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Had a close call yesterday. Close as in close to doing some major damage to the boat. Salmon fishing opened yesterday and decided to go out and see if I could snag a fish before the Resurrection Derby starts today in Friday Harbor. Nice day on the water. Fished for a while over by Waldron. The sun came out briefly and it was 60 degrees in the cockpit...well at least for a few minutes.
The wind came up about 2:30 out of the WSW at about 15. Departed Point Disney about 3:15 making 16 knots into a one foot chop. The tides have been extreme so there is a lot of flotsam and jetsam out there. I know where the eddy currents are in most of the channels. The eddies are to be avoided, as that's were the drift collects. I was straining to see ahead in the dimming light, but could rarely pick out debris ahead in the chop. I cut a bit closer to Neck Point on Shaw than I normally would. There is always a big eddy there.
Then I saw it....a LOG...a BIG LOG just about to go under the bow. I chopped the throttles and the bow dropped...a loud clunk. The port chine landed on the end of the log and it came spiraling out from under the hull. It was one of those bleached logs, been on the beach a long time, tapered on both ends and probably 16 inches on diameter and 12 to 14 feet long. I watched it pass in disbelief. Whoa! That was close! Probably the worst I did was scuff a little bottom paint. Could have wiped out the props, shafts...maybe the struts and rudders. I decided to slow down to 12 knots the rest of the way back.
Lucky I only caught the very end of that monster. Also thankful at that moment the Saratogan hull is 3/4" thick, solid fiberglass! No fish, but otherwise a nice day on the water.
McSkagit
The wind came up about 2:30 out of the WSW at about 15. Departed Point Disney about 3:15 making 16 knots into a one foot chop. The tides have been extreme so there is a lot of flotsam and jetsam out there. I know where the eddy currents are in most of the channels. The eddies are to be avoided, as that's were the drift collects. I was straining to see ahead in the dimming light, but could rarely pick out debris ahead in the chop. I cut a bit closer to Neck Point on Shaw than I normally would. There is always a big eddy there.
Then I saw it....a LOG...a BIG LOG just about to go under the bow. I chopped the throttles and the bow dropped...a loud clunk. The port chine landed on the end of the log and it came spiraling out from under the hull. It was one of those bleached logs, been on the beach a long time, tapered on both ends and probably 16 inches on diameter and 12 to 14 feet long. I watched it pass in disbelief. Whoa! That was close! Probably the worst I did was scuff a little bottom paint. Could have wiped out the props, shafts...maybe the struts and rudders. I decided to slow down to 12 knots the rest of the way back.
Lucky I only caught the very end of that monster. Also thankful at that moment the Saratogan hull is 3/4" thick, solid fiberglass! No fish, but otherwise a nice day on the water.
McSkagit
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