Most bar crossing advice pontificates on the right and wrong ways of completing the task, what to look for, what to do and where to go. But none of that prepares a captain for the real thing – out there among the waves and soup – on a “big” day.
A phone call from a friend who had just completed a bar-crossing course suggesting I do it too, kind of got me interested. This course was different from most because the boat is the “classroom” and students are out in the elements, learning firsthand what to do and what not to do. The phone call was made and a date was booked. The date followed the tail end of a recent storm that had whipped the local waters into a decidedly frenzied state.
Real-World Test
I got my first indicative hint of the potential severity of this course when we were asked to meet at the ramp at 6:00 A.M. on a Sunday morning. The time gave us sufficient latitude to get out to the actual bar and observe the surroundings in perhaps more “mundane” conditions. I can’ t say I was that impressed either in the choice of boat, or the size of it. I felt a 20’6” (6.25 m) Cruise Craft Explorer walkaround powered by a 200-hp HPDI Yamaha outboard was a little small to be crossing a bar in this weather, but more on that later.
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