Haulover Inlet...

[toocoys]

I've done some pretty dumb things in my life, I'll admit it. But one thing I can confidently say I'll never do is take my boat out in whitecap conditions, at a place called Haulover Inlet.

 

[psneeld]

It's really only one of many inlets like it along the East Coast....just seems more traveled by the typical boated and photographed more.


Here's a pic of Jupiter Inlet in Florida....

 

[toocoys]

Here's a pic of Jupiter Inlet in Florida....

That's a whole bunch of nope.

 

[High Wire]

How to turn your expensive go-fast boat into a portable swimming pool.

 

[dannc]

Tis entertaining watching those YouTube Channels. The inlet we use to access the ocean can be just as bad but we are in sailboats and it just is a roller coaster ride when we have tide against wind. Taking out some of these boats in the same conditions is questionable...

We see low freeboard boats that I would only take out on a lake or calm river, in the inlet all of the time. They are fishing near the jetties and shallow water with breaking waves. I would not do what they do, but having said that, they seem to get away with it.

There is one video at a inlet I used to live near and go swimming close too, where one of the multi engine power boats capsized. There were some big swells, on long periods, coming in and he turned at the wrong moment and over the boat went. He was showing off and boy did he show off.

Wonder if insurance pays off when there is drone footage of someone doing stupid stuff?

Later,
Dan

 

[oscar]

I would not do what they do, but having said that, they seem to get away with it.

Eh, no. The stupid toll is alive and well:

https://www.mysuncoast.com/2021/05/... Accident Statistical,up 21 percent from 2019.

 

[toocoys]

Tis entertaining watching those YouTube Channels.

Wait until you see his videos that have kayakers coming out of Haulover and falling off. There's even been a few capsized boats on his channel.

 

[PM]

The thing that gets me about the Haulover Inlet videos is the number of the boats which head out only to turn around and head back in. Are they just going out to see how bad they can get beat up? Or are they trying to make some kind of macho statement?

pete

 

[HTurner]

The thing that gets me about the Haulover Inlet videos is the number of the boats which head out only to turn around and head back in. Are they just going out to see how bad they can get beat up? Or are they trying to make some kind of macho statement?

pete

It's the cameras that are plainly visible (on tripods) along with various folks holding up their phones. It is more of a 15 minutes of fame kinda thing.

 

[psneeld]

Almost every new or very part time boaters would always say "let's go check the ocean" and head for the inlet. All to many times they would get the picture and turn around.


Pretty common in my experience.

 

[Group9]

Haulover used to be my inlet when I lived in south Florida and we kept our boat (a 32 Wellcraft St. Tropez) at a marina in Sunny Isles Beach.

I will admit to being spanked one day going out with the wind against tide effect full on, launching off a wave, and finding nothing but air under us!

That was a day when guests wanted to go out and I warned them it could be rough. On my own, I only went in or out on slack, or nearly slack tide. It is funny to watch those videos twenty years later.

 

[dannc]

The thing that gets me about the Haulover Inlet videos is the number of the boats which head out only to turn around and head back in. Are they just going out to see how bad they can get beat up? Or are they trying to make some kind of macho statement?

pete

Some of it boats going by might be for the cameras so they can be on YouTube. There are a bunch of people making money off those videos, you can see all of the guys out there with cameras, and they have to purchase permits to make their videos.

Some boats do seem to go by to get on "film" but I think most of the boats just start to go out and then realize how bad it is and then turn around. See it at the inlet we use.

Later,
Dan

 

[porman]

I've been watching the videos and two things strike me. Almost no one wears a life jacket, including the professionals (law enforcement and the tow boat operators), and their VHF antennas all seem to be folded down.

 

[psneeld]

I would be interested if Sea Tow operators weren't wearing. A couple years back the franchise owner would get fined $500 per incident (IIRC) if there wasn't a great explanation given as to why no pfd.

Being caught on you tube you be too obvious......

Folded down antennas make sense if the inlet is bad, have see quite a few that have snapped from hard impacts.

 

[Max Simmons]

I'm surprised how many reverse sheer-line boats attempt heading out in those conditions.

 

[Benthic2]

Unless you are going out for exactly 6 hours you can't have slack tide for going out and coming back. No matter which way you are going though, it appears to be about a 100 yard gauntlet that settles down on both ends. They are willing to get beat up for a few minutes to get to a more manageable sea state, only to reconsider halfway through the difficult section.

I have often wondered why the people going out don't immediately turn north or south as soon as they clear the breakwater to seek calmer waters.

 

[localboy]

My favorites are the open bow and aluminum pontoon boats. Let the fun begin.

