Oregon State Marine Board News Oregon's Recreational Boating Agency Media Contact: Randy Henry, ext. 247     Home Page:  www.osmb.state.or.us

Bar Crossings Always Hazardous

Boaters Must Be Cautious and Prepared

The result can be tragic. Now that fishing and recreational boating seasons are here, more boaters will find themselves in tranquil coastal bays looking across bars that appear to be navigable. A recent fatal boating accident at the Nestucca River bar emphasizes the safety concerns about crossing Oregon's bars, according to the Oregon State Marine Board. "Bar crossings always represent some hazard, even good bars in good weather. Making matters worse, boaters are often deceived by how calm the bar may look from inside the bay," says Marine Board Director Paul Donheffner. "People need to know the weather, the tides, local conditions, their equipment and their skills before they make the decision to cross a bar."

U.S. Coast Guard BM1 Dave Johnson, working from the Garibaldi Coast Guard station in Tillamook Bay, says some bars just aren't safe to cross. "Just because your not seeing white doesn't mean something won't hurt you," said Johnson. He is concerned by reports that some boaters will trailer their boat to Nestucca or other bays when the Coast Guard is enforcing rough-weather bar closures at Tillamook Bay. Smaller bays without the protection of jetties, navigation aides or adjacent Coast Guard facilities to assist in a rescue are particularly dangerous, he says.

Here are some things to consider before taking your boat from the bay to the ocean.

• Equipment: Boaters should always wear their life jackets, especially when crossing the bar. This is a hazardous transition. If the motor stops, the craft can turn sideways into a swell or breaker and easily be swamped or capsized in just a few seconds. Radio equipment is helpful here, too, to call for help or get the official word on bar conditions. Boaters entering ocean waters must carry some specialized equipment, such as flairs, to assist in a search or rescue. Small boats are less stable and more easily swamped or capsized. Open bow boats and boats with low sterns are more easily swamped.
• Weather and tides: Check the weather forecast and tides. Bar conditions can change from calm to dangerous quickly with incoming weather systems or tidal shifts. Coming back into a bay exposes the stern of a boat to incoming swells, more easily swamping the vessel. Large tide swings create a more dangerous bar, too, as outgoing currents and incoming tides are magnified. Avoid crossing or approaching the bar on an ebb-tide. Check the nearest Coast Guard telephone recordings for bar conditions, then check local weather forecasts.
• Location: Heed Coast Guard advice and stick to the developed bays and bar crossings such as those on the Columbia River, Nehalem Bay, Tillamook Bay, Depoe Bay, Yaquina Bay, Siuslaw River, Umpqua River, Coos Bay, Coquille River, Rogue River and Chetco River at Brookings. All of these bars can be tricky, all have hazards unique to them and all, of course, can be hazardous in different weather and tide conditions. Other bays are popular with anglers and may look like tempting entrances to the ocean. However, sandbars, shoals and rocks are unmarked, may shift with the tides or storm events, and present a considerable hazard to all boaters. Netarts Bay, Nestucca Bay, Salmon River, Siletz Bay and Alsea Bay offer such unstable and dangerous bars. Boaters operating in these bays should carry an anchor and be ready to use it if their motor stalls.

So far this year, nine boating fatalities have occurred in Oregon. Of the nine, eight of the victims were not wearing life vests. Only one fatality has occurred in ocean waters at this time.

Contact the Oregon State Marine Board (503) 378-8587, or your local Coast Guard office, for more information on boating in coastal waters.

Updated ??/??/99