Ah, that brings back the memories. It was a hoot sitting in my
waterfront office at Woods Hole Oceanographic and watching boats hit
and miss that ledge. People would come down with the tide behind them
alarmed at the shore going by faster than the boat usually could move.
They would throttle back, and back, and back trying to slow down until
they were dead in the water and then wonder why nothing happened when
they turned the wheel to swing into the right channel.

Others would come down that nice lane of red and green buoys without a
chart and then head between the next red and green they saw. It's
just that one is in one channel and the other in the opposite leg.

Some of us once worked through a Labor Day weekend just so we could
watch the show.

I remember a big Dutch botter yacht towing a fair size I/O powerboat
with an outboard behind that and then a dinghy. He got fooled by the
current, slowed below steerageway, hit the buoy just before the ledge
broadside, bounced off, and then towed the whole assemblage upstream
and around the buoy (he must have used stout towlines) as the current
carried him before sticking briefly on the ledge and then heading off
into Vineyard Sound like he did this every day.

I wonder if there is a spot in New England where more boats, many with
very experienced skippers, have come to grief.

--

Roger Long

Roger Long wrote:

Ah, that brings back the memories. It was a hoot sitting in my
waterfront office at Woods Hole Oceanographic and watching boats hit
and miss that ledge. People would come down with the tide behind them
alarmed at the shore going by faster than the boat usually could move.
They would throttle back, and back, and back trying to slow down until
they were dead in the water and then wonder why nothing happened when
they turned the wheel to swing into the right channel.

Others would come down that nice lane of red and green buoys without a
chart and then head between the next red and green they saw. It's
just that one is in one channel and the other in the opposite leg.

Some of us once worked through a Labor Day weekend just so we could
watch the show.

I remember a big Dutch botter yacht towing a fair size I/O powerboat
with an outboard behind that and then a dinghy. He got fooled by the
current, slowed below steerageway, hit the buoy just before the ledge
broadside, bounced off, and then towed the whole assemblage upstream
and around the buoy (he must have used stout towlines) as the current
carried him before sticking briefly on the ledge and then heading off
into Vineyard Sound like he did this every day.

I wonder if there is a spot in New England where more boats, many with
very experienced skippers, have come to grief.


Yes, the CG was pretty blasÈ about the whole thing. Their remark, "Oh,
we get about one a week in season, it's been a little slow the last few
weeks."

I kept thinking, "He's gonna turn now, he's gonna turn now". But, he
didn't He later said that when the "picture finally "clicked" into his
head, he was afraid of getting swept into the daymark and adding
tangling the rigging, bringing down the rig, on top of the now certain
collision.

So he figured the strongest part of the boat was probably the leading
edge of the keel anyway.

The prelim estimate is 25K on the boat, he paid 60K for, just about 20
hours earlier. Ouch.....

Jonathan


--
I am building my daughter an Argie 10 sailing dinghy, check it out:
http://home.comcast.net/~jonsailr

On Mon, 28 Nov 2005 14:14:23 -0500, "Jonathan W."
wrote:

The prelim estimate is 25K on the boat, he paid 60K for, just about 20
hours earlier. Ouch.....

===================================

The insurance company is going to love that. Hope he has an iron clad
binder in place.

Although I've run this passage in different boats, my best memories are of
trips in the "Prudence" when taking her from Hyannis to Kelley's boatyard
for spring haulout.
For whatever reason we normally seemed to go through there when the current
was against us and as we'd pass the buoy at the turn for "Broadway" (can't
remember the number) we could stand and have a good look at that buoy
getting knocked down by the current...... yup, still passing the
buoy........G old Prudence was steaming wide open throttle and maybe
making 1/2k over ground.

otn

It still amazes me that there is no better system than red and green
bouys that change and mean just the opposite halfway thru a difficult
channel. I have seen this in a number of places such as Woods Hole or
the Coast of Maine or Boston and nearby harbors. I use charts more
often than not and almost always in unfamilar waters, but I hope that I
will live to see the day when one can look at the navigational aids and
know right away what they mean.
Actually, I do kind of like to figure them out as we are going along.
Adds excitment to the day. and I do own a power boat so I tend to have
less time to figure it out than a sail boat, but I don't draw as much
and I can hit reverse pretty hard if I needed to.

