skibum
Well-Known Member
There has been quite a bit of work going on in the area around Pleasure Island since last spring. This article describes the work being done. It looks like they are finally dredging.
My boat had been sitting in the water for about 2 weeks and I hadn't been able to get down there to see it. Last Friday evening, I made it to the marina to check on her. I was sitting on deck looking out at a picture perfect, calm, quiet night with a bright moon thinking that the engine hadn't been run in 2 weeks. I only had about an hour before I needed to head home, so I thought to myself, "what the heck? I'll go out the channel, head over to the green marker by Hart Miller Island, make a u-turn, and head on back just to give the engine 10 minutes of on plane time.". I fired her up, cast off, and headed out of "the cut" towards Middle River. I exited the cut and was easing the boat on plane with a slow, deliberate, throttle advance when I heard a loud bang from inside of the cabin right as I hit 3000 RPM. I pulled the throttle back to forward idle, pointed the bow far to the left of the marker I was headed to, and went below to investigate. I had left a bottle of Bacardi on the counter, and it had hit the floor. I left it there and headed back to the cockpit.
As I got behind the wheel, I caught a glimpse out of the corner of my eye of something slowly gliding by above the rubrail about 3 feet off my port side. I dropped into neutral and used reverse to come to an immediate stop. I hit the spot light button and started sweeping the area. There were 4 steel poles sticking about 5-6 feet above the water ahead of me and to port, and 4 or 5 more off my starboard and starboard bow. They were approximately 2.5" diameter and BLACK or DARK GREEN (WTF???) in color with little 1.5" tall strips of green or red relective tape that didn't even go all the way around the pole on them.
If that bottle hadn't fallen off of the counter, I would have come damn close to taking out 3 of those poles while on plane. That would have sunk me for sure. The one that I almost hit had the green reflective tape on the "out" side, so I was able to see it on the way back in.
So... Heads up if you are cruising in the area and use "the cut", particularly at night. I advise that you drop off of plane at least 100 yards or so before the entrance and make your way in at idle speed. People run right up to the entrance on plane every day. These poles are in the area outside the cut that was previously "safe". It looks like the "new" cut will extend about 100' further towards HMI. I have no idea what is happening on the other end, probably the same.
My boat had been sitting in the water for about 2 weeks and I hadn't been able to get down there to see it. Last Friday evening, I made it to the marina to check on her. I was sitting on deck looking out at a picture perfect, calm, quiet night with a bright moon thinking that the engine hadn't been run in 2 weeks. I only had about an hour before I needed to head home, so I thought to myself, "what the heck? I'll go out the channel, head over to the green marker by Hart Miller Island, make a u-turn, and head on back just to give the engine 10 minutes of on plane time.". I fired her up, cast off, and headed out of "the cut" towards Middle River. I exited the cut and was easing the boat on plane with a slow, deliberate, throttle advance when I heard a loud bang from inside of the cabin right as I hit 3000 RPM. I pulled the throttle back to forward idle, pointed the bow far to the left of the marker I was headed to, and went below to investigate. I had left a bottle of Bacardi on the counter, and it had hit the floor. I left it there and headed back to the cockpit.
As I got behind the wheel, I caught a glimpse out of the corner of my eye of something slowly gliding by above the rubrail about 3 feet off my port side. I dropped into neutral and used reverse to come to an immediate stop. I hit the spot light button and started sweeping the area. There were 4 steel poles sticking about 5-6 feet above the water ahead of me and to port, and 4 or 5 more off my starboard and starboard bow. They were approximately 2.5" diameter and BLACK or DARK GREEN (WTF???) in color with little 1.5" tall strips of green or red relective tape that didn't even go all the way around the pole on them.
If that bottle hadn't fallen off of the counter, I would have come damn close to taking out 3 of those poles while on plane. That would have sunk me for sure. The one that I almost hit had the green reflective tape on the "out" side, so I was able to see it on the way back in.
So... Heads up if you are cruising in the area and use "the cut", particularly at night. I advise that you drop off of plane at least 100 yards or so before the entrance and make your way in at idle speed. People run right up to the entrance on plane every day. These poles are in the area outside the cut that was previously "safe". It looks like the "new" cut will extend about 100' further towards HMI. I have no idea what is happening on the other end, probably the same.