jeff32

last year did lake champlain to atlantic city, this year on the beach at ocean beach maryland... even when it is a great day, there is almost no boats at all running along the coast, and there is really no one beaching boat or at least, dropping the anchor close to beach to take a swim to the beach...

Why is it? is it because most people living in the area prefer running the intra coastal for safety reasons? or whatever else reason I don't know of? sharks?

any thought?

glassdave

iTrader: (1)

I always wondered that to, i suspect no one beaches because most beaches are closed to boats and i dont think i have ever been out there where there was not some kind of swell hitting the beach. It may be flat as a pan out there but it still seemed to produce some rollers on shore that would make it tough.

As far as running offshore your guess is good as mine but i have seen boats running off Ocean City and that area often.

Nate5.0

Seems everyone in this area runs the inter-coastal. I will not be doing that. Open her up and let her do what she does best. Also get to where your going faster offshore

Inter-coastal runs will be for when kids are on the boat and we want a slower safe fun run.

HabanaJoe

I know anchoring in the ocean and jumping off the boat is hard along the beach, the waves swell up on the bars and it's not fun. If you anchor further off after the bars it's nicer but you're pretty far off the beach.

As far as running in ocean is what your asking, my opinion is this - most people with big offshore boats are sh*t scared to run in the ocean for any real distance. It is so much easier and quicker to just push the throttles up in the back bay and run hard for a few minutes and pass someone and go "see my boat is faster" and just back down again.

I say they are scared not because they can't or don't know how to run a boat. It has been and will be a thing of economics. In the ocean you can't just blast past someone, you need to run for a few miles or more to have some real competition and be ahead the seas allow for a trading of position of boats of similar speeds many times. This costs fuel, engine wear, drive wear - these parts break jumping in and out of waves and that can cost big dollars and end a boating season quickly. Also wear and tear to the boat, some of these interiors are very nice, don't care if it's Cigarette, Outerlimits or Fountain - beat the pleasure boat enough and things fall apart - again there is a dollar value to that and people don't like spending money on repairs.

The other reason is comfort, it hurts going fast in the ocean most days for your guests, you hold a wheel and throttles they swing around and bounce around like rag dolls after a few miles so you have to slow down

The come back is always "if you can't afford to run it and fix it you shouldn't have brought it" - we all know that is true but only 10% of the boat owners follow that or want to spend what it costs to beat it up and then put it back together again and again and again. Why are race boats so sparse, please the few pounds make no real difference in a true offshore race boat racing in the open ocean - it's because the crap will fall apart again and again - build it with nothing inside it lasts longer.

That's my take on your question I'm sure I'll catch crap for what I said

Pete280

We run in the ocean a lot, if it's flat with a swell it's awesome, your airbourne and float down the backside. If the winds blowing from the south, east or north it gets snotty pretty quick especially when you through a swell in there. You are probably vacationing during the weekday when no ones out.

In Virginia Beach you cant come within 150-250' (cant remember) of the ocean front beach due to swimmers, you would not want to anyway it's too rough.

f_inscreenname

I was going to say what some have said already.
First is the continental shelf. Water gets stacked up on it and can turn on you in a second. White caps everywhere and coming at you at all different angles. You can beat the snot out of boat in no time on it.
There are too many inland waterways to run in then the ocean. The Chesapeake Bay is the largest inland bay in the country with a thousand rivers and inlets. Then there is the Delaware Bay that is a little more open to the ocean but has the same as the Chesapeake. Also people like the safety of a Bay where you can see land almost all around you. A couple miles out in the Atlantic and have a breakdown and you may find yourself on the way to England before you get help.
Then there is size. Even though I have a 1967 offshore race boat that is only 24’ long most would never go in the ocean with something that small these days. Inland waterways you are safe in a rowboat so you can go smaller with the cost being much less then offshore. Also there is a reason Ohio is like one of the top 3 states for boats per capita in the country of.
Last, no offence to the folks that live in these areas but even though the beach town in full a hotels and million dollar condos you have to remember that most of the folks there are tourist and tourist don’t bring their boat with them most of the time. As for the majority of people that live there year round they don’t live in million dollar condos. Most are working class (or lower) family’s that don’t have the money to buy or run an off shore boat. If they do have a boat it’s more than likely something small that they can run on river (staying away from tourist town) and put away in the yard.

Wobble

Having learned to sail as a youngster, one thing I always remembered was being told to avoid a windward shore as there is no room for error. It's something I have never forgotten even with plenty of power at hand.

The combination of tide, potential rogue waves and an unsheltered beach would be an invitation to disaster sooner or later.