missed this in my Inbox and wondered if I had taken care of you yet." No greeting, no signature.

Shameful...
 
Overextended said:
The locations of the stakes on the bay-side are just outside of the channel on each side of the channel. You will miss them if you take a direct shot at the channel from the bay vs coming in at an angle. On the inside end of the channel same story. Approx four metal stakes at each end.

Safe travels!
Click to expand...

About how far out from the last marker do the four posts extend, are they grouped close together or evenly spaced?

Just curious as I bet they will still be there in the start of the season, but someone will hit them one by one so by mid season it should fix itself!

Thanks for the update!
 
Unbelievable. If anyone gets sunk by one now, I think the DNR should be held responsible.

Was it 8' deep all the way through?
 
Ya know... I was just thinking... Maybe one of us should call and report that we saw someone in a boat with a Kent Island port of call attaching gill nets to stakes at each end of the cut?

They'd have to come out and collect them as evidence.
 
skibum said:
Ya know... I was just thinking... Maybe one of us should call and report that we saw someone in a boat with a Kent Island port of call attaching gill nets to stakes at each end of the cut?

They'd have to come out and collect them as evidence.
Click to expand...


GIMME THE NUMBER....:thumbsup:

ILL TELL THEM MY NEPHEW SAW IT AND REPORTED IT TO ME AS TO WHAT TO DO.....:huh:
 
billnpat said:
GIMME THE NUMBER....:thumbsup:

ILL TELL THEM MY NEPHEW SAW IT AND REPORTED IT TO ME AS TO WHAT TO DO.....:huh:
Click to expand...

According to the DNR web page, it looks like 410-260-8002.

The reward is over $30,000. If you happen to send them there at the exact moment that someone IS tying a gill net to one, you owe me a case of beer. :grin:
 
skibum said:
According to the DNR web page, it looks like 410-260-8002.

The reward is over $30,000. If you happen to send them there at the exact moment that someone IS tying a gill net to one, you owe me a case of beer. :grin:
Click to expand...

You can have all of it :thumbsup: I'm rich:thumbsup:

At least they will know of the situation...they may not have a clue....:huh:
 
I wonder if some one with first hand knowledge of the stakes would send a certified letter to the Coast Guard and or the Corp of Engineers if that would work. Usually a paper trail scares the hell out of government bureaucrats. Just a thought.
George
 
I did eventually get a call recently from the Coast Guard officer that took my initial call that the contractor who completed the dredging was notified about the metal stakes that were left behind. I was out two weeks ago to double-check at a super low blow out tide. They were all gone except for one. :smt021 I called the same guy back and told him the location and within a week it was gone.

From what I see from the last super low tide - the stakes are all gone. Funny thing is that the sign on Pleasure Island still says Keep Off and the Maryland Parks sign has not been replaced. I wonder if they are going to try to keep the island closed from camping and hanging out or was it an oversight not changing out the signs? :huh:

Either way the channel is super deep and wide now with no obstructions.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Forum statistics

Threads
113,187
Messages
1,428,227
Members
61,099
Latest member
Lorenzo512
Back
Top