locodave Posted July 15, 2007 Share Posted July 15, 2007 Me and my mates were talking the other day. When they went out one night in the central coast, past lobster bay heading towards the heads, they believe they encountered a wave about 5-6 metres high in the middle of the ocean. As they turned the corner everyone started screaming assuming they would be hit by this monstrous wave. But if you know the area, around there it begins to get shallow and the wave just died. My mate managed to hit reverse straight away, was the only move he could think of in that split second. Still pretty freaky! Any bad experiences? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
copafisher Posted July 15, 2007 Share Posted July 15, 2007 Me and my mates were talking the other day. When they went out one night in the central coast, past lobster bay heading towards the heads, they believe they encountered a wave about 5-6 metres high in the middle of the ocean. As they turned the corner everyone started screaming assuming they would be hit by this monstrous wave. But if you know the area, around there it begins to get shallow and the wave just died. My mate managed to hit reverse straight away, was the only move he could think of in that split second. Still pretty freaky! Any bad experiences? If they had cut across from the Half tide markers, going over the sand flats (wide of Lobster) they mave have encountered one, if the swell was coming from the south. The channel markers run tight along the edge of Lobster beach & Little Box head. You can cut across as many boats do, but you need to be careful of shallow water and the sand banks (& waves if conditions are right). I generally stick to the channel, but will shortcut if tide is high, there is channel traffic and I can see depth and watch my sounder. While fishing near Lobster, I have seen guys surfing out there . They paddle over from Lobster. Its not actually ocean, being part of Broken Bay but it can get decent ocean swell in the right conditions. See http://www.nswseakayaker.asn.au/photos/mon...2007/200704.htm Thought to go over and play in the lesser parts of the waves with the boat , but thought better of it. I had my young bloke onboard and it didn't look like the place to get it wrong and have the boat dumped by a wave . The waves were twice the size as that in the photo, they were getting tubes as it broke. Keep it safe out there. If you cant see it you cant avoid it, and if your not familiar with different conditions you can get caught. Steve Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
james1990 Posted July 15, 2007 Share Posted July 15, 2007 I'd have 2 say 6-7 meters high from top to bottom VERY hairy moment. This was about 6 odd weeks ago out on wildfish's boat fishing osbourne shoal just after the big swells n winds hit sydney. The tip broke about 20-30 meters from us, if luke wasnt on the controls it would have surley hit us. cheers james Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
netic Posted July 15, 2007 Share Posted July 15, 2007 Mine would have to be a approx 5 metre wave near ulludulla....was on a holday there...we were cruising pretty close to and island whilst we were trolling....out of no where a wave came up...obviously a bommie was there....we turned into it and we got to it a second before it broke.......we were completely vertical with the bow pointing straight to the sky...then the boat came back...the motor dug into the water and it could have gone either way....we were lucky it corrected itself the right way.....scary experience.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fishingrod Posted July 15, 2007 Share Posted July 15, 2007 A few years ago was delivering a 7m boat (by sea) from Port Macquarie to Sydney. A southerly hit a bit harder than forecast. Time constraints gave us a limited window. If we knew it would be so bad we might have cancelled the trip. Gotta love hindsight. Its all experience I guess ! We had waves avg 3-5 metres, with some occasionaly bigger ones mixed in. Heres the wave rider printouts from that day. They show avg 4m with peaks 6-8m Sorry for the crappy quality prints, i didn't know how to save a screen shot back then !!!! cheers Rod Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nathan L Posted July 16, 2007 Share Posted July 16, 2007 ok . . . mine isn't as hairy as some of the other experiences nonetheless it gave me a much greater appreciation of the power of the sea it occurred crossing SWR bar a whole lot of white water came over the top and onto the deck pretty nuts but everything was in control and we still got out btw what do you guys think is the best thing to do when affronted with such a situation? i've always though you've just gotta bite the bullet and take the wave head on anyhoo it'd be interesting to hear what some of you guys reckon Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
locodave Posted July 16, 2007 Author Share Posted July 16, 2007 Yea good question! If you have a four metre wave coming towards you, what is the best thing to do? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
netic Posted July 16, 2007 Share Posted July 16, 2007 Yea good question! If you have a four metre wave coming towards you, what is the best thing to do? Mate i believe you gotta to gun it straight into the wave and hopefully get to it before it breaks, never allow it to hit you on the side or thats bye bye boat.... Im definately not a fan of Bar crossings.....that SWR one is a bi#ch...... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fishingrod Posted July 17, 2007 Share Posted July 17, 2007 (edited) I think every situation is different. Id say same as Netic. Head pretty much straight on. Get to it before it breaks. Back off the power at just the right time so you dont hit it too hard and get airborne or vertical. But dont back off too much or too early as you wont have enough momentum and the wave may carry you backwards or slew the bow around putting you side or quarter on. Remember that any white water you enter can be air rated and your prop may cavitate leaving you with no drive or control. Ive read that a slight off centre course can help. But only a few degress. I guess it depends on the boat. Generally having the correct (but minimum) amount of power and correct trim running it will make the bow more rigid and firm. Its less likely to be affected by wave action. Water is very heavy. You dont want to bury the bow. I have a semi boating friend. While hes at the helm in sloppy conditions on the troll he has managed to bury the bow and send water up and over the windscreen several times on two of my previous boats. I think its about reading the water and making the minute throttle and steering adjustments to suit. Maybe im waffling off topic here. I just want to point out its not a matter of point-and-shoot. Rod Edited July 17, 2007 by fishingrod Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
