Crossing a bar or inlet

Boat handling · Power & sail

River and harbor bars can turn deadly in minutes when swell meets shallow water and an ebb current. Check Coast Guard bar conditions and restrictions before you go, plan to cross with the flood, watch the sets from outside, and wait at sea rather than force a crossing.

The rules on Washington and Oregon bars

• Sixteen bars from the Quillayute River to the Chetco River, including Grays Harbor, Willapa Bay, the Columbia River, Tillamook Bay, Yaquina Bay and Coos Bay, are Regulated Navigation Areas under 33 CFR 165.1325.
• The Coast Guard Captain of the Port can restrict a bar for recreational boats, usually by boat length, or close it to all vessels. Crossing a restricted or closed bar without permission is prohibited; the USCG has said a typical successful prosecution brings a $3,000 penalty.
• The rule's test for an unsafe condition is a wave height at or above L/10 + F, where L is the boat's length and F its lowest freeboard, both in feet. A 42 ft boat with 3 ft of freeboard works out to 7.2, so 8 ft waves. Wind, period, current and boat type also count.
• Restrictions and closures are announced by Broadcast Notice to Mariners on VHF channels 16 and 22A. If the Coast Guard tows or escorts you across, everyone in open areas of your boat must wear a life jacket.
• At Grays Harbor a diamond-shaped 'Rough Bar' sign with two amber lights flashes when the bar is restricted. The Coast Pilot warns that dark lights are no guarantee that conditions are good.

Before you go

• Check the Coast Guard station reports and restriction status (NWS Portland posts them at weather.gov/pqr/allbars), the NWS bar forecast, and any Small Craft Advisory for rough bar conditions. The NWS advises getting the latest bar conditions from the Coast Guard before crossing.
• Plan to cross with the flood current and avoid the ebb. A current running out against incoming swell shortens and steepens the waves; the USCG handbook calls it the most challenging situation near an entrance.
• Brief the crew, put life jackets on, secure hatches and loose gear, and check the engine and steering before you reach the bar.
• Know where the channel actually runs, because shoals move. Allow for the height of tide and the swell when judging the depth.

At the bar

• Stand off outside the breakers and watch several sets. Waves often come in groups with lulls between. A bar is hard to judge from seaward because you see the backs of the waves.
• Inbound, wait for the last big wave of a set to pass, then follow closely behind it at the best safe speed, riding its back and watching astern.
• Outbound, pick a path through the lower spots, meet any unavoidable breaker bow-on and slow so you don't launch off it. Never let a wave break over the bow.
• Ask the Coast Guard station or boats that have just crossed; they can see what you can't.

If you are caught

• If a breaker threatens from astern, the USCG's options in order of preference: steer to one side to avoid it; turn in time to meet it bow-on; or slow before a peaking wave reaches you so it breaks ahead, then follow it in.
• Reduce speed before the wave arrives. Slowing after it has picked up the stern often causes a loss of control and a broach.
• If there is no clear lull, the USCG handbook advises staying at sea and waiting for conditions to improve, for example on the flood. Call the Coast Guard for current conditions or an escort.

General guidance for recreational boaters, researched from the sources listed and written in our own words. Your equipment manuals, local knowledge, the Navigation Rules and a qualified instructor come first.