Participants in the Florida Powerboat Club's Miami Boat Show Poker Run today experienced some of the most raw and unruly conditions in the history of the event, http://speedonthewater.com/in-the-ne...-by-pete-boden.

Many thanks to photographer Pete Boden, who braved the elements on the Card Sound Bridge today.

Some one turned back because of rough water in biscayne bay ?

Hey, it all depends on the condition of your lower back, right?

I'll tell you this: Three years ago Jason Johnson and I did the Key West Poker Run in a 36-foot center console with the boat's owners. Between Key Largo and Key West, the Intracoastal Waterway was a frothy mess. We took a pounding ... and it was not my first time at the rough-water rodeo. So while it doesn't get New Jersey Atlantic or Ventura Pacific rough, it gets rough enough to get your attention

oh yeah i get the rough from key largo to key west, i was there three years ago and yeah it was a wild ride, but Biscayne bay cmon

ok maybe I'm just a little bit jealous since I'm stuck here on a stage in hollywood and not out there where i really want to be.

Wind was strong out of the NW today. That makes the Bay a completely different body than most are used to seeing. Just look at the water color for an idea that it was very different to run across.

It was certainly manageable, but it was a pretty bumpy ride and unless you had a canopy you were eating salt. It would have been a nasty ride for someone with a bad back or other medical issues.

I grew up in Miami/Coral Gables/Coconut Grove and I can attest that Biscayne Bay can beat the snott out of you when you least expect it. The worst is when the wind is howling out of the North West and pushing/channeling all the water to the south. It's not as bad traveling downwind but if you're heading home (northbound) the water is trapped between the mainland and Key Biscayne/the Ragged Keys/Soldiers Key/Boca Chica Key/Sands Key and Key Largo with nowhere to spread out. It turns into a confused, washing machine with vertical wave faces that will smack you silly. There's no way to pick out a throttling rhythm so you just have to slogg through it til you pick up the protection of the causeways crossing the bay...

From the giant swells that slam into Hawaii and Northern to those that pound the Eastern Seaboard, wind creates waves. It's that simple. Put enough wind on any body of water and it will get rough

The brown water, as Cash Bar pointed out, in the photos in the slideshow indicate that the bottom was pretty churned up, something that happens when breaking waves and swells starting yanking on it.

Interval period between each wave/swell makes a giant difference in how manageable the conditions may be. Former Powerboat magazine editor Doug Thompson (I think it was Doug) took out a 27-foot Formula in 10- to 15-foot seas off Ventura one day, and the spacing between the swells was so great that it was like rolling up and down gentle hills. (Low speed of course, as going fast would have destroyed us and the boat.) Years before in a 38-foot Cigarette on Lake Michigan, 2- to 4-footers pounded me so hard I felt it for weeks.

While driven by wind, all waves and sea conditions are not created equal. Height is just one measure. Overall depth of the body of water also makes a difference. Remember, a swell typically becomes a breaking wave when the water depth is half of its height. Biscayne Bay, even in the channels, is pretty shallow.

One more factor to consider, wind going against tide. I don't know if that happened yesterday, but it also makes a huge difference. This year's Sunday SBI World Finals race is a perfect example of what can happen when those two variables collide.