Bar Crossing

[Wahoo]

for you guys down south, i know this clip has been put up before, but how often do you come across this bar crossing? would it get any worse, i know the guy stalled the motor, are most bar crossing like this, never had to come across one up here,:o and dont think i would like too:-X, how deep is the water? would you ever hit the bar? just asking these Q's as i never had crossed one, and know nuthing about them
http://www.ausfish.com.au/vforum/showthread.php?t=123122

Daz

[business class]

g'day Daz,
I am from the gold coast and every time i wish to fish my morning always starts with a bar crossing. i personaly have never taken on woolie though my main bars i cross are currumbin,tweed,tally and southport. i would have to say that the depth normally varies as currumbin is the worst with depth where we run across less then 2ft of water.

you do get confidence with bar crossings, in saying that i still always have a good look before jumping out of the hole. In most role overs on bars,i have seen 2 now myself and in both cases they tried to turn around in the middle of the bar because they miss timed it.::) That's a no no, and in both cases they lost everything except their lives:) .

Yes the bars we cross down here are like that video,but honestly its no that bad crossing bars, you just have to be awake and ready for anything. I have hit some really big waves before, where in one case where i miss timed it i was nearly vertical.:o you just have to stay calm,hit whats coming. It could bepossible to hit the rock walls if your boat does cut out i just hope that never happens to anyone, but it is unlikely to hit the wall otherwise. I hope this answered your question. Just remember if you are going to cross a bar do your research first if possible.

Cheers
Matty

[JEWIENEWIE]

Wahoo, i just saw your avtar! That is a classic photo. I dont know my fish species all that well but is that fish a "Sargent Bather"!!
I have had a shit day and that shot just cracked me up!!
Thanks mate.
Jewie

[Noelm]

the South Coast of NSW has some real "doozey" bars, Narooma being one (been over that a thousand times) and another that can be a bit tricky is Port Macquarrie (used that one as well a bit) some are really good like the Entrance to the Shoalhaven River is usually a breeze (usually) all can get a bit gnarly if conditions are not to flash, lucky for me, my Local (Shellharbour) is a pussy and is practicaly never bad, if it is bad, it is time to stay home anyway.

[the gecko]

So when caught in a bad situation, its better to push on, rather than turn around? Is that the theory?

Being a surfer, Ive always had a good feel for bars. I just sit and count the sets and the time in between. If you take 5-10 mins to watch the sets, it will help a lot.

[Noelm]

I always reckon being a Surfer or an ex Surfer is a great asset for Boating, most confident Surfers will know if a wave is about to break, or likely to break, only breaking in one place and lots of stuff, I always thank my lucky stars for having been a surfie dude for many years!

[JEWIENEWIE]

Being a surfer is a big advantage when bar crossing but can also be a disadvantage. In the way of "oh shit, this is gonna be interesting"
Nothing like paddling out in really big surf, being in the impact zone, cant go in cant get out in time and you just know your gonna cop it on the head.
Jewie

[timddo]

It will be good if boats can duck dive under the waves like surfies can hey???

[JEWIENEWIE]

For sure mate, i have had that thought many times when i have a bit of bad timing crossing bars!
Jewie

[nigelr]

Attempted a variant on the duck dive on my last go-out timddo, boat fared well but I didn't! Taught me a good lesson tho', lol.
Great piece of footage, glad they all got out ok, me I would have fished the river that day, after a few waves, that is!
Good size boats, the last wave the first boat took was interesting!
Cheers.

[poundalead]

It just goes to show that timing is so important in that situation. That first boat stalled on the second wave and copped every breaking wave after it. Lucky the boat was big enough and seaworthy enough to handle it. Probably the worst thing you could do in that situation is get side-on, He handled it perfectly. Great footage and great thread!

Cheers Benny

[skipalong]

typical of some people

[Wahoo]

thanks for the replies for those that posted, ;) i would say the first few times it would be a bit hairy:o been looking at a few more on you-tube, some of the beach launching is a bit up there for me also, one glass boat getting knocked about on his trailer, not good


Daz

[Jabba_]

How big do you think those waves are.. Too me they look 4ft, 5ft max.... That 1.2m to 1.6m

Really, that is not a big day. But that's about as big as I would go when crossing a breaking bar...