What do you mean, "change and mean just the opposite"? The buoys in
the Woods Hole are absolutely consistent and perfectly easy to
understand just by looking at the chart before hand.

Have you ever looked at a chart?

http://mapserver.maptech.com/homepag...latlontype=DMS

--

Roger Long



"richard" wrote in message
oups.com...
It still amazes me that there is no better system than red and green
bouys that change and mean just the opposite halfway thru a
difficult
channel. I have seen this in a number of places such as Woods Hole
or
the Coast of Maine or Boston and nearby harbors. I use charts more
often than not and almost always in unfamilar waters, but I hope
that I
will live to see the day when one can look at the navigational aids
and
know right away what they mean.
Actually, I do kind of like to figure them out as we are going
along.
Adds excitment to the day. and I do own a power boat so I tend to
have
less time to figure it out than a sail boat, but I don't draw as
much
and I can hit reverse pretty hard if I needed to.

On Wed, 30 Nov 2005 11:19:53 GMT, "Roger Long"
wrote:

Have you ever looked at a chart?

http://mapserver.maptech.com/homepag...latlontype=DMS
===================================

I like this view better:

http://tinyurl.com/de2wo

I agree that the buoys are consistent (no reversal), but somehow the
chart does not adequately prepare you for what you are about to
encounter. I've been through the "hole" many times in different boats
and I still find it to be one of the most intimidating places I've
ever negotiated. Things happen really quickly and there's barely
enough time to sort out the conflicting visual images that present
themselves, sort out the cross currents pulling you sideways, avoid
the locals fishing in mid passage, and select the correct channel.

You are right Roger, I was thinking of another place and yes, I have
looked at a chart. Do it all the time. Actually love charting. When I
bought my first GPS I would not let myself use it until I took a course
related to reading charts. (Paper charts, that is). I think that maybe
you missed my point. I am sure that you have been cruising at some
point in your life, where you were leaving one harbor and entering
another and the "red on right" changed to "green on right" becuase you
were changing from "leaving" to "returning". If that make sense. and I
am sure that some times a bouy or nav aid does not make sense to you
right away. My point is that it is not a perfect system and will keep
improving. I am sure that you have been to places where one time the
markers were one way, and then they changed them and maybe years later
they changed them again
anyway safe cruising to us all.
my boat goes out of the water tomorrow for the season. we had to cut it
a little shorter this year. we usally go from April to Dec or Jan. Not
to bad for a pleasure boat from chilly Boston.

"richard" wrote in message
oups.com...
It still amazes me that there is no better system than red and
green
bouys that change and mean just the opposite halfway thru a
difficult
channel. I have seen this in a number of places such as Woods
Hole or
the Coast of Maine or Boston and nearby harbors. I use charts
more
often than not and almost always in unfamilar waters, but I hope
that I
will live to see the day when one can look at the navigational
aids and
know right away what they mean.

Where there's chance of ambiguity, Europe uses cardinal bouys as
well as the red and green. Is this not common practice in the USA?

JimB

The colors don't reverse at Wood's Hole, or any of the nearby Holes.
The do reverse in the Cape Cod Canal, but there are no buoys in the
canal itself so it isn't very confusing.

I'm sure there a few reverses left in Maine, but I think most were
"fixed" back around 1993, to the annoyance of those of use who were
there that summer!

richard wrote:
It still amazes me that there is no better system than red and green
bouys that change and mean just the opposite halfway thru a difficult
channel. I have seen this in a number of places such as Woods Hole or
the Coast of Maine or Boston and nearby harbors. I use charts more
often than not and almost always in unfamilar waters, but I hope that I
will live to see the day when one can look at the navigational aids and
know right away what they mean.
Actually, I do kind of like to figure them out as we are going along.
Adds excitment to the day. and I do own a power boat so I tend to have
less time to figure it out than a sail boat, but I don't draw as much
and I can hit reverse pretty hard if I needed to.