Went out fossil hunting on the Savannah again Saturday. The container ship New York Express expressed its displeasure with me being next to the channel. Two other container ships had gone down river while I was digging with no ill effects for me. But those ships were empty and rode high in the water. The New York Express was full and low. She passed me just as I had gotten back into my kayak and was cruising about 25 feet from shore well outside the channel. I heard a sudden rushing sound and turned to see a five foot wall of muddy water slamming into the bank where I had been about a minute earlier. I leaned hard to turn away from what looked like a tidal bore gone crazy. Surfing, jinking and bracing over that mess was exciting yet it was spooky to think I could have just as easily still been on the bank with my head down concentrating on my digging. If I had been hit by that succession of waves I am not too sure I would have survived. My boat and all my gear would certainly have been lost. The locals tend to give me a second look when I kayak alone because I always wear my composite helmet. I have my reasons and those reasons were all waiting for me when I got home. Jim et al *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - Any opinions or suggestions expressed here are solely those of the writer(s). You must assume the entire responsibility for reliance upon them. All postings copyright the author. Submissions: PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net Subscriptions: PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
What is the typical travel speed for these tankers? I know speeds are posted on some charts, but they don't necessarily follow the posted limits. --- James Farrelly <jfarrelly5_at_comcast.net> wrote: > Went out fossil hunting on the Savannah again > Saturday. The > container ship New York Express expressed its > displeasure with me > being next to the channel. Two other container > ships had gone down > river while I was digging with no ill effects for > me. But those ships > were empty and rode high in the water. The New York > Express was full > and low. She passed me just as I had gotten back > into my kayak and > was cruising about 25 feet from shore well outside > the channel. > > I heard a sudden rushing sound and turned to see a > five foot wall of > muddy water slamming into the bank where I had been > about a minute > earlier. I leaned hard to turn away from what > looked like a tidal > bore gone crazy. Surfing, jinking and bracing over > that mess was > exciting yet it was spooky to think I could have > just as easily still > been on the bank with my head down concentrating on > my digging. If I ____________________________________________________________________________________ Looking for earth-friendly autos? Browse Top Cars by "Green Rating" at Yahoo! Autos' Green Center. http://autos.yahoo.com/green_center/ *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - Any opinions or suggestions expressed here are solely those of the writer(s). You must assume the entire responsibility for reliance upon them. All postings copyright the author. Submissions: PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net Subscriptions: PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
Derek wrote: > What is the typical travel speed for these tankers? I know speeds are > posted on some charts, but they don't necessarily follow the posted > limits. Derek, that's a good question. I bet it depends heavily on the nature of the waterway. The narrow channels referred to in earlier posts probably have tighter speed restrictions than those on the Columbia River (which is all I know well). Here, 15 knots is not unusual, but frequently the vessels slow way down when meeting opposing tankers or freighters, or when turning, or when going over shallower areas. Then, they are often traveling at only a few knots, relative to the water. A minimum of 4-5 knots, I imagine. One added complication is that we often have river/tidal currents of three knots or so; when a freighter is traveling with the current, to maintain steerageway, they still have to hold several knots of hull speed, so they may close on you pretty fast when the speed of the current is added on. They are so huge, a paddler does not appreciate how fast they are moving until they are on him/her. I've not had any close calls, but others have. For us, the wakes are mostly fun to play in, and not a safety issue at all. -- Dave Kruger Astoria, OR *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - Any opinions or suggestions expressed here are solely those of the writer(s). You must assume the entire responsibility for reliance upon them. All postings copyright the author. Submissions: PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net Subscriptions: PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
