7/19 Live to Fish Another Day!

[Riptide Charters]

7/19 Live to Fish Another Day!

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Today we were slated to run back to Block with Dan C and crew for a canyon charter. The forcast was right on the edge of should we stay at the dock or should we go. The crew was solid and had plenty of offshore time, Mike C was mating and he's a solid as they come so with the "It's gonna be bumpy" disclaimer we decided to go.

Dan and crew arrived at Falmouth @ 0300. It was breezy but the forcastwas still 3-5's @ 10-15kts. Lumpy but very do-able in the new rig. We splashed and hammered down the sound. Ruge and the Finchaser crew were running out of Bourne to meet us at the Gay Head. Just as we met up they had an overheat alarm and were going to turn back on one motor. It ended up being a plastic bag on the water intake so they fixed it and continued a bit behind us.

The seas were 3's with the odd 4' out along Nomans' and to the Claw. We were making a smooth 35 kts as the guys were chillin' in the bean bags. When we got past the Claw things spread out a bit but got a little bigger. Still no issue, we backed it down to 30 kts to keep the props in contact with the water and pushed on.

When we hit the lanes things started to go south in a hurry, everything but us. The seas swells were running in the 5' range as forcasted, but the wind was up to 20kts and that put a 2' chop on the water. My math is a little fuzzy but every 1/4 mile fate would put some of those 2's on the to of the 4-5's and that gave us stuff we were looking up at. we were making 20-25kts with limited bumping, but it was getting wet due to the tabs I had to dig in to keep the ride smooth.

Things got progressivly more sloppy throug the lanes, not so much bigger, but more confused and tighter. The crew was still game but with 35-40 miles to go our trip time was getting way longer than we had hoped for. At the far edge of the lanes I slowed up to grab a drink, take a quick break and re-evaluate the seas. We started a mock troll without rods to see how the trolling conditions would be and how viable fishing in this would be. Two of the guys gobbled down some chow, the other sent some back up. Although the crew was still game I made the command decision to pull the pin and abort. It was on the edge of fishable and with a crewmember already feeling the effects of the seas it would have been a long way for a VERY long day especially when your not feeling 100%.

So I plugged in a course for the Hooter to get a better angle for the ride home. With the seas at our backs we were able to get back to the 35kt range and made asmoking ride home, smooth and dry.

Final tally, 179.9 gallons burned, zero fish caught, and a deeper satisfaction in how my boat eats up water that is just plain nasty. Also a comfirmation that bean bags are a must for this open boat to the edge fishing. The guys in the ESEA Riders napped the whole way home. It's almost disturbing how comfy they looked in the slop we were running in at the speeds we were running at.


Overall it's better to run away and to fish another day! Sucks we had to run that far for nothing but better a safe ride home.

[iguana1]

Terry

Thanks for the report. I just pulled the plug on tomorrow. Looks OK inshore, but outside sounds like a different program.

My next opportunity is Wednesday.

[rarhomes]

With the price of fuel you better pay closer attention to the weather reports. Sorry to hear you wasted your time and money.

[Fortunate One]

"Leaving again at 0300 from Falmouth 3-5's in my new rig PAA---LLLEEEESSSEEE, thats FAC in the Contender @ 35Kts. See you on the Edge."

Looks like mother nature found a little respect. The cost of that was 179.9 gallons.

According to Buoy Data from the 44017, Wind speed was between 13.6 and 15.5 knts steady with gusts from 17.5 to 19.4. Seas were running 4.3 feel every 9 to 10 seconds as you were probably steaming.

Probably not the limits of the boat but I guess you've found the limits of the crew.

I'd be nervous as a cat running hard and fast at night. I've been there and have done it, but not as fast. I wouldn't do it now unless I was in a big rig and preferably one with a skeg to protect the hull and running gear.

I know the lobster men take in all of their gear at night. but I'm not sure if the tides wash up all other debris on shore.

People sleeping in bean bag chairs behind me as I was steaming would make it difficult to focus on driving. I've seen coolers full of ice get completely launched off of decks. I imagine that a person in a bean bag could sail out of a boat in the right conditions.

If that's how you guys roll, I'd get a couple of lashing straps rigged up to keep the occupants in place.

Oh well... And I was seriously looking forward to reading a terrific report this evening, as I was stuck in the office all day from 06:10 working on making my fortune.

With the price of fuel you better pay closer attention to the weather reports. Sorry to hear you wasted your time and money.

It's just money.... better to waste that than push on and risk loosing something a lot more valuable.

Good decision to change plans.