domza Posted July 17, 2007 Share Posted July 17, 2007 (edited) speaking of that swr bar, did anyone read the story in the August edition of another fishing magazine? Couple of blokes had troubles since they left sydney, and eventually made it to the bar when they got flipped over. Somehow (unbelievable) the boat got back on the right side and the boat was heading straight for a man overboard. Fortunately the prop only got his foot. Edited July 18, 2007 by MallacootaPete Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
locodave Posted July 19, 2007 Author Share Posted July 19, 2007 SWR is that South West Rocks? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
james1990 Posted July 20, 2007 Share Posted July 20, 2007 SWR is that South West Rocks? yes it is. cheers james Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
warnie Posted July 20, 2007 Share Posted July 20, 2007 Hey Guy's I came across the wave from hell a few years back (5years i think) went out in the morning with no wind and 1 mtr swell............... down south, from bermagui across a bar but not really a bar as such certainly not like swr........Anyhow during the course of the day i had been experiancing the starboard motor intermidently shutting down and thought bugger..... but hey every thing's fine after all i have spare one also noticed the increase in swell..... still no wind though and set off back to home to beat dark......Two miles out and the alarm bell's were ringing when i could here the waves crashing and was immersed in a fine spray oh oh !!! The swell had picked up from nothing to huge all generated by a cyclone way up north ....My mood had changed now knowing i had to cross a bar that normaly never works..... but now was crashing and to do it on one motor the boat in all honesty is a dog on one motor.... Another boat had hung with us for morale support upon getting close to the bar we both commited ourselves to the approach and went for it The other boat went first with me being the slowest next well that was the plan.................. But as we went i decided to try and start the starboard motor again and was amazed when it fired and went !!!!! but we were on the same wave two differant angles heading for the same entrance on a wave that resembled hawaii 5/0 with me now powering down the wave and about to land on top of the other boat...... well how we missed each other was through goodluck.... not skill on my part and then to negotiate the bar by a full hard lock to get through needless to say we did............ but even to this day we both laugh about it but the fellas with me beg to differ they never stopped kissing the jetty when we got back Some one even tracked me down with video footage of the event that day and it does look spectacular but some thing i never want to experiance ever again the wave bouy registred 6.2mtrs that day.... but pulling up on the bar who knows????? Cheers Warnie Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fisherman5 Posted July 24, 2007 Share Posted July 24, 2007 Hey guys, Up Camden Haven crossing the bar up there a few years back. Wave about 5 metres broke on the boat shattered the windscreen radio antena snapped.. More like hitting a brick wall then a wave , got back in luckly .. This was on a day 5-10knots of wind 0.5 metre swells , Ruined our holiday thats for sure Fisho5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Heath Posted July 25, 2007 Share Posted July 25, 2007 (edited) Up here in Qld we don't have any option but to cross a bar whenever we want to have a fish outside. Had to learn real quick how to read the water and conditions. Have also learnt to never become complacent when running a bar also, no matter whether coming in or out. I been pushed up the beach, lost a guy over the side and been airborne higher than I'd ever want to go in a boat in my most darkest nightmares. Getting wet sometimes is part n parcel of crossing a bar. Waves are unpredictable simple. There is no such things as a rogue wave or a freak wave. These two references refer to the same thing.... a BIG wave which catches you off guard. We fish around a lot of bomby areas when the depth can go from 30m to 2.5m in a verticle motion. The water has to go somewhere and that somewhere is up and eventually over. You'll be surpised at how fast waves move as well. When coming in a bar at times, I can't stay on the back of waves and I'm doing 30km/h or more, they are moving that fast. So trying to judge a wall of water moving that fast can be difficult. By far the hardest waves to judge and navigate are pressure waves which are most common on out going tides on most bars, you also get these over shallow reef areas when the current is roaring. They can pop up and dissapear in an instant. If the surfs big and looks dangerous, turn round & go home. Outside I've never come across a big breaking wave, apart from on a shallow bomby. Awsome to watch they are. If confronted by a big wave if you have no other choice turn into it or try and out run it over the shoulder if you are able and hang on! I've seen blokes deliberatly beach their boats as they have made a run for it & not been able to make it. Then been confronted with a wall of whitewater and they have no choice but to put the boat on the beach. These 2 pic were taken approx 6km off shore, and yes, that is a boat on the other side of the wave in the 2nd pic. Edited July 25, 2007 by Heath Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Holmesie Posted July 25, 2007 Share Posted July 25, 2007 wow - you'd be wanting to keep an eye out at all times for puppies like that! Is that breaking on a shallow bomby? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jewhunter Posted July 25, 2007 Share Posted July 25, 2007 Mine would be coming back from the Port Stephens Interclub in 2000. I was fishing out of a 35ft Berty. On the night the comp ended I pulled an all nighter. A massive southerly hit. We all had to get back so we punched into it with quite a few other boats. The seas averaged 6 mtrs. We came off a wave that had no back on it at all. That wave would've been 8-9mtrs. The boat was airborne & the crash when we came down was frightening. The worse part was at that exact moment a crew member was climbing up to the bridge. He got thrown off the ladder & landed on his back across the chair. He was in a bad way. Both his feet were black from getting jammed between the ladder feet & he broke 2 ribs from landing on the chair. He was very lucky not to go over the back. When we went up on the boat it took 2 hrs. Coming back took 9.5 hrs. I stood up holding on the whole time with the worst hangover you could imagine. One of the boats we came back with was a brand new 40ft Berty. It had a wave come over the front that blew out it's screens & caused over $100k water damage to the interior. Not something I want to endure again! Cheers, Grant. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mrelxr6 Posted July 27, 2007 Share Posted July 27, 2007 Yea good question! If you have a four metre wave coming towards you, what is the best thing to do? lmao..put your head between your legs and kiss your ass good bye... personally i have surfed 10 ffoot waves at shark point cronulla..but never anythink like that in a boat Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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