# Another missed approach at Barnegat Inlet...



## JonEisberg (Dec 3, 2010)

One more for the "What the hell was he thinking?" files...

The weather was pretty poor around here late Saturday night, as a large cold front moved across the area... Thunderstorms, heavy rain, strong & gusty breeze from the S before the passage of the front...

In the midst of all that, this guy apparently attempts to enter Barnegat at around 0200... Pretty much precisely at dead low tide, when there would have been a powerful ebb current running... Even for someone very familiar with the inlet, the conditions at that time would have made for a pretty challenging transit, especially in this sort of boat...

Looks like he was coming from the north, and attempted to cut the corner close to the end of the submerged North jetty... Definitely the wrong thing to do at Barnegat, though he would certainly not be the first to do so...

Sailboat runs aground near Barnegat Inlet jetty in Island Beach State Park ? NewsWorks




__ https://www.facebook.com/JerseyShoreHurricaneNews/posts/680104138675768


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## JonEisberg (Dec 3, 2010)

Well, in the "what was he thinking" department, looks like I've stupidly posted this in the wrong sub-forum... 

Perhaps one of the mods can move it over to General? thanks...


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## svHyLyte (Nov 13, 2008)

Given the weather you describe, I suspect he was attempting to run for cover. A poor decision but likely prompted by exhaustion and likely not a little fear, all of which inhibits clear thinking/decision making. Fortunately he survived. Unfortunately, the yacht may not and in any case he will spend the remainder of his life berating himself at some level for such a dumb move.


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## deniseO30 (Nov 27, 2006)

TowBoatU.S. Barnegat Light & Beach Haven The boat was safely removed and towed to a marina in Forked River.
12 hours ago · Like · 3


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## svHyLyte (Nov 13, 2008)

deniseO30 said:


> TowBoatU.S. Barnegat Light & Beach Haven The boat was safely removed and towed to a marina in Forked River.
> 12 hours ago · Like · 3


Good for the owner!!! (And TowBoatUS!)


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## chip (Oct 23, 2008)

I was anchored behind the lighthouse on Saturday night/Sunday morning and it was was nasty overnight when that front came through. I didn't even realize that this had happened though. Glad the crew was ok.


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## eherlihy (Jan 2, 2007)

According to Facebook poster John Mark Basile


> He anchored off shore and fell asleep ,line broke at 2:30 am woke up and had rocks for breakfast.


Glad the sailor is OK, but sorry to see this happen..


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## chucklesR (Sep 17, 2007)

Took a bit of pounding..


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## eherlihy (Jan 2, 2007)

(... must resist making "off-color" snarky comment.... must resist...)

It looks like the boat floundered on the rocks for a while. This also seems to have scrubbed off some of the growth on the hull.


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## SVAuspicious (Oct 31, 2006)

svHyLyte said:


> Given the weather you describe, I suspect he was attempting to run for cover. A poor decision but likely prompted by exhaustion and likely not a little fear, all of which inhibits clear thinking/decision making. Fortunately he survived. Unfortunately, the yacht may not and in any case he will spend the remainder of his life berating himself at some level for such a dumb move.


When in doubt go out.


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## JonEisberg (Dec 3, 2010)

eherlihy said:


> According to Facebook poster John Mark Basile
> 
> 
> 
> > He anchored off shore and fell asleep ,line broke at 2:30 am woke up and had rocks for breakfast.


Yeah, I saw that as well, but have a hard time picturing how that is possible, how he would have wound up where he did, given the conditions that night...

The breeze where I was that day (about 15 miles north of the inlet, on Barnegat Bay) was straight out of the south all day, and clocking a bit towards the SW in advance of the front... Once the front arrived, it blew right out of the W, then NW the following morning...

Unless the wind was more ESE - E down there before the front arrived, I can't see how he could have possibly dragged into that corner where the North jetty meets the beach...


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## capta (Jun 27, 2011)

When are people going to get into their heads that "rocks sink boats", not water! Head AWAY from the rocks when in doubt, do not run for shelter. So you spend 12 to 20 hours being uncomfortable, bouncing around in a cork, big deal.


