Article by Capt. Mark Sampson
As we were heading out the Ocean City Inlet last week, I looked over to see a 30-some foot ocean-racer-type fishing boat off our starboard side. Even though we were both just idling along, the sleek design and twin 300hp outboards on the other fellow’s boat made it look as though he was going 200 miles an hour! A hundred yards before the mouth of the inlet we both throttled-up, I came to my usual 16-knot cruise speed and he … well I don’t honestly know how fast he was going, but suffice to say, he looked like a rocket skittering across the water! Now here’s a brain teaser for you: If we both cleared the inlet at the same time, each making the best speed we could, how is it that I beat the other guy to the Sea Buoy that’s one-mile out? Hint - there was a big swell offshore and the tide was rushing out pretty hard.
Those who know a thing or two about running inlets will recognize that if the tide was rushing out and there was a decent offshore swell, then the mouth of the inlet would have been quite a sloppy mess with row after row of steep, “standing” waves. Running out an inlet under such conditions is no treat. With the current sweeping you out, you’ve got to keep your engine running fast enough to maintain steerage of the boat while trying not to fly over the top of waves or bury your bow into any of the steeper ones. You can’t really stop or you’ll be turned sideways and risk swamping, and turning around in the mess is a tricky and sometimes dangerous option.
OK, maybe some of you are thinking that I arrived at the Sea Buoy first because I was able to run faster in the rough seas than the other guy. Nope! Or maybe it was because he had some kind of engine problem, or he turned around, or he got in behind to let us break the waves as we went out. Nope, nope, nope!
Another hint to the riddle is that I used something known as “local knowledge” to get to the Sea Buoy first. For those who are not familiar with the term, “local knowledge,” it describes a mariner’s ability to navigate through an area using knowledge and information that is not necessarily readily available on charts or other maritime documents. Just like someone in a car traveling through an area he’s never been before is not going to know all the back road shortcuts to take, mariners with local knowledge are going to be more efficient at transiting a given body of water than someone who has only a chart to work with.
As the current rushed out of the inlet that morning it undercut the swells and created tall, sharp waves. I watched the guys in the other boat hanging on for dear life as they would launch off one wave, crash down and bury their bow into the next. This occurred time after time as they worked their way offshore toward the calmer and deeper water that awaited them beyond the Sea Buoy. It was testimony to the strength of the vessel that it didn’t come apart for all the pounding it was taking!
We paralleled their course from a couple hundred yards away while doing our normal cruise speed and running in smooth water. How could this be? Quite simply – with the help of a little “local knowledge” I knew that I could avoid all the rough seas by hanging a quick left after clearing the North Jetty and getting out of that strong current. We still had some big swells to go over but they were smooth and spaced far enough apart that we barely felt them. Even though the marked channel exiting the inlet directs one to run straight out between the red and green entrance-buoys, those with local knowledge know that by taking a sharp left, running a couple hundred yards, and then turning right before proceeding to the Sea Buoy gets you out of the strong flow of the current and the sharp waves it creates. Local knowledge also tells us that there’s plenty of depth just north of the inlet to make this move.
But don’t turn south because it gets really shallow going that way. When the wind is coming from the south, incoming boaters will also enjoy smooth water and not have to buck the current if they approach the inlet from the north rather than running directly in through the two entrance buoys.
As a sidebar, however, I must caution that cutting around the tip of the north jetty is not without its pitfalls. Boaters need to be extra careful not to pull into the path of another boat they don’t know is coming in or out. Particularly on a low tide, or if you’re in a small or low boat, it can be difficult to see around the jetty well enough to tell if someone else isn’t taking the same path from the other direction. In particular, if you’re on the north side of the inlet and heading out, there’s a lot of parasail boats that hook-in around the north jetty. Those boats are typically low and moving fast so make sure when exiting that you go straight long enough that you can see around the rock before making a sharp left turn into the smoother water. Remember also that the two entrance buoys are there to direct vessel traffic straight in and out of the cut, so anyone merging in from the north must give way to boats properly following the buoys.
So, the reason I was able to beat the other guy to the Sea Buoy was because he was forced to slow down as he beat and banged his way out the channel, whereas I was able to cruise along at my normal speed. But don’t feel sorry for him, once he got clear of the slop outside the inlet, he throttled up and quickly blew past us at warp-speed, headed, I’m sure, for big fish in distant canyons, and then possibly the dentist to have a few fillings replaced!
Captain Mark Sampson is an outdoor writer and captain of the charter boat “Fish Finder”, docked at the Ocean City Fishing Center.
