ocean swell

[KJM]

i was wondering if an 8 foot swell coming from 2 opposite directions could create dangerous conditions where they meet? seems like thats the situation here today and i was thinking about going fishing, only 2 days left in the season.

 

[Bayou Dave]

I wouldn't want to be in one 8' swell let alone 2 of them coming towards you from opposite directions. That would make a sandwich of you and your boat.Do you normally boat in 8' swells?

 

[Scott Danforth]

Yes.

doesnt need to be in the ocean, can be on any large body of water. the two peaks join and the two valleys join resulting in really big waves

it the reason there are so many shipwrecks over the centuries in Deaths Door http://www.wisconsinshipwrecks.org/learn/DeathsDoor

waves come together from two directions. you can go from flat calm to 10' combined swells with a simple 10 degree change in wind direction.

 

[Sprig]

Especially in your size boat what you describe is a recipe for disaster. Don?t go out in that.

 

[tpenfield]

19 foot boat in 8 foot swells . . . what could possibly go wrong :noidea:

Here is a good rule of thumb . . . you want the boat to be about 7-10 times the size of the waves . . .

 

[KJM]

I went out but stayed inside the headlands to the bay. the swell was parallel to the coast instead of straight in. Even then it was a bit on the rough side, but the winds were not too high so overall not too bad.

 

[Ned L]

8 ft Ocean ground swells?....... at least singularly, so what? No big deal at all. There have been times I've been out in 6-8 ft ground swells in a 14 ft outboard. Just nice long lazy ground swells.

 

[Sprig]

It all depends on the timing between swells. 13 or 14 seconds between swells is a long rolling swell. 6 seconds between swells and a little 14 footer is probably going to swamp and sink. The wind also plays a big part too. What the op described in the original post would be dangerous even in a much much larger boat.

 

[KJM]

What we usually get here are long rolling type swell that isn't a big deal, kinda cool actually. but today the swell was closer and kinda confused,I guess because of 2 different swells interacting. Anyway inside the headlands was bad enough, I imagine it was much worse outside in the wide open.

 

[dennis461]

How do you bait a hook in those conditions?
I stick myself in calm water :-0

 

[KJM]

Don't use bait actually, i use 5 oz lead jiggers i pour with a "do-it" mould. The cod love those things. However i do stick myself nearly every trip when trying to remove the treble hooks from the fish when i get them. I often wonder would single hooks do the trick. People hear that do use bait use really big single hooks with squid or capelin on them.

 

[ondarvr]

Single hooks are much easier to use on jigs, I normally change them over to singles right away.

 

[Bayou Dave]

Did you end up catching anything worth keeping? What part of NFLD are you in?

 

[dingbat]

Single hooks are much easier to use on jigs, I normally change them over to singles right away.

gave up on trebles long ag as well.
Much easier on the fish as well

 

[dingbat]

It all depends on the timing between swells. 13 or 14 seconds between swells is a long rolling swell. 6 seconds between swells and a little 14 footer is probably going to swamp and sink. The wind also plays a big part too. What the op described in the original post would be dangerous even in a much much larger boat.

By definition a swell is a low frequency (long period) cluster of waves driven by disturbance, ie landslide or in this case a hurricanes.

The OP is in NF so it?s pretty obvious he?s talking about the ground swell from the hurricanes. Experiencing the same here for the past 2 weeks.

Stay off the convergence zones (points and bars and inlets) and swell is little more than a nusicense.

 

[KJM]

Did you end up catching anything worth keeping? What part of NFLD are you in?

I fish out of Petty Hr, just south of St. John's. I can usually see Cape Spear which is the most easterly point in North America. Yes i caught the 5 fish quota i was allowed but they weren't very big. They are in salt now and will be out to dry before the week is out. Was out again today and only caught two small ones, thats it for the year now, season is over.

 

[Bayou Dave]

I fish out of Petty Hr, just south of St. John's. I can usually see Cape Spear which is the most easterly point in North America. Yes i caught the 5 fish quota i was allowed but they weren't very big. They are in salt now and will be out to dry before the week is out. Was out again today and only caught two small ones, thats it for the year now, season is over.

I know here Petty Harbor is and St. John's. My ancestors came from Pouch Cove, north of St. John's.

 

[KJM]

Yeah I've worked with people from pouch cove, been there picking blueberries a few times.....small world.

 

[Bayou Dave]

Ever run into any Morey's up that way?

 

[KJM]

Can't say i did but I did go to school with a guy Pat Morey. Who knows, maybe his people were from there.