I started out with a knock off of a 15 foot Whaler with a 40hp Evinrude on the back. Using a hand held GPS, a $400 fishfinder and a $100 VHF (before cell phones) I fished all over out to about 12 miles off of the beach. Caught lots of fish. Had lots of fun. Had two near death experiences with that boat both involving going in and out of the inlets. The ocean is safe......it is the inlets that will get you in a small boat.....they can get you in a big boat too. The worst incident I filled the boat with water when I ran into some standing waves in the inlet. This happened a half hour before dark on a cold December day with myself and my father on board and no other boats around. Thankfully the motor didn't stall and the next wave didn't get us cause we would have been a statistic without a doubt if we had ended up in the water. Caught about 35 big stripers that afternoon. Good times. Not long after that I upgraded to a 23 foot center console.
now that I think about it I remember being down at the inlet on the jetty watching big storm surf,even after its cleaned up,the inlet gets pretty rowdy,i cant imagine being in a small boat in that mess.and once theyr just about to reach the end of the jetty and one of those massive inlet rollers rolls through ur toast. one good thing tho I guess is its summer so the oceans flat.winters a different story.im probably going to stick with the bay for now
Its the tidal current combined with the waves and shoals in an inlet. When waves and tides are coming at each other from opposite directions over changing bottom contours things can get really dangerous........exact same location when the waves and tide are working together and its a piece of cake......so here is the dilemma.....you exit the inlet on one side of the tide and you fish for a few hours......easy peazy.....you go to return and now the tidal current in the inlet is running hard in the opposite direction that it was the first time. Now you are facing closely stacked standing waves like rapids in a river.
^^lol... Had a lot of experience in the inlets. Sunk two vessels when first learning: 21', all the while tied to the dock. Had removed the teak and was refurbishing it, when a mighty downpour blew through. Was out in the larger deep V hull and returned to see the 21' halfway capsized... A ski while going through an inlet I know like the back of my hand. Nobody told me to tape the vent holes of the stock engine bay cover (had just purchased it). Never fun floating in a well known shark infested inlet, with fishing lines cast down from the bridge and bait all about you for hours on end, while you fight the elements and work. Managed to salvage both vessels with the help of many others...great learning experiences, and quite amusing ordeals.
This video is almost exactly what happened to me that December afternoon except the water and air was in the 40s and there was nobody around and shore was hundreds of yards away. Wave behind surfed me into the wave ahead. Seeing your cooler and gear floating around the boat as you struggle to keep the boat from rolling while standing in shin deep freezing water is something you don't soon forget.
I spoke to some guy who said the captain in the Jupiter Inlet video was local. I think that's BS. Looks to me like he had too much water in the bilge, and when he went down the wave it caused him to pearl. Maybe he didn't have proppere baffles in his hull, who knows? The Boynton Inlet, located 30 miles south of Jupiter, curves and is way more narrow than the Jupiter Inlet, which is also kinda narrow and dicey. We used to drive over the bridge and look at it before we would take our 19' Wellcraft out. Once you are in the mouth of the inlet you are committed, no turning. Timing from experience, and lots of horse power are essential on the days when the tide is going out, and the wind is blowing onshore hard from the east. It stands the water draining from the lagoon straight up as it meets the incoming windswell/slop choppe. Coming back in there is especially very hairy on following seas, the jetty curves hard just before going under the bridge, if you don't gun it the current will put you on the rocks starboard. But you have to surf the wave in before you clear the jetty, so you have to stay real cool at first and stay off the throttle abit or you'll outrun thewave and get tossed.I think it's the most dangerous inlet on the east coast until the Oregon Inlet in OBX.
That damn inlet is so narrow, once on a flat day my clueless buddy was on the wheel, we were going back in, just made it under the bridge, when a 40' Drift boat comes heading out, pushing a big ass wake, and it was gonna throw us onto the jetty starboard, and I grabbed the throttle and punched it, we just made it over the wake and missed the seawall.
that's the type of shit thatll keep from ever going on a boat againe! I understand through surfing how ur supposed to approach waves and wakes,u go straight at it.when its hitting u from the side its fukin scary lol,and when its hitting u from multiple sides I don't even know
why is it bad juju?complete noob to boating here.i had a banana at break at work 10 am.maybe I shouldn't eat a banana next time
Has to do with historical maritime ship wrecks and storms and fleet losses that all previously loaded up with cargo and bananas in cuba before heading home. Superstitions and ships and sailors all go hand in hand and just spread like ink in water
