Muskegat Channel vs. Madaket

[28Conquest]

I was fishing at the "Hooter" 5 miles south of Martha's Vineyard and as I was coming back at low tide, I decided to run back to Nantucket through Muskegat Channel instead of coming back through the cut at Madaket at the Bonito bar. Since then, I've had a few people tell me that they always avoid Muskegat.

Just wondering what other's opinions are. I know the shoals shift around a lot in this region, so I was pretty careful about watching the water, but the channel is well marked with buoys and is pretty wide. Depths were pretty much exactly what they were supposed to be by my chart, and with the wind from the South it was pretty calm. I came in to Nantucket Harbor along the North edge of Muskegat and Tuckernuck and again everything seemed to be as charted.

Was I just lucky? Is it significantly more dangerous on a choppy day?

[Cape Fisherman]

The water runs south in Musky on an ebb tide and can approach four knots. Match this with a stiff SW, or S wind and you have a recipe for large, breaking waves that can be a real challenge. I usually plan my trips through the channel based on tide. I've seen some nasty water in that small stretch.

[captkev]

I run through Muskegat regularly as I keep my 28 footer in Mashpee. Since I run through there only when I have decided that the conditions are satisfactory for a hooter or offshore trip, I haven't run into any dangerous conditions, but every time it seems to be different than anytime before. The water depth changes from 100' to bare ground literally within a stone's throw, that area is littered with wrecks from over the years, and it garners my full concentration on every trip. But I do know that there are several capts from the Vineyard that always run to the east of the channel and avoid the rip. Hope it helps...

[28Conquest]

Next time I'll look at the tide more carefully, but basically we were coming in the very end of the ebb. I figured if anything looked hairy I could turn around and try plan B (though to be honest, I had a hard time finding deep water getting out past the Bonito Bar at Madaket and that was at high tide). I run a 28 foot twin outboard, so my draft is only 2+ feet, but still...

[backman]

I've gone through Muskegat perhaps 200(??) times and treat it with the utmost respect. Those who fish with me are somewhat aware I try to time my passages with slack or close to slack tide for good reason.

people toss out 4-6's and 6-8's when it blows in the sound when in fact they are talking 2-4's. However; when a NOAA forecast calls for 2-4 or 3-5 in the sounds, you can pretty much assume if the tide is running Muskegat will be at the max of those ranges.

Even a 40 footer can feel Muskegat's wrath when the rip stretches build up square 4 footers with no back.

I have cut the east side of Mutton shoals a couple times and not been real happy about being out of the channel even though I was in a safe 20' of water the whole way.

[28Conquest]

ps. Will be out on the Bonito bar tomorrow on a buddy's boat (33 Grady). We'll have our tuna gear on board in case we decide to run South...

[jbg108]

One time about fifteen years ago I was running a 50' Hat in from a day at the Dump durring one of the biggest Hurricane Swells I've ever seen. We hit the bar just inside the Hooter on the ebb and just sat outside it watching swell as high as the hard to peak and break in 12 feet of water. We watched it for 20 minutes and then punched it durring a lul. We had a swell peak up as high as us about five boat lengths behind and it was quite a site. Much respect to that pass. It will damage and sink boats on the wrong day for sure. I allways run Smiths Point and it's a cake walk most of the time. It will also get a little crazy on the ebb with a swell but it's really just the one bar to get over and your in the clear. I had six feet at the shallowest point on the bar Saturday and I'm pretty sure I didn't hit the deepest spot.

When in doubt though you can allways go around the back side to great point as well.

[starrfish]

muskegat is at least on the charts. yes the tides and breakers can be taxing, but i would take that anytime its rough rather than the cut at smiths point (madaket) anytime..
just take musky and shrink it 400% and have the water depth range from 3 to 12 ft for about 3 miles

[backman]

what Jay said. Eel point and the passage toward Madaket from the few times I have been through there is even worse without local knowledge to find the 5' flat as oppsoed to the 3' flat...

[28Conquest]

Yeah -- I suppose I'm a sorta local in that I come to ACK every summer and always run through Madaket / Smiths pt to the Bonito Bar. I save my track each year and the first time down, I use that to pick up roughly where the channel is until I can find the actual buoys. That said, I've only run aground twice and both times were there!

Tomorrow I'll be with a guy who is here all summer and I'm going to check some of my numbers with his chart as we go through. It's pretty crazy and the buoys are really small - hard to find on radar.

All this makes me realize how easy we have it up on Cape Cod Bay. Except for Billingsgate island and remembering the 10 ft tidal range when you are on Brewster Flats, there's pretty much nothing to hit!