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 Photo Info
Posted By: Nickens, Dan
Date Posted: Mar 29, 2015
Description: Watching the darkening sky from a safe, sandy spot is not a bad place to be. SuRi was off relocating on its own. It was another opportunity for solo Searey play. When the sky clouded over and the dark gray rain headed towards my playground, a place of refuge was a welcome ground break.
Date Taken: December 2014
Place Taken: Raja Ampat Islands, Indonesia
Owner: Nickens, Dan
File Name: 3127 Storm Watch.jpg   - Photo HTML
Full size     - <img src="/show.php?splash=6r44MqCPKh">
Medium    - <img src="/show.php?splash=6r44MqCPKm">
Thumbnail - <img src="/show.php?splash=6r44MqCPKs">
Category: Yacht_Tending_Indo
Favorite option: If you want this item to be marked as a favorite, click on the black heart. Storm Watch    Make Cover Photo     
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Read what others had to say:

Nickens, Dan - Mar 28,2015   Viewers  | Reply
    Any (two) ports in a storm? This island offered two beaches with a large wind block in the middle.      Attachments:  

Twin Beaches
Twin Beaches

    
  
Nickens, Dan - Mar 28,2015   Viewers  | Reply
    Guessing which side the storm would come from was a bit of a gamble. Then there was the surrounding reef to consider. Youse pays youse monies and youse takes youse chances.      Attachments:  

Storm Haven
Storm Haven

    
  
Nickens, Dan - Mar 28,2015   Viewers  | Reply
    From water level the beach didn't seem to be nearly as expansive as suggested from above.      Attachments:  

Small Beach
Small Beach

    
  
Nickens, Dan - Mar 28,2015   Viewers  | Reply
    Boulders on the beach limited the available parking space. No worries since being positioned for a quick exit seemed to be prudent.      Attachments:  

Beach Boulders
Beach Boulders

    
  
Don Maxwell - Mar 28,2015   Viewers  | Reply
    Dan, do you have some magic formula for working out which beaches to approach with wheels down? This time it looks like maybe the tide has gone out--or is coming in. In any case, how certain were you that you'd be able to get off the beach again?     
  
Nickens, Dan - Mar 28,2015   Viewers  | Reply
    I do have a magic formula, Don: 45 degrees by 2 inches on heaviest wheel = marginally escapable with minimal effort. See how the pilot side tire is closest to the beach? As I was approaching on a 45 degree angle to the beach I was watching how deep the tire was sinking. When it got to 2"" deep, I turned back towards the deep stuff. After rolling a few feet without any deeper sink, I parked. See how high the tail wheel is? It was swinging shoreward as I powered back towards the water. I was heading out if main wheel got any deeper. (Oh, and the tide was coming in too.)     
  
Don Maxwell - Mar 29,2015   Viewers  | Reply
    Thanks, Dan! Very interesting. Your 2 inches seems about right--at least, that's enough sand on our beach to keep a Searey from starting to roll from a dead stop, although it's easy enough to keep rolling at that depth. But I hadn't thought about the heaviest wheel. I also should have thought of approaching at 45 degrees, because it reminds me of what they say is the best angle to approach a mountain ridge, because you can turn away from it safely if necessary.

Hm. Now that I think about it, that's how I always approach my friend Tommy's beach, about 9 miles downstream, where the James narrows and flows fast and deep. His beach is steep and has deep sand that's sometimes very soft and at other times quite firm. I come in at 45 degrees to feel it while still moving fast enough to power back into the river if it seems too soft. And I usually stop parallel to the river. But I hadn't generalized from that to your magic formula--maybe because it's river, not a lake or ocean.

Our own beach is very different--rather flat, with shallower sand--and I know it well. I almost always power straight out of the water and do a 180, then stop headed straight out.

Well. Now all we lubbers need is the Pacific Ocean, south of the line. And a few isolated, uninhabited islands and pale blue water. 		    
  
Bray, Buck - Mar 29,2015   Viewers  | Reply
    Very useful magic formula. I am studying sand more these days and found that gently lapping waves can rebury a tire faster than I
can get back in the cockpit. 		    
  
Nickens, Dan - Mar 29,2015   Viewers  | Reply
    And, caution, the magic formula doesn't work for mire pots. Beaching is an adventure.     
  
