Marina Bum
Escalante-Class Member
I used the Castle Rock Cut on my way up lake and back in the past week. Both times it was an unnecessarily rough experience. I was passed in my 16x60 HB inside the cut near the West entrance heading East by a surf boat going fast enough to generate quite a wake. The Moron was smiling, waving and mouthing the works thank you. I screamed something that rhymed with thank you back at him and told him he was and idiot. The draft of his vessle was sucking the bow of my houseboat towards him as he came around and crossed back across my bow with his transom only about 5 feet in front of me. I couldn't believe it! I continued honking, gesticulating and cursing him as he went. The boat was crammed with people some of them sitting above the gunnel so I pulled power to avoid hitting them as we were being pulled towards them and we drifted sideways. I got it straight and underway again and things were fine until the exit. (how long until one of these self absorbed morons tries surfing through the cut with oncoming traffic?)
At the other end, exiting East bound on the same pass I spied a Credit Card Captain(Blue turbo slide)entering the cut a few hundred yards out moving quickly and shooting right down the center. I didn't give way because I had nowhere to go without risking my Starboard drive and he panicked. He must have pulled power because he went sideways. Then he went back to full throttle and got it straight and was on his side but passed at full speed. I was screaming at him from the bow for him to slow down!
Upon my return trip through I entered headed West back to Wahweap. I was in the narrow part of the cut and saw two incredibly fast moving craft closing very quickly. I couldn't tell if it was park service, speed boats or jet skis but as they got closer it was the latter. They were moving 60 mph plus and closed very quickly. It was unnerving until I realized they were PWC but still the grown up was upfront and the 12 year old was following in the crowded cut at very high speeds. (Really?)
Upon exiting the cut from what was a harrowing passing every time I looked the markers over carefully again as I went by. The buoy just says caution, go at your own risk. Why are there no markers out designating it a no wake zone? Does Park Service feel they have less liability in designating it a free for all? Would marking it a no wake, no passing zone infer that they have some liability for its condition and someones safety if things go badly?
I just wouldn't recommend that any low time captains use the cut right now in a houseboat and it has nothing to do with the current water level. It has everything to do with how dangerous it has become because smaller more nimble craft can blow by you or at you as fast as their machines will/can go crowding you, pushing and pulling you and leave you bobbing in the wash rebounding off the sidewalls. If you are already less than comfortable with close quarters maneuvering in a houseboat I don't think you'd like it much.
Beyond that I think it's a very dangerous situation because there is no speed limit through it. You don't so much give steering input to a Houseboat at slow speeds with a steering wheel as much as you make suggestions to her especially if its windy. If houseboats start speeding though the cut and their controls become more active and lively somebody could get the bow across the width of the cut and into a speeding Surfboat full of kids pretty quickly. Even if everybody saw it coming and managed to get the engines shut down the momentum could do a lot of damage to the smaller craft and its occupants. Houseboats are slow responding 10 ton vessels without brakes. 20,000 pounds at even 2 miles per hour is a massive amount of kinetic energy.
Next time I use the cut I'm going to station someone up top with an air horn can and a radio so they can advise me and make more noise. After yesterday's sad disaster where a boat in tow turned over near Wahweap killing four people(three of them children) I'm genuinely concerned that another disaster could be looming in the cut because of the number one reason for crashes, excessive speed in close quarters. "Never drive faster in the marina than you're willing to hit something hard" unknown. Same goes for the cut
At the other end, exiting East bound on the same pass I spied a Credit Card Captain(Blue turbo slide)entering the cut a few hundred yards out moving quickly and shooting right down the center. I didn't give way because I had nowhere to go without risking my Starboard drive and he panicked. He must have pulled power because he went sideways. Then he went back to full throttle and got it straight and was on his side but passed at full speed. I was screaming at him from the bow for him to slow down!
Upon my return trip through I entered headed West back to Wahweap. I was in the narrow part of the cut and saw two incredibly fast moving craft closing very quickly. I couldn't tell if it was park service, speed boats or jet skis but as they got closer it was the latter. They were moving 60 mph plus and closed very quickly. It was unnerving until I realized they were PWC but still the grown up was upfront and the 12 year old was following in the crowded cut at very high speeds. (Really?)
Upon exiting the cut from what was a harrowing passing every time I looked the markers over carefully again as I went by. The buoy just says caution, go at your own risk. Why are there no markers out designating it a no wake zone? Does Park Service feel they have less liability in designating it a free for all? Would marking it a no wake, no passing zone infer that they have some liability for its condition and someones safety if things go badly?
I just wouldn't recommend that any low time captains use the cut right now in a houseboat and it has nothing to do with the current water level. It has everything to do with how dangerous it has become because smaller more nimble craft can blow by you or at you as fast as their machines will/can go crowding you, pushing and pulling you and leave you bobbing in the wash rebounding off the sidewalls. If you are already less than comfortable with close quarters maneuvering in a houseboat I don't think you'd like it much.
Beyond that I think it's a very dangerous situation because there is no speed limit through it. You don't so much give steering input to a Houseboat at slow speeds with a steering wheel as much as you make suggestions to her especially if its windy. If houseboats start speeding though the cut and their controls become more active and lively somebody could get the bow across the width of the cut and into a speeding Surfboat full of kids pretty quickly. Even if everybody saw it coming and managed to get the engines shut down the momentum could do a lot of damage to the smaller craft and its occupants. Houseboats are slow responding 10 ton vessels without brakes. 20,000 pounds at even 2 miles per hour is a massive amount of kinetic energy.
Next time I use the cut I'm going to station someone up top with an air horn can and a radio so they can advise me and make more noise. After yesterday's sad disaster where a boat in tow turned over near Wahweap killing four people(three of them children) I'm genuinely concerned that another disaster could be looming in the cut because of the number one reason for crashes, excessive speed in close quarters. "Never drive faster in the marina than you're willing to hit something hard" unknown. Same goes for the cut
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Purty, ain't it?