[paraman]

A friend of mine did the same thing running south of Montauk. They made it 35 miles south of the point and turned back. The same conditions as you encountered. It was an expensive try, but the fish are out there in numbers and it was worth a shot. Hopefully a better weather window opens up soon. Good luck on the next trip.
Carl

[Riptide Charters]

It truely sucked having to pull the plug 35 miles from where we hammered fish just 48 hours ago. But the safety of my sports and my crew is paramount. With an older crew we may have pulled up sooner, but these guys are mid 20's and have time offshore. They area ROCK SOLID crew. So we pushed on. It was my call so it was my $$$ on the line. They were nice enough to toss me some $$ towards the fuel bill even though I made it perfectly clear that it was completely on me! I really appreciate that and when we get the next shot with these guys, I am certain we will hammer the fish and I'll keep them out as long as they want. They did right by me and I'll return the favor.

I'd rather eat $800 in fuel than hammer the YFT and have a sport take a slip on the deck and get hurt. We fish hard and we run in the slop to get it done, but at the end of the day they guys safety and comfort trumps everything else. The fish are still there and I know had we pushed on we would have slayed then today, but no fish is worth an injury. The next weather window the report will be a midnight start and a long day of crushing fish with this crew. They are ready for it and as soon as Mother Nature drops her guard we are on the edge!

[rarhomes]

On body wants to puss out after they leave the dock, but I can just about bet you, you didn't take the weather forecast serious or you thought you and your crew were bad asses.

We have all been there done that.

I have fished for over 40 years and I have turned around only 4 times that i can remember. 2 of which where due to unexpected thunder storms, one was a sailfish tournament with 10 to 12 foot sea and the tournament director wouldn't call it off, and 4th just like you, I thought we could DO it.

Sometimes you have to read between the lines of a weather forecast. It always takes more balls to stay at the dock than to get outside and have to turn around and come back. Bottom line YOU as EL CAPT-E-TAN are responsible for the safety of you crew. You made the right decision but this should not become a regular happening.

JMO.

[iguana1]

Just checked the Nantucket corner bouy. 9 knots of wind and 3 foot seas, but we pulled the plug thanks to NOAA calling for 15-20 and 4-7 footers all night and all day today. It was blowing pretty good at 10 last night. I checked this every day for the last 4 days and it changed daily. We b agged this trip when everything from Georges west was 15-20 straight through sat-mon. FWIW - the actual 'synopsis' they write is worthless.

It does get frustrating trying to plan around the weather here. As of last night Wednesday offshore forecast was for 10 knots, now 15-20 knots.

Sometimes it seems like NOAA shold just publish the weather after the fact...

Just ranting I guess becuase I'm not fishing.

[Fortunate One]

The large fast CC's are a nice toy to have when the conditions permit.

It's tough to admit it but a the ripe old age of late 40's I personally am to old to even consider buying one. The Grundens look is no longer for me. Although when in a hot bite I'll throw the Grunden coveralls on so as not to get blood all over my pants.

With the smaller CC's you really need to pick your days. It's not fun fishing in the troughs of 5'ers or slugging it out with Mother Nature on the way out or in for that matter.

Rip Tide, not to be argumentative but you claim that safety is paramount. If that's truly the case how can you run a go fast CC of 30 some odd feet at night safely? I'm sure you like I have seen float sum that would take down a 50'er. But at least in the larger craft, you're risks are less of the occupants from flying out of the boat if you impact something. To keep it light here,
(In my best Fire Marshal Bill's voice) let's say you hit a floating tree or telephone pole and believe it or not I've seen 3 of them bobbing around out there in my years of fishing, at least if you’re in a big rig, there would be a much greater chance of keeping the vessel afloat. Hit something like that in a go fast CC and you could be talking about catastrophic failure. And I for one wouldn't want to be lying in a beanbag chair, as a pair of HP ob's were aside me.

That's just my opinion. It's my understanding that you work in public safety; I'm sure you weighed your risks and accept them. You don't need input from another fisherman, but what the hell, I figured I'd throw it out there.

What you really need is a single screw built down downeaster, to tow that rocket to the canyons. That will give you a mother boat to take home the mother load of fish. Or even better an older research vessel in need of a re-fit. Hell you could partner with a retired captain, send him down in the downeaster and meet him in 3 hours running in daylight. Or just tow the CC down yourself. How cool would that be?

If the entrepreneur in me thought that would be a viable business venture I'd invest just to be able to get out there fast. Unfortunately discretionary income is getting eaten up as a result of other economic issues, ...... Hummmm.... Perhaps this may be marketed as a business mans junket.

Just how much does a large downeaster or older research vessel cost fitted out for business owners tastes?

Be safe Rip Tide. I look forward to the reports.

[Toona]

Riptide - thanks for another good report, I love reading your stuff...

I'll take this chance to say hello to everyone since I haven't posted before. I'm 25 and live in Rowayton, CT and keep a whaler in the LI Sound for the small stuff, but charter out of the Cape and LI as much as I can..slated to hit Hudson next Saturday. I'm hoping to own something soon so I can run myself out to the edge, but who knows... in the mean time I'm enjoying living through all of your reports.