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## smackdaddy (Aug 13, 2008)

capta said:


> *...do not run for shelter.*


This is the best piece of advice there is. Yet one that is so incredibly counterintuitive.

"If I can just...." can have some catastrophic consequences.


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## jimgo (Sep 12, 2011)

Watkins 27? Wait...the boat in the slip next to mine was gone when I got there on Sunday, and it was a Watkins 27. They had a bimini (I don't see mounts for one), and I don't remember the motor mount, so hopefully it wasn't them. I see some info on the FB feed, but it's tough to tell how accurate that is, except the post from TowBoatUS


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## TJC45 (Jul 10, 2013)

Barnegat is a tough teacher! I'm trying to figure out where this guy could have anchored safely offshore in those conditions. Relative to the deep ocean it isn't that deep, but relative to a safe anchoring depth, it ain't shallow. Of course there are spots, butttt!!!!!

I was in Maryland all day sat, returned home early Sunday am, in driving rain and high wind 50 miles inland. The wind was blowing hard in the Balto area all day Sat. If those conditions were similar in jersey anchoring in a wind whipped storm tossed ocean? Beyond my ability!

Glad he is OK and that the boat may be Ok as well.


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## TJC45 (Jul 10, 2013)

smackdaddy said:


> This is the best piece of advice there is. Yet one that is so incredibly counterintuitive.
> 
> "If I can just...." can have some catastrophic consequences.


Same with flying. The first instinct is get it on the ground, so lower is better. Not always. Not even not usually. With an inflight emergency altitude is your best friend. It buys you the time to figure it out or, in a nasty loss of control situation, recover.

Anything that can obstruct navigation in a situation such as this becomes a huge hazzard. And believe me, a rock lined jetty is huge!!!!! Don't run for cover - good advice!!!!


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## jimgo (Sep 12, 2011)

If he was truly alone, I can see why his instinct would have been to try to get in. He was probably exhausted and scared. That being said, I agree with Smack and TJC, it was the wrong decision.

I'd be curious to know more about the whole situation. How familiar he was with sailing, where he was going from/to, how the boat was outfitted, etc. Seems like a good opportunity to learn second-hand.


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## Yorksailor (Oct 11, 2009)

We often take inexperienced people out in the 'big blue water' often for a 1000 miles or more. Part of the safety briefing is that safety is away from the rocks and if they can't handle the concept of going farther out to sea in bad weather then they had better stay at home!

Course one time we forgot to tell the wife and she reported us "Lost at Sea!" now we have them use the sat phone to keep the wife informed.


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## smurphny (Feb 20, 2009)

It seems like a lot of boats have gone up on those same rocks over the years. It's a dangerous spot. The best thing to do going into Barnegat (if there IS a best is to stay well clear of the jetties, approach dead-on and be ready for a protracted effort to stay in the narrow channel without being drawn into the rocks on the north side or the shoal on the left....eek. Barnegat has well earned its bad reputation.


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## wavedancer38 (Sep 11, 2009)

SVAuspicious said:


> When in doubt go out.


I believe he was out, and the anchored dragged or something.


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## TJC45 (Jul 10, 2013)

On an average day my belief is that Barnegat isn't so bad to run. it's wide, and though the channel is narrow, the inlet itself is runable for most boats. I'd say that as a cautionary statement relying on local knowledge. I myself regulary ran the inlet outside of the channel. brave as i could be in my 18 foot Boston Whaler. Still, i never registered anything below 6 feet at low tide. Most was above 10. Just sayin, it's not so narrow for those who know it. 

On the flip side crank up the wind from the east and she has quite a different temperment. Ah, i'm not going out there! Still, if given the hard choice - run Barnegat in bad weather or run the inlet immediately to it's south, I'm going with Barnegat. Holgate, Great Egg inlet whatever it is named these days is a shoaled up monster! And not so calm in NE winds. I've taken that same BW, I stand six feet tall behind the center console, many times thru that inlet. Looking up at incoming swells, can't see over them, deep troughs, short period, in the inlet, time to find someplace else to drift fish for stripers! We have a rule, once the fish is boated we don't want it throwing up because its sea sick! Why does jersey have so many nasty inlets?