[nigelr]

Yeah Jabba, good call on the size I'd reckon, certainly not that big for a surfer, but I'd give it a miss in my boat and try and find a wave instead. Looked like a couple ok lefthanders!
Oh yeah, Wahoo that is a very nice avatar...........;)
Cheers.

[seastorm]

If you are interested in knowing more about bar crossings, eg how the tide, swell, ect can effect the bar it well worth doing a bar crossing course. I did the one that Bill Corten puts on spent close to 9hrs on the South Passage bar in 2.5m swell. Well worth the money. Bill’s number is 07 32873647

[timddo]

Nothing beats the south passage bar. It's bloody terrible most of the time. Pressure waves, one after the other.

[Reel Nauti]

I crossed Wooli bar in Reel Nauti - a 4.4 mtr Savage Jabiru. Definately, most definately not made for that kind of stuff.
I was new to bar crossings, and so I sat for a while and watched and waited. When I thought the time was right I went, but not far into it I realized I had made a terrible mistake. To turn would have meant disaster so I pushed on. We made it through, just, but we (me especially) had lost our nerve and couldn't continue on. I turned the boat around and looked at approaching the bar from the outside to come in. There was no way in the world an inexperienced bar skipper could get a v nose tinnie back through that. I called for rescue and a guy came out in a 24 footer to get the crew and I. We climbed into his boat, and his deckie jumped into Reel Nauti and took her home through that bar like a jetski. That guy was experienced and new his stuff. I wasn't and probably would have lost her.

The locals all laughed at me for being so bloody stupid trying to cross Wooli bar on a run out in a small tinnie, and it even made the papers, but the one thing I did which was the only sensible thing according to everyone, was not to attempt to come back in. Waiting for experienced help saved us and the boat.

To go out in Nauti was a fool thing to do, but at the time I felt confident, yet wary. 40 years on the water but never a bar crossing and never in a little tinnie. And I can honestly say, never again. We live and learn, I lived and shit I've learned from that one!!

Funnily enough a lot of the Wooli skippers told me that I would have been fine if I had gone out on the run in, not the run out. The boat was just too small for those kind of tricks, and me too inexperienced with bar crossings.

About 4 hrs later having a beer at the Bowls Club and the shock started to set in. I could hardly hold a glass for the shaking, and that cold gripping fear overwhelmed me. It took me a few days before I could even back into the boat in the river.

Dave

[Wahoo]

If you are interested in knowing more about bar crossings, eg how the tide, swell, ect can effect the bar it well worth doing a bar crossing course. I did the one that Bill Corten puts on spent close to 9hrs on the South Passage bar in 2.5m swell. Well worth the money. Bill’s number is 07 32873647

thanks S/S, dont really need to do a course for up this way, but bet my bottom dollar if i ever moved down south i would be silly not to do a course, thanks again


Daz

[Wahoo]

Gezzz Dave, what a great read, thanks


Daz

[Mad-One]

I'm booked into Bill's course for the 2nd May and can't wait. He told me we need a minimum of 1.2 metre swell for it to be worth while. He also said we don't come back until he is confident that we are confident at crossing the bar

Cheers Mad

[ozscott]

Gday Dave - I reckon its bloody gutsy to recount that one mate and well done. I reckon more people should. I for one have done a lot of boating over the years and dealt with some crappy weather in the bay. BUT I have never crossed a Bar with me at the helm (done deep sea fishing on charters in VERY bad weather).

