Worst Inlet ever?

Are you saying that tidal currents don't exist?

Noby in PFDs and the dingbat does a hand tow? It would be his fault if anybody was injured.
Yet stupid people in Miami!

If you kids remember at Boynton inlet that first multi level house to the north. The owner owned all three water lines at one time, the ocean, most of the north inlet bank (less the jetty, dredge pump house & parking lot) and that island just inside and the ICW shore line.
I managed his Roamer (Spellbound sister ship,, another story) and lived there a couple of years.
The area party boats ran thru there from Boynton, Lantana and others were 50, 60 and more in length but low house designs, twice a day. Hypoluxo, Palm Beach yacht center, Oyer Park, Gateway Marina and many locals push their craft thru there.
AND on ugly southeast days, I watched more calmady per hour than the Roadrunner & Coyote cartoons. What a mess big and small.
For My entertainment, I kept a hot 4" trash pump and high powered 13' RIB always on the ready. Never boring when it got slow during my real job (hated that real job).

Naw, it's not the worst inlet, just real bad at times and real entertaining (maybe profitable).

My sphincter really factored (12) one day coming into Ponce.

Went out one day at Boca. Everybody behind me turned south just outside, I kept going straight east. Found another boat with it's rudders and struts pushed into the hull. Never knew that bar was so shallow till that day (early 90s).. We didn't make Bimini that day, did make a few extra dimes (with dat RIB with pump in tow).

I did find the ICL channel bar at Haulover the hard way one night with heavy easterlys. Rose-budded a nice set of 32x30s and corkscrewed a 2.5" shaft that night plowing a new channel getting off that western sand pile. We found that 50' wide north / south line the next morning (around 2002).

Sometimes bad luck hits us all. Blessfully good luck backed with thoughtful skills follows us all most of the time and we arrive home safe.
Then the Darwin dropouts,,,, Well crabs have to eat too....

So what is the tidal stream referred to in Pilot Books then?

Wouldn't "tidal" be the adjective to describe the noun "current" ? stretching 6th grade memory here.

Therefore "tidal" describes the type of "current" but the tide is not a current, though it does create them.

Very very stupid.

Shark River it's moments........

Curious as to why both boats came in using the same method. Why wouldn't they pick the back of a wave a ride it in as is customary. They seem finally to accelerate in the same part of the inlet after getting knock about further out?? Just curious.

Your 6th grade memory is correct. I'm sure your teacher would be proud of you. However, under the term "tide" are the two components that make it up: tidal height and tidal flow. (Apologies to Pascal; the devil made me do it.)

I don't believe that they have the power to stay on the back of a wave; they'd fall off and the next one would catch them with horrendous results.

It looked like they had the power. The first boat did well after one ugly stern wave, found one he liked and zipped on in. The second took a few before he found his wave and powered up. Seems both powered up and followed a smaller swell when they were ready.
It looked bad but a good boat can take some of that roughness on her asp. Nothing a Florida rec boat can do.

Found an aerial pic. Yep, I can see ugly in a hurry.

A tidal Current.

Good thread, the heck with nouns and adjectives, keep the experiences coming.
So far K1W1's takes the prize. Must be a lot more out there.
Anyone been over he Noosa Bar at 5 a.m with a totally CARAZY Maltese dive partner in a Noosa Cat? He chatted all the way in and all the way back, meanwhile I was having my first experience of surfing in a 26' Cat watching green water all around.
Lots of crayfish and lot of laughs.

I've always said that if (when) I die in this business it'll be coming in an inlet. Can't say I've been through the worst at the worst times, but I've been through more than a few where fear was about all that got me through. I vividly remember going from full speed forward to full speed reverse, while working the wheel and trim tabs, coming into Ocean City, Md. once.

I pulled up another video of Depoe Bay inlet, from a calm day, and it's a pussycat. It's as much when we hit it as which inlet we hit. They're all dangerous. I'm pretty sure we've all had that puckered feeling a few times. lol.

RT46, I see you know Moriches Inlet. lol. I've been running it since about 1956, and used to bring 50' Dancers through when it was near it's worst. Had to get them on top of the wave and ride it over the bar. Fun place.

The waves come in sets, so there's probably 10 big ones and then 2 that are 1/2 the size. Also the bridge is only 200 yards inside the inlet so they need the bridge opened as well...because they probably cannot stop fast enough once inside......So it looks like they get close enough to see the bridge open......then wait till the 10 big swells come in and then hit it and go for broke.

I came out of Hillsboro Inlet that way......there were 12' ground swells rolling in (fine in the ocean but nasty when they broke at the inlet), with about 10 of them in a row, then only 2 4' in a row.....as soon as the last 12' in the set came in, I hit it and barely made it around the corner before the next 12'.

Another sleeping roller coaster.

In NZ and many places in Australia we have no alternative way to travel or to enter/leave a place.

http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/64542247/capsized-boaties-pulled-from-manukau-harbour

The area where the accident in this link reports on is where I grew up. My father would always say we are going down to the bar and the decision will be made when we get there to cross or not. A single white cap sighted on the way out there would often be enough to keep us inside the entrance.

Over the years it has claimed a lot of ships as well as sports boats and as centre consoles become more popular I fully expect there will be a few of those who misjudge it with far from satisfactory results.

The annual death toll in NZ from what for the most part are preventable drownings is actually quite staggering.