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## TJC45 (Jul 10, 2013)

JonEisberg said:


> Yeah, I saw that as well, but have a hard time picturing how that is possible, how he would have wound up where he did, given the conditions that night...
> 
> The breeze where I was that day (about 15 miles north of the inlet, on Barnegat Bay) was straight out of the south all day, and clocking a bit towards the SW in advance of the front... Once the front arrived, it blew right out of the W, then NW the following morning...
> 
> Unless the wind was more ESE - E down there before the front arrived, I can't see how he could have possibly dragged into that corner where the North jetty meets the beach...


yeah, kinda looks like he screwed the pooch while trying to run it.

If so, not the first and unfortunately, not the last.


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## misfits (Dec 9, 2011)

Could happen to anybody.....


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## JonEisberg (Dec 3, 2010)

wavedancer38 said:


> I believe he was out, and the anchored dragged or something.


While I realize anything posted on Facebook is rarely in error, given the conditions on Saturday, I just don't see how it was possible for him to have dragged anchor into that position... Indeed, I can't imagine trying to anchor out there that night, to begin with...

Here is the wind history on Saturday from Ambrose, the closest offshore reporting station to Barnegat... By nightfall off Barnegat, the seas would have easily been running 4 feet, minimum, and only continuing to build through the night... Clearly, anyone choosing to attempt to anchor out there that night, rather than simply heaving-to on starboard tack, obviously hasn't a clue what heaving-to means...










Marine Buoy Forecast | Weather Underground

My hunch - assuming he was southbound - was that he became frightened by the thunderstorm activity that was occurring after midnight preceding the arrival of the front, and obviously blew his approach...

Again - assuming he was originally intending to continue south along the coast - it's a real pity he didn't just park it for a few hours... By daylight, he would have had absolutely picture-perfect conditions for a ride down the beach, a nice WNW - NW breeze in flat water... One couldn't possibly ask for more perfect day for sailing down the Jersey coast than Sunday...

The Coasties out of Barnegat had more action today, a 31-foot fishing boat capsized about 8 miles east of the inlet this morning... These guys were VERY lucky...

http://www.app.com/article/20130923...orning-from-capsized-boat-near-Barnegat-Light


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## SloopJonB (Jun 6, 2011)

Is it just me or does that look like a writeoff? There looks to be some heavy hull damage - cracks above the WL etc.


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## chef2sail (Nov 27, 2007)

smurphny said:


> It seems like a lot of boats have gone up on those same rocks over the years. It's a dangerous spot. The best thing to do going into Barnegat (if there IS a best is to stay well clear of the jetties, approach dead-on and be ready for a protracted effort to stay in the narrow channel without being drawn into the rocks on the north side or the shoal on the left....eek.  Barnegat has well earned its bad reputation.


Having been in and out of Barnegat over 50 times there is no way to "come down the center" between the jetties. The channel forces you to the north. Rock jetty very close because the inlet is shoaled over 2/3 across halfway into the jetties to the rear of the inlet. After coming in next to the north jetty you must execute a hard 90 degree dogleg to port and traverse the rear inlet perpendicular to it to "safety" At that point you meet Gods example of playing Jacks. No less than 12 red and green buoys of various shapes and size are thrown down together for you to ponder and figure out which is the channel. A mistake is met with a hard grounding in 1 foot of water.

Barneget is not for a novice and and experienced sailor should definaely pass it when conditions are not good or iffy like a front or NE or E wind. Which create large breakers rolling across the inlet and channel possibly throwing you on the inside jetty rocks in the Inlet.

Not a inlet I old ever run at night even with my many times through it. Makes no sense anchoring in the ocean. Even less heaving too in this area as the shoals go out 2 miles on either side creating breakers.

As DAve said....when in doubt....head out.


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## JonEisberg (Dec 3, 2010)

chef2sail said:


> Not a inlet I old ever run at night even with my many times through it. Makes no sense anchoring in the ocean. Even less heaving too in this area as *the shoals go out 2 miles on either side creating breakers.*


"2 miles" might be stretching it a bit...


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## chef2sail (Nov 27, 2007)

JonEisberg said:


> "2 miles" might be stretching it a bit...


Not really.

