Just got back from a job on the Columbia River near Astoria and the current was way stronger than the charts said

We were doing some hull cleaning on a barge and the flow meter showed 4.2 knots at 30 feet, but the forecast said 2.8. Some guys on the crew think we should always add a 1.5 knot safety factor to any river chart now. Others say that's overkill and we just got unlucky with a weird tide push. What's your rule for dealing with bad current data?

2 comments

2 Comments

kellyr1817d ago

You sure it wasn't just a bad sensor reading? Charts are usually close enough, and adding a constant safety margin seems like a knee-jerk reaction to one weird day.

nathanwalker17d agoMost Upvoted

Oh please, like we're supposed to trust a single sensor over three separate backup checks. The charts said one thing, the real world said another, and my gut said to add five feet. My gut has kept me out of trouble more times than a manual has.