When to turn back to the port.

[Ronnie]

In retrospect, I won’t be using weather bug for my boating weather forecasts anymore. On my last trip back the forecast was for 10 mph winds, I’m pretty sure that was incorrect.

In the future I will leave earlier as the wind doesn’t seem as bad when the sun is high. I also plan to simply drive a little further to launch in the more “wind protected” slough (Sacramento River). It’s only 5 or 6 miles more and $20 v $18 the ramp is not as nice but I can live with it.

Looks like my boating season is over this year, the weather is still great (100 plus degrees this weekend) but high school has started along with my son’s cross country season. Besides this, I’ve had enough learning experiences for now (e.g. broke my arm, had surgery, lost a trailer tire and rim on the way to one trip, had an ignition coil fail and then closed the season with white knuckle ride through heavy swells). If what ever doesn’t kill me is supposed to make me stronger, I should feel like the hulk but instead I’m feeling tired yet wiser but older for having had the experiences. I’m also appreciative to be in a position to have had the experiences at all. I still remember being the guy onshore wishing I had a boat.

I do plan to visit old Sacramento again for a weekend before the next boating season but will probably take the train.

FYI on the last boat trip in, when the swells got bad, I started to pray but then heard the country song verse, “God ain’t a wishing well” so i turned off the stereo and kept praying. I also didn’t kiss the ground when I got to it but I did pat/pet the boat once i got it on the trailer.

 

[biglar155]

In retrospect, I won’t be using weather bug for my boating weather forecasts anymore. On my last trip back the forecast was for 10 mph winds, I’m pretty sure that was incorrect.

In the future I will leave earlier as the wind doesn’t seem as bad when the sun is high. I also plan to simply drive a little further to launch in the more “wind protected” slough (Sacramento River). It’s only 5 or 6 miles more and $20 v $18 the ramp is not as nice but I can live with it.

Looks like my boating season is over this year, the weather is still great (100 plus degrees this weekend) but high school has started along with my son’s cross country season. Besides this, I’ve had enough learning experiences for now (e.g. broke my arm, had surgery, lost a trailer tire and rim on the way to one trip, had an ignition coil fail and then closed the season with white knuckle ride through heavy swells). If what ever doesn’t kill me is supposed to make me stronger, I should feel like the hulk but instead I’m feeling tired yet wiser but older for having had the experiences. I’m also appreciative to be in a position to have had the experiences at all. I still remember being the guy onshore wishing I had a boat.

I do plan to visit old Sacramento again for a weekend before the next boating season but will probably take the train.

FYI on the last boat trip in, when the swells got bad, I started to pray but then heard the country song verse, “God ain’t a wishing well” so i turned off the stereo and kept praying. I also didn’t kiss the ground when I got to it but I did pat/pet the boat once i got it on the trailer.

I think I'd have turned off the radio too!

Whenever someone talks about praying while at sea, I think of the book "Sole Survivor." The guy was on a Lake Freighter in Lake Superior in a storm. The ship split cleanly in half. He was on the bow at the time it happened and watched as the stern-half of the boat (sinking the whole time of course) steamed past him with all her lights on. He initially thought it was another boat until his saw the ship's name on the stern and realized it was the stern-half of his own boat.

Later, floating alone in his survival suit he prayed "Lord God I need your help and I need it now..... and don't send your Son because this is a MAN's job."

THAT is some scared prayin' right there!

 

[Bluewater272]

Can be a scary experience, but now you know your limit (and that you can handle if you need to push it). We were in 5' swells a few weeks ago, but the period was long enough that it wasn't a bad ride. Windy is a great app that is pretty reliable, and myradar is about the best short-term weather app I've used. The alerts it provides are generally accurate to the minute.