A fun lesson in going against the tide

[Kiltmadoc]

Friday Sept 30, around 2pm and against the falling tide that's draining from Vineyard sound into Buzzards bay. We had our diesel on full power (13hp yanmar), and fulls sails with 13 knot winds assisting. The weird part, was, with all that water flowing across the hull, the steering was very "swim-y"; similar to going downwind. I suppose it's all about real speed as opposed to water flow. The feeling reminded me of the same feeling when paddling a kayak up river by angling into the current and using the hull shape as a "wing".




and a picture:

[dhays]

I've noticed the same thing, particularly when motoring against a strong current. Even though the flow of water over the rudder may be the same, the boat does feel and handle a bit different due to the difference in the momentum. If the boat's SOG is only a .5 knot it feels a lot different than if the SOG is 6 knots even if the boat speed is 6 knots either way.

[Boasun]

Now you know why the old Sailing vessels departed port on the Ebb tide and returned on the Flood tide...

[Faster]

Such a boisterous current is not a uniform 'mass'... there are all kinds of eddies and swirls, to which the boat's passage is likely adding her own.. when these hit the rudder you can definitely feel it.

We have many narrows and passages that behave like this every day.. safe passage requires some attention to the prediction publications.

[deniseO30]

I trick that works, which I learned when paddling canoes is to use the current somewhat diagonal to the boat. It's called a "ferry" Of course in a busy seaway it may not be an option.

[imagine2frolic]

I remeber oonce sailing under the S.F Bay Bridge, and a fine bow wavw. All sail pulling, and we were going backwards........i2f

[Faster]

Originally Posted by imagine2frolic

I remember once sailing under the S.F Bay Bridge, and a fine bow wave. All sail pulling, and we were going backwards........i2f

We were 'buddy cruising' years ago on a couple of 28 footers, a September Stag cruise and I remember racing the other boat (every day!!)... on one occasion off Trial Island near Victoria we were each desperately fighting for boatlengths only to suddenly realize (after some time) that we'd been sitting on a 5.5 knot treadmill and going absolutely nowhere!

[dhays]

Originally Posted by Faster

We were 'buddy cruising' years ago on a couple of 28 footers, a September Stag cruise and I remember racing the other boat (every day!!)... on one occasion off Trial Island near Victoria we were each desperately fighting for boatlengths only to suddenly realize (after some time) that we'd been sitting on a 5.5 knot treadmill and going absolutely nowhere!

As a kid, my impression of sailing in Puget Sound was that a good day was when you were making positive SOG. I remember many nights when we wouldn't get back to our Dock until the wee hours of the morning after the old Seagull outboard would die while heading back home. In the Narrows, there wasn't anywhere to anchor and we would be hugging the shoreline trying to tack against the current. Finally, my sister and I would be sent below to get some sleep, bundled up in the small headsail while my parents spend all night working against the current in very light wind.

I do so enjoy a reliable diesel now days.

[chef2sail]

Last year following the ebb out Hell Gate to NY harbor we rocketed through there at 13.4 speed over the ground. Felt like we were on "black ice".

Dave

[LarryandSusanMacDonald]

Some places the current can be really swift.