The bloke I bought my Vagabond from regularly fished at Nine Mile reef and off the coast up north and the Vagabond (from the 70s) is a great boat for that, and he and his missus recounted some very hair raising stories of rough weather springing up including 6m waves off Bundy in a fishing comp - mini cyclone. He crossed Seaways and bars with abandon. I on the other hand want to start fishing further out but not until I did a course like Billy operates. Then I will play first on run in tides with a little wind in the same direction and go from there....its a real art I reckon that needs to be learned the right way. Sure you could ass your way through and learn by mistakes....but then again you could well get killed and your mates lost also (a distant third is the boat and gear). So I reckon well done for sharing that. I reckon there are a bunch of people on here who actually know what there doing and say that the video above is tame etc, but for blokes with little or no experience that would be a shocker...and even experienced skippers f.uck it up - remember the Kirra Dive Boat (big cat) that overturned on the bar some years ago (with a mate of mine on it kitted in scuba gear)...

Cheers

[business class]

[quote=the gecko;803537]So when caught in a bad situation, its better to push on, rather than turn around? Is that the theory?

Yes you are correct. never ever turn around on a bar no matter how bad you miss time it. And yeah i think that day on the video was not a big day maybe 4 foot. but guys just because you see days like this on utube with rollovers and bad experences don't let that scare you just carefull and have a good look at the bar before you cross it.

Cheers Matty

[Outsider1]

Bars can get you through more than the wave height, there are lots of elements at play.

The distance between waves is a biggie, note the Wooli ones are reasonably close together. You get no reprieve if things start to go wrong like a motor stall etc. Then there is the so called rogue wave, substantially taller and seems to come out of nowhere but if you watch close enough and long enough there is a pattern.

Tide is another biggie, waves that are 4 or 5 feet suddenly become 6 or 7 feet as the full swing run out tide drains the water out from in front of them!

Then there is the mixed up bar, waves coming from different directions off different banks. Anyone who has spent time in Morton Bay chop will relate to that!.

I have been over on a bar, on a prawn trawler that tipped over on the way back in. Far more dangerous I reckon, coming back in on a full bore run out tide into an angry sea. Broaching is scary xhit!

Cheers

Dave

[Noelm]

I guess one of the least understood and important things is SPEED, remember when you are going out, that the Waves coming in are also moving at a good rate of knots, so full boar is not the best option, meet the waves at a steady pace and be prepared for "sh!t to happen", coming back in is a different story, the waves are in fact catching up to you if you are putting along, and a big wave from behind is a good way to get a Surfing Lesson real quick, most modern day Boats do not perform so flash when Surfing (some do) that is when you need some speed to stay where you need to be, not where the Water tries to put/pull you.

[Outsider1]

This clip has been put up before in the video section, but is a great illustration of what can go wrong, and how keeping your head can mean the difference in the outcome.

Yes they were very very lucky, but they kept their head and were able to get out of it. Notice also that once he managed to restart it, he turned it around into the sea and continued out.

jDhwlomKUyM

[coucho]

he paniced when he got that restarted he should have just turned her around and not hit that wave right as it was breaking he was lucky. hate to be the deckie on that one I bet he had a bruise or two to show for it have a look at his legs in the air when the boat starts to fall.

[Outsider1]

he paniced when he got that restarted he should have just turned her around and not hit that wave right as it was breaking he was lucky. hate to be the deckie on that one I bet he had a bruise or two to show for it have a look at his legs in the air when the boat starts to fall.


possibly coucho, thought about that when I first saw it. But if I had had a motor stall on me like that, I am not sure I would be in a hurry to drop back toward idle just after I had managed to restart it i.e once bit twice shy!

Cheers

Dave

[Reel Nauti]

At the time of my incident Reel Nauti was climbing the face of green rollers more than her 4.4 mtrs length. A number of times we were vertical, and on 2 occasions we came down transom first and buried the engine in the sea. On 1 occasion, the motor stalled, but quickly refired. Some of the rollers had no backs, and the plunge downwards and backwards seemed to take forever with our gear sliding from bow to back.

When I made the decision to cross the bar, it was nothing as described above. There was only a moderate swell, about 1 mtr, but it seems the big fellas were out there waiting for me when I screwed the throttle.