Don Maxwell - Mar 29,2015   Viewers  | Reply
    Adventure is right! Here's an example of how about 3 inches of soft, dry sand in front of a tire can frustrate even the most experienced Searey pilots. Apologies to JD for this video--but it's a dashing splashing lesson. I've forgotten whether he was taken by surprise by the tide rising and falling overnight, heaping up the sand, or whether it just heaped up when he did a 180 the night before. (That's Dennis Vogan's SeaRey in the foreground.)      Attachments:  

Dunlop''sDance-mob
Dunlop''sDance-mob

    
  
Bray, Buck - Mar 29,2015   Viewers  | Reply
    I did that last summer after a riverside lunch on the Patuxent River with Helen on our way to the annual Bernie Fowler ""sneaker
index"" wade in. Every year he wades into the river in white sneakers as an informal way to highlight any progress on cleaning the
Bay waters.

Helen conveniently had a small foldable plastic step stool useful for checking the engine and for getting out of soft sand.
http://www.homedepot.com/p/Easy-Reach-by-Gorilla-Ladders-1-Step-Plastic-Stool-with-300-lb-Load-Capacity-PL-1/203247301 		    
  
Nickens, Dan - Mar 28,2015   Viewers  | Reply
    After the storm blew through blue water was left in its wake.      Attachments:  

Blue Pool
Blue Pool

    
  
Nickens, Dan - Mar 28,2015   Viewers  | Reply
    Storm damage? Yeah. Millions of years of storms.      Attachments:  

Ravaged Rocks
Ravaged Rocks

    
  
Nickens, Dan - Mar 28,2015   Viewers  | Reply
    As a kid looking for a good play fort, this would have been a dream. As a bigger kid, it was just too small for a Searey.      Attachments:  

Rocky Ring
Rocky Ring

    
  
Nickens, Dan - Mar 28,2015   Viewers  | Reply
    The natural ramparts look sufficient for holding invading hordes in the bay.      Attachments:  

Ragged Rocks
Ragged Rocks

    
  
Nickens, Dan - Mar 28,2015   Viewers  | Reply
    From water level the rocks looked just a rough as from above.      Attachments:  

Rough Old Rock
Rough Old Rock

    
  
Nickens, Dan - Mar 28,2015   Viewers  | Reply
    It would be fun to navigate the rock maze....for a short distance.      Attachments:  

Jungle Flooring
Jungle Flooring

    
  
Nickens, Dan - Mar 28,2015   Viewers  | Reply
    Boating barriers? They didn't show up on my Searey charts.      Attachments:  

Rocky Remnants
Rocky Remnants

    
  
Nickens, Dan - Mar 28,2015   Viewers  | Reply
    It is said that there are a thousand rock temples in this part of Raja Ampat. That's a severe undercounting in my estimation.      Attachments:  

Thousand Temples
Thousand Temples

    
  
Nickens, Dan - Mar 28,2015   Viewers  | Reply
    There are plenty of temples, but not many have convenient parking places.      Attachments:  

Beachless
Beachless

    
  
Nickens, Dan - Mar 28,2015   Viewers  | Reply
    Occasionally a pretty white parking place was stuffed in between the rocks.      Attachments:  

Parking Pads
Parking Pads

    
  
Nickens, Dan - Mar 28,2015   Viewers  | Reply
    The beaches, mainly crushed shell, made perfect parking pads for a Searey beach break.      Attachments:  

Beach Bum
Beach Bum

    
  
Nickens, Dan - Mar 28,2015   Viewers  | Reply
    This was my favorite beach. Plenty big with easy approaches.      Attachments:  

Favorite Place
Favorite Place

    
  
Nickens, Dan - Mar 28,2015   Viewers  | Reply
    From overhead you can see three fine beaches on my favorite island.      Attachments:  

Three Beaches
Three Beaches

    
  
Nickens, Dan - Mar 28,2015   Viewers  | Reply
    What this island lacked in beach space, it made up for with spectacular surroundings.      Attachments:  

1 Plane Beach
1 Plane Beach

    
  
Nickens, Dan - Mar 28,2015   Viewers  | Reply
    There weren't many native places out in the Temples, but those that choose to live here have pretty idyllic settings.      Attachments:  

Native Place
Native Place

    
  
Don Maxwell - Mar 28,2015   Viewers  | Reply
    Those seem to be pretty sophisticated natives, Dan, one in blue regarding you, and another in black doing something shady under the tree--or doing something under the shade of the tree. And is that a photovoltaic array on the roof of the house?     
  
Nickens, Dan - Mar 28,2015   Viewers  | Reply
    Well spotted, Don. I suspect this place has something more to do with the live-aboard dive boats than native lodging.     


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