Your picture is a calm day. It also doest go far enough north along the beach. The breakers look much different with some more wind especially from the E or NE. I looked at my notes from transiting this inlet many times. On the north side of the inlet the water is 27 ft or shallower out about 1.45 miles from the beach. On days with an ebb and a E or NE wind the breakers start out here. It's isn't a shoal per say of 3 ft, but one of shallower water vs the run from deeper water and the distance it shallows which build these rollers.

An Army Corp of Enginer hydrologist explained to be that there also is an especially strong littoral current running N/S on the side areas adjacent to the inlet. This helps deposit the sand. Another reason for not "cutting the corner" on entering Barnegt Inlet.

From the north I try and go from the R2 ocean buoy to the BI buoy and face and see the back of the inlet lining up the 4 red/ green markers before i start in. I don't short cut to any of them.


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## chrisncate (Jan 29, 2010)

SloopJonB said:


> Is it just me or does that look like a writeoff? There looks to be some heavy hull damage - cracks above the WL etc.


That'll buff out, it's fine.


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## smurphny (Feb 20, 2009)

chef2sail said:


> Having been in and out of Barnegat over 50 times there is no way to "come down the center" between the jetties. The channel forces you to the north. Rock jetty very close because the inlet is shoaled over 2/3 across halfway into the jetties to the rear of the inlet. After coming in next to the north jetty you must execute a hard 90 degree dogleg to port and traverse the rear inlet perpendicular to it to "safety" At that point you meet Gods example of playing Jacks. No less than 12 red and green buoys of various shapes and size are thrown down together for you to ponder and figure out which is the channel. A mistake is met with a hard grounding in 1 foot of water.
> 
> Barneget is not for a novice and and experienced sailor should definaely pass it when conditions are not good or iffy like a front or NE or E wind. Which create large breakers rolling across the inlet and channel possibly throwing you on the inside jetty rocks in the Inlet.
> 
> ...


By coming down the center means the center of the channel, of course. There is a tendency for the current to push you to the north, toward the jetty. Staying center is essential if there is a sea running because it always throws you around a bit.

One positive feature of Barnegat is the great little anchorage up past the CG station, back in the little bay (I forget the name) by the commercial docks.

The idea of heaving-to is an open ocean strategy with no threatening lee shore. Anchoring in the ocean??? Not an option... maybe a Hail Mary. The lesson here is that picking weather windows is of utmost importance in places like the Jersey stretch and being forced to go into an unfamiliar inlet in bad conditions is not a good idea. There are NO good options if caught along there in the wrong conditions.

On the north side of the entrance, there IS plenty of water just outside the end of the jetty, around 15' if I remember right. You just can't try to cut inside. I don't know why anyone in their right mind would try to do that anyway. It's not necessary to go all the way out around the outside buoy if approaching from the north.


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## JonEisberg (Dec 3, 2010)

chef2sail said:


> Not really.
> 
> Your picture is a calm day. It also doest go far enough north along the beach. The breakers look much different with some more wind especially from the E or NE. I looked at my notes from transiting this inlet many times. On the north side of the inlet the water is 27 ft or shallower out about 1.45 miles from the beach. On days with an ebb and a E or NE wind the breakers start out here. It's isn't a shoal per say of 3 ft, but one of shallower water vs the run from deeper water and the distance it shallows which build these rollers.


Well, I've been through Barnegat a few times, and I've never seen breakers created by shoals two miles off the beach, or north or south of the inlet...

Perhaps that's because I've never been anywhere close to that place in 20' seas, the approximate wave height required to have waves break in the 25' water depths you allude to 



chef2sail said:


> From the north I try and go from the R2 ocean buoy to the BI buoy and face and see the back of the inlet lining up the 4 red/ green markers before i start in. I don't short cut to any of them.


Nothing wrong with doing that, of course, and it's certainly good advice for anyone unfamiliar with the inlet, or running it for the first time... But as smurphy mentions, it's really not necessary, certainly not in the sort of conditions that any of us would consider entering Barnegat to begin with... 'cutting the corner' or turning from the second pair of buoys outside the jetties, or even the first in calm conditions, will still keep you in plenty of water... It's actually when approaching from the south where the need to stand further off applies, as the pic above shows, the shoaling is far more extensive to that side, largely due to the littoral current you've described...