 

[Mr. Ed]

I've never seen any "trawlers" coming or going through there. I know I sure wouldn't want to take my boat through there except at slack tide.

 

[Group9]

I'm surprised how many reverse sheer-line boats attempt heading out in those conditions.

I'm shocked how many bow riders and pontoons, think it's a good idea to go through that inlet in bad conditions. There are more than a few videos on those channels of bow riders getting swamped at Haulover.

I've never seen any "trawlers" coming or going through there. I know I sure wouldn't want to take my boat through there except at slack tide.

Our Bertram has has a deep V and I'm not looking to see how it does in those conditions!

I'm sure the boat would survive, but I imagine we would be cleaning up the mess inside for a while!

 

[toocoys]

My favorites are the open bow and aluminum pontoon boats. Let the fun begin.

I have a deep seated hatred toward pontoons.... I don't even consider them "boats". I think they are phenomenally ugly, and were one of the worst examples of inventions ever made.

 

[rslifkin]

Our Bertram has has a deep V and I'm not looking to see how it does in those conditions!

I'm sure the boat would survive, but I imagine we would be cleaning up the mess inside for a while!

In some of the videos I've seen motoryacht types going in and doing just fine. I wouldn't do it without good reason, but going in wouldn't be too bad with my boat, just a careful hand on the throttles and wheel. Coming out in some of those conditions would be an exercise in a rather unpleasant level of pitching (and going very slow), however.

Other than the open bow boats and stuff that's just generally unsuited to that kind of use, my biggest concern would be for the lower powered end of the SD trawler range when coming in through that stuff. Often not enough rudder and not the right hull shape to do well in those conditions at low speed, but not enough power to run through at a speed where the hull and rudders are happy.

 

[psneeld]

I have a deep seated hatred toward pontoons.... I don't even consider them "boats". I think they are phenomenally ugly, and were one of the worst examples of inventions ever made.

Seems like a lot of people including myself think hey are a pretty cool option in boating.


Ugly yeah...I can see that, but functional for what they are.... most definitely.

 

[toocoys]

Ugly yeah...I can see that, but functional for what they are.... most definitely.

The only function they serve, at least in our area, is to give drunk rednecks a flat place to drink. They aren't known as "party barges" where I come from for nothing.

 

[rslifkin]

Pontoons definitely have their place. Need shallow draft on a small lake, or a relatively stable work platform? It's hard to do much better. And some of the triple pontoon things are shockingly fast. I just frequently see them used in places / ways that they probably shouldn't be.

 

[ancora]

The harbor inlet here in Oceanside California, at one time, was wide open to a southerly sea. At times, the water cops would shut down the marina and not allow any boats in or out. The breakwater was extended and voila! Problem solved.

 

[dannc]

I've been watching the videos and two things strike me. Almost no one wears a life jacket, including the professionals (law enforcement and the tow boat operators), and their VHF antennas all seem to be folded down.

All of the LEOs I have seen have been wearing inflatables.

Back around 1990ish, the GFC, which has since merged into the current FWC along with the Florida Marine Patrol, had a policy that ALL wild life officers wear PFDs when on a boat. This requirement was because a Miccosukee reservation officer drowned when he turned too quick on his air boat and it capsized. Pretty sure it was Miccosukee and not Seminole but it has been a few years.

I would be shocked if the FWC, or any agency at this point, did not required PFDs.

Later,
Dan

 

[dannc]

In some of the videos I've seen motoryacht types going in and doing just fine....

One of the reasons I watch these video's is to see how the large boats, well some are ships, handle the conditions. Not surprising, the larger the vessel the less of a problem they have with the conditions.

I am constantly amazed about the size of the vessels and how many outboards they are hanging off the sterns. I remember the Go Fast boats down in South FLA back in the 80's and 90's but what they have now is unreal.

Later,
Dan

 

[dannc]

I have a deep seated hatred toward pontoons.... I don't even consider them "boats". I think they are phenomenally ugly, and were one of the worst examples of inventions ever made.

Compared to jet skies?

The pontoon boats I have seen over the years are mostly behaving. Certainly not worse than any other boat.

Jet skies seem to be almost always misbehaving and seldom doing the right thing. Two jet skies somehow managed to go up the jetty at the inlet we go through. Really not sure how they managed that but it caused a large rescue operation.

Sad think is they jet skies have gotten worse. Which is hard to believe.

Later,
Dan

 

[rgano]

Think I saw one PFD being worn by a probable non-swimmer in the aft end of one of those smaller open boats.

 

[toocoys]

Sad think is they jet skies have gotten worse. Which is hard to believe.

Later,
Dan

I do hate jet skis. Thankfully we don't see much of those around here.