Sharphooks
Well-Known Member
Some of you guys are already fishing for springs. I'm tied to a desk waiting for June to start so while climbing the walls waiting to start my summer fishing, I stumbled on the word "clapotis" and it brought back some memories, mostly terrifying ones
Here's what a graphical depiction of clapotis looks like of:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E3vzAB1vY_Q
I first saw the phenomenon when on a commie boat up in the Bering Sea: huge waves getting squeezed through a narrow pass in the Aleutian Chain-- a boomer ebb tide flowing in a westerly direction, and just to make things really interesting, a 30 knot wind coming in from the NW running smack dab into the wall of the ebb
Result: MASSIVE Clapotis gaufré! It was like being in a huge cauldron of boiling water---waves stacking up 15 to 20 feet high, straight up and down, zero rhyme or reason so forget about quartering in to them. But I was in a 90 foot trawler-- I was able to leave my rosary beads in my pocket
Flash forward to Queen Charlotte Sound 10 years later--- fishing out at Jeanette Light one day, over-staying my welcome by two hours too many--- early afternoon, the typical QCS NW blow starts up and yes, of course, a perfectly timed big ebb tide. Result? I was in a 19 foot boat and in a heartbeat I had blue water heaped up way higher then the top of my wheelhouse. It was hammering the glass of my wheelhouse---I was sure I'd lose my electronics. On top of that, it was dumping unceremoniously on to my (scupperless) back deck. It scared the crap out of me how fast it started---flat calm to the end of the world in a matter of minutes--at times, I had up to two feet of standing water on the back deck of my boat!
Clapotis gaufré --- peak of an ebb tide, a NW blow, water getting squeezed through the nozzle formed by Jeanette Islands and the Millar Group-- the waves are getting bounced off two immovable objects in close proximity---the perfect formula for the end of the world and I was in the middle of it
Then a few years later, the same thing happened all over again going past Slingsby Narrows -- an ebb tide stacking up against a building NW blow--- relatively calm seas and then a minute or two later, total clapotis chaos---probably the main reason I finally stepped up for a 21 foot boat with multiple bilge pumps...
Anybody else out there have any Clapotis gaufré stories?
Here's what a graphical depiction of clapotis looks like of:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E3vzAB1vY_Q
I first saw the phenomenon when on a commie boat up in the Bering Sea: huge waves getting squeezed through a narrow pass in the Aleutian Chain-- a boomer ebb tide flowing in a westerly direction, and just to make things really interesting, a 30 knot wind coming in from the NW running smack dab into the wall of the ebb
Result: MASSIVE Clapotis gaufré! It was like being in a huge cauldron of boiling water---waves stacking up 15 to 20 feet high, straight up and down, zero rhyme or reason so forget about quartering in to them. But I was in a 90 foot trawler-- I was able to leave my rosary beads in my pocket
Flash forward to Queen Charlotte Sound 10 years later--- fishing out at Jeanette Light one day, over-staying my welcome by two hours too many--- early afternoon, the typical QCS NW blow starts up and yes, of course, a perfectly timed big ebb tide. Result? I was in a 19 foot boat and in a heartbeat I had blue water heaped up way higher then the top of my wheelhouse. It was hammering the glass of my wheelhouse---I was sure I'd lose my electronics. On top of that, it was dumping unceremoniously on to my (scupperless) back deck. It scared the crap out of me how fast it started---flat calm to the end of the world in a matter of minutes--at times, I had up to two feet of standing water on the back deck of my boat!
Clapotis gaufré --- peak of an ebb tide, a NW blow, water getting squeezed through the nozzle formed by Jeanette Islands and the Millar Group-- the waves are getting bounced off two immovable objects in close proximity---the perfect formula for the end of the world and I was in the middle of it
Then a few years later, the same thing happened all over again going past Slingsby Narrows -- an ebb tide stacking up against a building NW blow--- relatively calm seas and then a minute or two later, total clapotis chaos---probably the main reason I finally stepped up for a 21 foot boat with multiple bilge pumps...
Anybody else out there have any Clapotis gaufré stories?
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