If entering at night, of course the recommendation to begin your approach from the lighted fairway buoy becomes more important, making it far easier to pick up the unlit pairs on the way in... Actually, one of the most difficult things about entering Barnegat in darkness nowadays, is the existence of a lighted athletic field (at least, that's what it appears to be) miles away, over on the mainland... It lines up precisely with an approach from seaward, you're looking right at the lights, which are remarkably bright and blinding, really impairing your vision...

Attempting a night entrance with that field lit up, on a boat with a full enclosure or inability to see over the top of the dodger, would be a suicide mission...


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## weinie (Jun 21, 2008)




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## TJC45 (Jul 10, 2013)

I've sailed out of that inlet countless times. I will confirm the tendency of rollers to become quite steep in the area of the Inlet. The highest I've faced, according to coast guard warnings issued after the fact were 8 ft. I have to say those were the highest 8 foot rollers i've ever seen! Another report the same day reported 12 foot breakers in the inlet itself. Unfortunately i can confirm those as well. 

The second rescue was a Fountain speedboat. I think i read it was a 30 foot boat. it was swamped by high seas and capsized. As the skipper put it, a series of high waves swmped the boat and the pumps couldn't keep up. No life jackets on board, but luckily only eight miles off and these guys knew how to use a radio. The Coast Guard sent two 47 foot rescue boats and a helicopter to the scene. One of the coast guard boats was disabled by a fire. The coast guard rescued one of the boaters. The other was rescued by a party fishing boat out of Brielle NJ. The CG boat was towed back to base. 

So for those keeping score this past week - The atlantic ocean 2 boats this week. Two weeks ago a sailboat was demasted by high winds in the same area.


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## TakeFive (Oct 22, 2009)

TJC45 said:


> ...No life jackets on board...


Unbelievable!


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## deniseO30 (Nov 27, 2006)

JonEisberg said:


> "2 miles" might be stretching it a bit...


At first glance.. it looks .. "OK" then one realizes it's not so nice looking at the wave patterns.


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## chef2sail (Nov 27, 2007)

JonEisberg said:


> Perhaps that's because I've never been anywhere close to that place in 20' seas, the approximate wave height required to have waves break in the 25' water depths you allude to


Absurd reference, almost as creative as talking about Barnegat from a picture with very little wave action

. Anyone who has ever surfed knows that water depth is not the only consideration which creates a wave break.

I have personally observed breakers in that area north of the inlet with 4-5 foot seas , wind from the NE at 15-20 and an ebb tide. The whitewater rolled almost 45 degrees through the inlet fairway. I passed transiting the inlet and opted to continue south to Atlantic City.

This inlet is not one I would ever suggest transiting at night, unless accompanied by a professional like you Jon, on a boat sans dodger of course For most this would be a very risky proposition.


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## chef2sail (Nov 27, 2007)

deniseO30 said:


> At first glance.. it looks .. "OK" then one realizes it's not so nice looking at the wave patterns.


And that's on a nice day


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## joethecobbler (Apr 10, 2007)

did it in 2010 coming north from Atlantic city, 20-25' blowing 30-40 gusting from the south. no engine under mainsail. I was in a 32'bayliner center cockpit with dodger and Bimini, had a mainsail off a 26' hunter, over shot the sea/fairway bought and had to beat back south. when we lined up on approach I remember thinking "this is gonna go good or real bad" when we got in the Lee of the south jetty it was a relief, and my daughter who was 4-5 at the time poked her head up from below commented that conditions were not so bad and she was hungry! it was a task getting to the anchorage w/out the engine. but we managed,set out 2anchors and ate dinner.


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## joethecobbler (Apr 10, 2007)

btw I don't care for the Jersey coast much. but it's the way you gotta go if you wanna get to NY


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## JonEisberg (Dec 3, 2010)

deniseO30 said:


> At first glance.. it looks .. "OK" then one realizes it's not so nice looking at the wave patterns.