A large ship needs 4 to 6 knots of speed through the water in order to maintain steerage. They can slow to less than that but will then be reduced to adding turns to the screw in order to get the stern to move enough to turn. We used to slow to 2-3 kts at one critical spot in Valdez Narrows and it always created a lot of pucker. It certainly never seemed safer to get that slow to me. Kayakers also need to remember that large ships do not turn by moving the bow but, rather, they turn by moving the stern. A paddler can find oneself in a tricky predicament when encountering a large ship in a narrow, winding waterway. Modern ships can easily displace 80,000 tons of water and when that much mass is also moving then there is certainly going to be some effect on the water levels along the shore of a narrow channel. Generally I think that the farther from the ship the better while remembering that the deeper the water the better and the farther from the shore the better. There, that should clear the matter up nicely. Craig Jungers Royal City, WA On 3/11/07, Dave Kruger <kdruger_at_pacifier.com> wrote: > > Derek wrote: > > What is the typical travel speed for these tankers? I know speeds are > > posted on some charts, but they don't necessarily follow the posted > > limits. > > Derek, that's a good question. I bet it depends heavily on the nature of > the waterway. The narrow channels referred to in earlier posts probably > have tighter speed restrictions than those on the Columbia River (which is > all I know well). Here, 15 knots is not unusual, but frequently the > vessels slow way down when meeting opposing tankers or freighters, or when > turning, or when going over shallower areas. Then, they are often > traveling at only a few knots, relative to the water. A minimum of 4-5 > knots, I imagine. > > One added complication is that we often have river/tidal currents of three > knots or so; when a freighter is traveling with the current, to maintain > steerageway, they still have to hold several knots of hull speed, so they > may close on you pretty fast when the speed of the current is added on. > > They are so huge, a paddler does not appreciate how fast they are moving > until they are on him/her. > > I've not had any close calls, but others have. For us, the wakes are > mostly fun to play in, and not a safety issue at all. *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - Any opinions or suggestions expressed here are solely those of the writer(s). You must assume the entire responsibility for reliance upon them. All postings copyright the author. Submissions: PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net Subscriptions: PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
On Tuesday 13 March 2007 14:22, Craig wrote: > Kayakers also need to remember that large ships do not turn by moving > the bow but, rather, they turn by moving the stern. A paddler can find > oneself in a tricky predicament when encountering a large ship in a > narrow, winding waterway. With the leeboard down that's exactly how our Klepper XXL behaves :-)! Not too surprising, as in kayak terms it is a fairly large vessel :-)! Tord *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - Any opinions or suggestions expressed here are solely those of the writer(s). You must assume the entire responsibility for reliance upon them. All postings copyright the author. Submissions: PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net Subscriptions: PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
James, I'm not sure how the New York Express signaled her displeasure with you but my guess is it was a whistle blast. Having worked commercial boats I would say there is a good chance she was trying to warn you of the wave that would be headed your way. Much as we might not want to believe it most of these guys are pretty decent and many sail or kayak for pleasure. Michael > From: James Farrelly <jfarrelly5_at_comcast.net> > > Went out fossil hunting on the Savannah again Saturday. The > container ship New York Express expressed its displeasure with me > being next to the channel. Two other container ships had gone down > river while I was digging with no ill effects for me. But those ships > were empty and rode high in the water. The New York Express was full > and low. She passed me just as I had gotten back into my kayak and > was cruising about 25 feet from shore well outside the channel. > > I heard a sudden rushing sound and turned to see a five foot wall of > muddy water slamming into the bank where I had been about a minute > earlier. I leaned hard to turn away from what looked like a tidal > bore gone crazy. Surfing, jinking and bracing over that mess was > exciting yet it was spooky to think I could have just as easily still > been on the bank with my head down concentrating on my digging. If I > had been hit by that succession of waves I am not too sure I would > have survived. My boat and all my gear would certainly have been lost. > > The locals tend to give me a second look when I kayak alone because I > always wear my composite helmet. I have my reasons and those reasons > were all waiting for me when I got home. *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - Any opinions or suggestions expressed here are solely those of the writer(s). You must assume the entire responsibility for reliance upon them. All postings copyright the author. Submissions: PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net Subscriptions: PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
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