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Think Pcola pass get rough?

5K views 17 replies 15 participants last post by  need2fish 
#1 ·
#4 ·
the CG who was out there running heard on all those charter capt's should have some serious questions as to what was more important, the mighty $ or that many lives. I had to do a turn around in 10' in a pass once and bout scared myself half to death

looked like that 4th capt killed the engine and had to restart it, those passengers must have been freaking out.

I did notice that most of the passengers were standing up and cheering once they got back inside
 
#6 ·
P-cola can get real nasty on a east wind with a strong outgoing tide! I was coming in about 8 years ago and actually slung a passenger our of the boat into the drink! Talk about an ol'shit incident! It was steep 8 footers and I was easing into them when a 10 foot wall came up and the boat decided it wanted to let the wave manhandle it and it turned us 45 degrees in a half of a second. All the coolers, gaffs and everything was slung to the starboard side. The passenger sitting in the port seat ended up in my lap. The arm rest of his seat was bent 30 degrees and the passenger holding on to the rear leg was GONE! I managed to be able to turn around in the slop and picked him up and we made it back in.



No one was hurt except for some bumps and bruises. Ended up finding out that that arm rest was better off not there when it came to making it easy to enter the cabin so I left it off.



Be careful out there and be sure you look at these two conditions if you go out in a smaller boat!



If you will be returning on a strong outgoing tide and the wind is out of the east, the pass is going to get nasty so use caution coming in! You may want to t-bone the beach just a little east of the old CG station and ride in the shallows using caution to watch for water breaking over shallow bars!
 
#7 ·
P-cola can get real nasty on a east wind with a strong outgoing tide! I was coming in about 8 years ago and actually slung a passenger our of the boat into the drink! Talk about an ol'shit incident! It was steep 8 footers and I was easing into them when a 10 foot wall came up and the boat decided it wanted to let the wave manhandle it and it turned us 45 degrees in a half of a second. All the coolers, gaffs and everything was slung to the starboard side. The passenger sitting in the port seat ended up in my lap. The arm rest of his seat was bent 30 degrees and the passenger holding on to the rear leg was GONE! I managed to be able to turn around in the slop and picked him up and we made it back in.



No one was hurt except for some bumps and bruises. Ended up finding out that that arm rest was better off not there when it came to making it easy to enter the cabin so I left it off.



Be careful out there and be sure you look at these two conditions if you go out in a smaller boat!



If you will be returning on a strong outgoing tide and the wind is out of the east, the pass is going to get nasty so use caution coming in! You may want to t-bone the beach just a little east of the old CG station and ride in the shallows using caution to watch for water breaking over shallow bars!
 
#14 ·
That is Depoe Bay Oregon. Of course it is not always that bad. I fish out of there often for tuna and halibut. Some of these trips could have been for whale watching. They do a lot of that out of there. Depoe is the smallest natural harbor in the world. The Movie "One Flew Over the coocoo's nest was filmed there partially. I came in last year when the entrance was restricted to 24' and under. I am in a 26' striper. You just had to do a little timimg. But that was not as bad as when we came in through a fog bank. The first thing I saw was the bridge over the entrance. I could not see the rocks that were closer to me. The entrance zigs and zags a bit also. You dont really get a feeling for that from the video! Glad you guys like the video. It is from my site!
 
#15 ·
What I found so scary was how narrow it is and with all rock on both sides. I noticed one of the boats had a guy with a tire on a rope on the port side, I assume to fend of if they got into the rocks. Really tight. Does it open up once you get inside further? How do two boats pass?

What Chris posted remined me of one trip back into Pensacola Pass a few years ago. We made the mistake of coming back in one afternoon with the tide at full flow going out and a SE wind pushing some pretty good waves. Good size waves were bashing into buoys that were leaning into the waves from the tidal flow. That was enough for me. I now check the tides and if there is a large change I avoid that time midway between high and low tide. I come home before then or fish longer until the tidal flow subsides. I know, I'm a wimp compared to some of you guys. We go by the motto: "Live to fish another day."
 
#16 ·
Been through ol' Depoe bay a few times. My dad used to run charters out of there and a good friend still does. It is tight, but you can squeeze two boats passed each other and it does open up inside with plenty of room for boats to maneuver, but is by no means spacious.
 
#17 ·
Not to contradict you but I do not consider it passable by two boats unless very very calm and both are of smaller size. There is no way to be in the channel with a charter boat. I have had the experience. Charter boats fault and he backed back into the bay. When going out you are to sound your horn in one long blast and announce you departure on ch.80. Incoming has the right away if committed. Same thing. Announce your intentions as you pass last bouy. The saying goes that there are only two kinds of captains that fish out of Depoe. Those that have hit the rocks and those that will. I will have to look and see if I can find the picture of a smaller 20' or 22' boat coming in on the back of a breaking swell. There is a guy on the front of the boat to try and push off the wall to the north. He broke both legs as the story goes!
 
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