Actually, Barnegat Inlet today is a relative pussycat, compared to what it used to be... The fearsome reputation it has acquired over the years is somewhat undeserved today, it's really not _THAT_ bad anymore - as long as it is dealt with the normal cautions that should always apply to such an inlet, of course. Certainly, one of the more treacherous inlets along the East coast, but still far better than the 3 along the Outer Banks, for example...

Before the construction of the South Jetty in 1991, the channel was incredibly convoluted, and seemed to change by the week... For many years, it was an amazing "Z"... The fairway buoy was well to the south, and the channel ran straight towards the beach to a point just outside the surf line. Then, it made a very sharp 120 degree turn to starboard back OUT towards the NE for a couple of hundred yards, and then an equivalent course change to port towards the North jetty... Trust me, it could be VERY hairy with any swell running, and NOBODY in their right mind was running it at night, at least in anything less than absolutely perfect conditions...

The stabilization of Barnegat Inlet with the addition of the South Jetty is one of the greatest success stories of the Corps of Engineers' 'fiddling' with East coast inlets, IMHO - up there with the dramatic improvements they've made at Masonboro, and Little River...

It's a shame many people bypass Barnegat solely due to its reputation... In the right conditions, it's a wonderful spot to stop, and the community of Barnegat Light has always epitomized the Jersey Shore, for me...


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## JonEisberg (Dec 3, 2010)

joethecobbler said:


> did it in 2010 coming north from Atlantic city, 20-25' blowing 30-40 gusting from the south. no engine under mainsail. I was in a 32'bayliner center cockpit with dodger and Bimini, had a mainsail off a 26' hunter, over shot the sea/fairway bought and had to beat back south. when we lined up on approach I remember thinking "this is gonna go good or real bad" when we got in the Lee of the south jetty it was a relief, and my daughter who was 4-5 at the time poked her head up from below commented that conditions were not so bad and she was hungry! it was a task getting to the anchorage w/out the engine. but we managed,set out 2anchors and ate dinner.


You ran Barnegat in _*20 to 25-foot seas ???*_

Well, I'm tempted to call BS on that one - but, instead I'll simply ask _*WHY ???*_


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## jorgenl (Aug 14, 2006)

JonEisberg said:


> You ran Barnegat in _*20 to 25-foot seas ???*_
> 
> Well, I'm tempted to call BS on that one - but, instead I'll simply ask _*WHY ???*_


Jon, I think he is pulling you leg... 

"I was in a 32'bayliner center cockpit with dodger and Bimini, had a mainsail off a 26' hunter..."


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## smackdaddy (Aug 13, 2008)

Just goes to show, you should always START by calling BS. Then back out if you need to.


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## chip (Oct 23, 2008)

I sail pretty much exclusively on the bay inside that inlet, and that anchorage is one of our favorite places to go, even if we don't go out into the ocean.

Cruise to Myers Hole | Sailing Fortuitous



We were there the night that boat went aground. It was windy and rainy, but the lightning was way off in the distance: The Storm at Myers Hole | Sailing Fortuitous


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## ottos (Aug 12, 2008)

JonEisberg said:


> You ran Barnegat in _*20 to 25-foot seas ???*_
> 
> Well, I'm tempted to call BS on that one - but, instead I'll simply ask _*WHY ???*_


Joe is a straight shooter, but maybe not so good a typist....

I was reading it as winds 20-25 gusting 30-40...


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## TJC45 (Jul 10, 2013)

JonEisberg said:


> Actually, Barnegat Inlet today is a relative pussycat, compared to what it used to be... The fearsome reputation it has acquired over the years is somewhat undeserved today, it's really not _THAT_ bad anymore - as long as it is dealt with the normal cautions that should always apply to such an inlet, of course. Certainly, one of the more treacherous inlets along the East coast, but still far better than the 3 along the Outer Banks, for example...
> 
> Before the construction of the South Jetty in 1991, the channel was incredibly convoluted, and seemed to change by the week... For many years, it was an amazing "Z"... The fairway buoy was well to the south, and the channel ran straight towards the beach to a point just outside the surf line. Then, it made a very sharp 120 degree turn to starboard back OUT towards the NE for a couple of hundred yards, and then an equivalent course change to port towards the North jetty... Trust me, it could be VERY hairy with any swell running, and NOBODY in their right mind was running it at night, at least in anything less than absolutely perfect conditions...
> 
> ...