Back safe on dry land, my wife ashen faced and my son with tears still rolling down his face, they both asked "Why weren't you scared. How could you keep so calm?". They will never know the fight I had inside my mind to keep my head, but I had to for 2 reasons. Firstly, keeping calm allowed me to rationalise and make the sensible decision not to attempt re-entry. Secondly, displaying calmness kept Suzi and Brent from hysteria.

Fear is the enemy, respect is the friend.

I've not posted this for any other reason other than to show inexperienced bar crossers how very, very quickly the water can change. I hope I've not frightened anyone, but I do hope that respect, ability, and experience, are part of your tool box when you go through any bar crossings. Watching youtube can make things look far easier than what reality can and does actually present at times.

BE SAFE

Dave

[nigelr]

Hi Reel-nauti.
You aren't the only one mate, rest assured of that fact!
You might get a laugh from reading of my last go-out at my local river bar.
I've crossed this bar over 40 times in the last few years, but on this occasion Huey decided it was time he boxed my ears, literally, to teach me some respect!
http://www.ausfish.com.au/vforum/showthread.php?t=128609
Good on you for posting of your experience, mate.
Cheers, and I think we prolly both need bigger boats!;) ::)

[tunaticer]

Old story i posted ages ago but still relevant today:

I was coming back into Eurimbula Creek near 1770 right on sunset one night after chasing macks and tuna all arvo. The tide was going out at around 8-10 knots and i was heading into it. No problem, its a fairly easy bar to cross wihtout any big rollers or anything so i sat on the back of a wave in my 4.1m veepunt and was coasting in nicely........until my motor snagged on a submerged tree heading out and i was being dragged out tail first into half metre whitewash coming over the stern. The gearbox caught in the fork of the main branch and i could not lift the outboard to get the tree off the leg.
Ended up we grounded out pretty hard and had a tinny over half full of water and a dropping tide.
I jumped out and so did the mate and we manhandled the tree caught in the sand in the dark till the motor came free...took about ten mins and a lot of washing around in the whitewash. The boat was barely floating so I pulled the bungs and started the motor again and jumped aboard as matey sat right on the point of the bow and i gave it enuff revs to move forward and we eventually caught the wash on our tail and helped push us accross the bar and into the channel inside. I kept it driving forward doing large loops for about 20 mins and had the bilge working trying to get water out. As soon as I could get it to plane i beached the boat straight up as far as it would go then dragged it another foot before setting the anchor in the sand.

Was a rather scary half an hour before we got the boat into the channel and to safety. Sometimes the dangers are not the sands or the waves and I don't know how you could prevent something like this happening again if you cant see it.

Jack.

[Reel Nauti]

I think you did all that could possibly be done with that set of circumstances Jack. I too know the bar of Eurimbula Ck very well, and for you to bring your boat home on sunset with those odds against you is testimony to your ability as a skipper and keeping your head.

Well done

Dave

[OceanSpirit]

Some great stories written here, and a lot to take in. Having crossed some of the Nth Coast bars in Qld, the other issue is generally depth, and you quite often don't have the luxury of falling off the plane, so timing is everything.

Local knowledge, respect for the conditions and understanding your boat and its capabilities are critical. If you don't have to go out, don't go out. When you do cross, pick the tide right, be confident, and use every ounce of experience you have is what I've learnt.

[Outsider1]

And never be afraid to say not yet I will watch for a little while longer, or not today.

Cheers

Dave

[coucho]

Hi Reel-nauti.
You aren't the only one mate, rest assured of that fact!
You might get a laugh from reading of my last go-out at my local river bar.
I've crossed this bar over 40 times in the last few years, but on this occasion Huey decided it was time he boxed my ears, literally, to teach me some respect!
http://www.ausfish.com.au/vforum/showthread.php?t=128609
Good on you for posting of your experience, mate.
Cheers, and I think we prolly both need bigger boats!;) ::)
mate thats one nasty scratch

[northernblue]

someone made mention of a you tube video of a coastguard cat going over, can anyone supply the link?

[Outsider1]

someone made mention of a you tube video of a coastguard cat going over, can anyone supply the link?

... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eiRgKXs92fc

[northernblue]

What took you so bloody long Outsider1?

Thanks.