RED RIGHT RETURNING1

[redrider62]

 Today, in the heavy fog and drizzle and out going tide , a two fisherman in an aluminum boat mistook the South Jetty for the North Jetty and went in on the beach.  ( it can happen on the North Jetty side  too!)  Amazingly, even though the prop hit the sand in the breakers several times , they were able to keep the boat from capsizing,  catch the out flow far enough to gain distance before they were hit by the next breaker, and then the next one,  before eventually making their way out to deeper water.  The Coast Guard was called and made the assist.   A happy ending to what could have been a tragedy.  Please remember that the SOUTH JETTY is marked with RED MARKERS and that the NORTH JETTY is marked with GREEN MARKERS  (always double check yor position)  WHEN COMMING IN FROM OUTSIDE TO CROSS THE BAR IT'S ALWAYS,  "RED RIGHT RETURNING!" 
Most guys use the bell as a waypoint , but it is also wise to use center entrance as a second waypoint. Things look altogether different in heavy fog and drizzle.    Tight Lines    Red Rider

[Foreel]

If you are unaware of rrr..you should not be a captain of your own vesell or atleast not going in the fog..Thanks Steve..The captain is lucky he didnt kill someone..Its the CAPTAINS responsibility to bring his crew home safe..If you dont know, ask..and dont feel stupid

[Stomper]

Wow Steve I had no idea it was that close.  Bob Stewart and I were on Rave On when we heard the call go out.  We pulled the equipment up and went on the search for the boat, and found them right when the Coast Guard arrived.  We did it as an SAR drill, and we lost time looking for them where they said they were, but Bob didn't want to clutter the airwaves with a request for a repeat of the numbers at the time.  If the boat was in dire straights Bob said he would have requested numbers.  We had trouble locating them on radar because it was a small open boat disappearing in the swell valleys.  The skipper of the boat kept saying he was west of the bell buoy when he was really quite south of it.  He was a good mile south of where he would lead you to believe if you took his word for it.

Bob and I kept trying to figure out why the boat kept going out to sea instead of returning to the entrance, but we were not aware of exactly what the original incident was except that we did know it went in on the wrong side of the jetty.  We didn't know how gnarly it got.  It is now clear that they were scared witless.  

And you are right about the waypoint issue.  AMAZINGLY, I had to use my center channel waypoint on a second very foggy assist later in the day on a different boat that needed assistance.  After the above incident, we took Rave On in and had breakfast at the Marina and went home.  I hooked up to the venerable tri hull "Stomper" and took it out salmon trolling from 11:45 to 3:45pm.  

By the way Steve, that was me who pulled up next to you in the bay while you were on your cell phone when you slowed down while I was on my way back out.    

No fish story today.  However, at 3:45 another USCG call for assistance went out for a North River aluminum 17 foot boat with 4 souls on board  that had "run low (as in "out of") on fuel" off the harbor entrance.  I requested the numbers from Group Humboldt Bay and it put the out of gas boat at 10 oclock, 1/2 mile from me 2.2 miles off the end of the jetties.  Too foggy to see that far, visibility was about 300 yards.  Right after the numbers were given the Coast Guard told me the boat had been tied to and was under tow by another civilian vessel.  I moved forward about 300 yards and caught sight of a Striper towing the boat.  The Striper was "T-Bone" skippered by Sam (last name unknown).  I hailed him on 68 and he answered.  I ran wingman for them and recon'd the jaws and bar.  Perfect timing at 1600 for the peak of the high.  No issues, you couldn't tell it was the jaws.  My waypoint is the center line marked on the 18622 chart just outside the jetties by about 200 yards.  At that point I still could not see the south jetty.  A slight creep to the starboard and it came into view.  I stopped there and Sam kept coming behind me into view, and I followed them in to assist if something went wrong, which it didn't.  

Two points here, maybe four.   Plan for plenty of fuel.  It's a subject beaten to death and obvious to all.  Just do it.  Running out is unforgiveable.  Secondly, like Steve said, have an easy to remember and easy to access waypoint in the middle of the navigation channel just outside the end of the jetties.  Don't make it possible to run into the end of the jetty by having your waypoint too close in,  Make it far enough out to clear the ends from a side approach.  Thirdly, having a wing man for the towing vessel is good practice in case something gets out of hand.  It's just common sense.  This time it was much easier than it was for Mick a couple of weeks back on Banana Luck when he saved someone's bacon on an outgoing tide in gnarly conditions. And point number four, like Steve said, know how to tell the difference between the entrance and the outside of the jetties.  Again, common sense goes a long way.

How about a big hand for Sam of the vessel T-Bone.  Nice job Sam.

[Jimmy Y]

Very thankfully both incidents had positive endings.

We all should review today's incidents and learn from them so we or others don't repeat them.  I am sure all involved parties realize how lucky they are to be with their families' tonight.

Be safe.

[redrider62]

How about a "big" hand for all three of you guys;  You make me proud to belong to the Humboldt Tuna Club.   All my respect and Tight Lines     steve

[Good Friday]

I'll second that!
Dan

[Laying a Line]

To add to Steve's (Red Rider's) input about red, right, returning, it is also really good to set yourself with a minimum water depth. This isn't the depth that you can run in, but rather the depth threshold that you do not cross. Some use a depth of 30 feet, others like 40 feet. Regardless, you don't go inside of that depth. I like grabbing the depth at the bell on the way out. If you don't go shallower, you will at least find the bell.

I, just as probably most here also like to place a waypoint on the plotter in the center of the channel, just outside of the jaws, rather than only with the bell...wrong heading from the bell could put you on the rocks very easily.

As said earlier in the post, very good lessons to live by and learn from. In one case, the individual I spoke with is very thankful tonight to be back without injury or worse for he and his crew.