I'll second this comment. Barnegat, is a pussycat relative to 20 plus years ago before the reconstruction. At that time wind driven swells curled into breakers with any east or SE wind. You could be in the danger zone for well over a mile of dangerous following seas. In was those conditons causing loss of life at the inlet that fueled the reconstruction.

Though it is relatively calm, relative means just that. Relative to highly dangerous past I would rate it today at moderately dangerous for transient boaters who don't deal with it on a regular basis. That rating is based on the fact of the disappearing north jetty, and the fact that the inlet can still get dicey with the right wind current combinations. Breaking seas still have a tendency to break across it's face. And, big east wind days it's not unusual to see breaking waves mid way up the inlet. Lastly, the inshore navigation to get around the bar at the south end of IBSP is anything but a done deal for the unfamiliar. Made more complicated by the strong tidal flow.

All that said, it always a runable inlet.


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## TJC45 (Jul 10, 2013)

joethecobbler said:


> btw I don't care for the Jersey coast much. but it's the way you gotta go if you wanna get to NY


Going north to NY the Jersey Shore starts with wealthy Cape May and ends with a nude beach at Sandy Hook. Where else are you gonna get to see rich naked New Jerseians?

OK, nevermind, you've got a point!!!!!


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## joethecobbler (Apr 10, 2007)

yea,I've asked myself why we did it.only answer I have is. it seemed like the right thing at the time.I was puking over the side and I even had a heavy 8' fiberglass dingy full of oars,life jacketsand other junk on a 20-30' painter being towed! it would come ripping passed us down the waves and get to the end of the painter and jerk around. I was amazed it didn't rip loose, swamp,or get in front of us and get run down.
I've since gotten a smaller lighter dingy and haul it aboard when going coastal. one less thing to worry about and less drag.not to mention alot smarter.
the last 6-7 years have been quite enlightening, I spent my childhood on the canals and lakes in the finger lakes of NY thinking I knew the water and sailing.
I've since learned there is much I have yet to learn.


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## joethecobbler (Apr 10, 2007)

yea,a mainsail off a 26' hunter. about 6' short at the head and about 3'short on the foot. kinda like permanent reefing. I just got a "real "mainsail last October (used) from Bacon's when we stopped in Annapolis for a week last year after hurricane sandy, we were hunkered down in Chesapeake city basin on the C&D canal.
paid $75.00 for the used sail. it's a great main sail, built in Chicago in the 50's all bolt roped by hand, heavy Dacron,even came with a bag.


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## RichH (Jul 10, 2000)

JonEisberg said:


> Actually, Barnegat Inlet today is a relative pussycat, compared to what it used to be... The fearsome reputation it has acquired over the years is somewhat undeserved today, it's really not _THAT_ bad anymore - as long as it is dealt with the normal cautions that should always apply to such an inlet, of course. Certainly, one of the more treacherous inlets along the East coast, but still far better than the 3 along the Outer Banks, for example...


Good info Jon. 
I spent my summers during my teen years on LBI .... did a lot of small boat fishing right IN the inlet. We'd all go to see the occasional tugboat or other large craft upside down as a result of passing through Barnegat at the 'wrong' time. ..... only the old Holgate inlet at the south end of LBI was much worse.

Ive always bypassed Barnegat due to my remembering back to those 'Barnegat terror' days without a south jetty. I'll take a peek inside next time thanks to your fine 'report'. I'll still 'go and stay out' when the NE'ers are a blowing and a rollin', though. Thanks.


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## joethecobbler (Apr 10, 2007)

I have a NY to key west thread in the cruising section that tells of the trip last year, I'm on the eastern shore,aboard now getting ready to haul out and go to Florida (driving) .it's hard to get off the boat after all these years, it's killing me. I dread having to live ashore again .but,my better half got an opportunity to get back to work. she is a professional and she love's her home, it's give and take. my turn to give. she has been there working since April, our 9 year old daughter has been aboard with me sailing, it's time.
mixed bag. gotta do what I gotta do.


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