On Sep 2, 1:30?pm, Short Wave Sportfishing wrote:
On Sun, 02 Sep 2007 11:06:16 -0700, Chuck Gould





wrote:
On Sep 1, 1:54?pm, Short Wave Sportfishing
Ask Scot what we were into at Westerly Reef last Thursday and it was
beautiful out - light winds, but tidal movement into Fisher's Island
Sound was building three footers right at the channel entrance. When
we ran outside Fisher's down to Westerly we caught some major air
twice on waves out of no where. Go ahead, ask him. Three footers and
that was nearly calm conditions.

I've been in Narragansett Bay at Newport with 10/15 mph wind from the
North and East Passage building 4/5' just because of opposing wind and
tides.

Maybe you guys out in the NW need to come East and learn how to boat
in real wind and wave action. :)

With respect to the situation, they did exactly what I would have
done, although I might not have abandoned the boat completely. I
wasn't there so I don't know.

Observations: the amount of energy required to increase wind/tide chop
from 3 feet to 7 feet is enormous. Given that ebb and flood currents
are usually no more than a few knots, most of that energy has to come
from the wind.

Most people overestimate the height of waves.

If they are taller peak-to-peak than me, they are seven feet.

I've seen it more than once.

However, you are the expert so I'll defer to you.- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

We seem to be holding two different conversations simultaneously.

Unless I misread your intent, you observed that you encountered 3
footers on your recent fishing trip with the backyard renegade, and
attributed that to opposing winds and currents. Very probable
scenario.

To go from 3 foot chop to 7 foot chop requires a lot more energy.
Given that tidal ebb and flood will be within a couple of knots one
way or the other regardless of the extremity of the tide in almost any
location other than a narow pass, the energy to go from the 3 footers
you observed to the 7 footers reported by the folks with the swamped
or sinking boat needs to come from the wind.

I have no doubt that you have seen 7-footers and more. It's hard to
imagine 7 foot chop when the winds are 10-15knots, as reported by the
victims of the incident. Seven foot swells, heck yes- not as much a
product of local winds as is chop. Also not really a problem unless
spaced very tightly together at a short period.

The boat photographed in the link will be experiencing waves breaking
on the foredeck in 4-footers, and could be pooped over the transom in
less.