Glass Days

[Nomad Willy]

Nice photo Oliver.

Nothing in the upper or lower third .. would make a great panoramic.

I love the cleat.

 

[Marin]

Don't like glassy water, either in the floatplane or the boat. In a floatplane, it's downright dangerous and can kill you. In a boat it's pretty but I don't like the way boats feel in glassy water. They handle better, in my opinion, with some air being introduced under the hull. Other than for taking photos, I'll take at least a rippled surface over glassy water every time.

 

[markpierce]

The many pontoon planes I've observed never had a problem with smooth water.

 

[Marin]

It would take me far to long to explain why glassy water is so dangerous to a seaplane pilot. Not once you're on it but landing on it and taking off from it. Landing is the far more potentially dangerous situation, but it can get a pilot in trouble when taking off with a heavy load.

I used the photo I posted, which I took while landing on a glacier lake deep in the BC Coast Range, in the instructional book I wrote about flying floatplanes to illustrate the danger when landing.

PS- They are called floatplanes, not pontoon planes. The things they float on are calked "floats" not "pontoons."

PPS-- While the water in your photo probably appeared glassy to you, it isn't to me were I flying our plane into Ketchikan at that particular time.

 

[MurrayM]

The many pontoon planes I've observed never had a problem with smooth water.

Maybe not the plane, but you might want to ask the pilot

 

[markpierce]

No doubt the pilots were all experts, making the difficult look easy. Would pilots prefer two-foot chop over glass smooth?

 

[N4712]

Thanks Eric, yeah the skyline sucks but the reflections and colors on the fiberglass were good and the cleat.

Here's another.

 

[Giggitoni]

Friend of ours on the Napa.

 

[MurrayM]

Kitkatla...open sky country compared to the more mountainous Inside Passage;

 

[MurrayM]

During quiet sunrise moments in the smaller innumerable coves puncuating BC's Inside Passage, if one opens themselves, mystical things appear;

 

[Nomad Willy]

Murray,
I'll give you the A word on that one .. awesome!

This pic = glass on 6 mile wide Clarence Strait slightly disturbed by Willy.



Marin's right. I once ran around in circles w my big OB boat to rough up the water so a friend could take off w his Cesna 150. Serious glass is "sticky" and Bob had been to Vancouver on a shopping spree w this awesome new girlfriend and she loaded down the plane so it wouldn't take off w full fuel .. that they needed to get home to Masset. So I tore up the glass and they finally got off.

As to being dangerous I suppose on landing if one was going fast and lightly loaded the stickiness of glass could cause a flip endo .. the stickyness of the glass causing too much drag. Waddiua think Marin?

 

[JDCAVE]

Murray. UFO sunrise is one of the coolest photos I've seen in sometime! These are the best I can do, I'm afraid.






Jim
Sent from my iPad using Trawler Forum

 

[janice142]

Sunset during my Gulf of Mexico crossing... I was doing 5 knots and no, there is absolutely zero wake at that speed on Seaweed. There is a bit of turbulence at the stern for maybe two feet, but that's it. Life is sweet.

And those jellyfish are cool... reminded me of the movie Finding Nemo. Great picture!

 

[MurrayM]

I like these quiet photo's everyone is posting

Gilttoyees Inlet;

 

[MurrayM]

Okay, okay. Last one...(for now).

 

[RCook]

Dry Pass, Prince of Wales Island, last August.

 

[Heron]

Our Delivery trip in December, from Oriental to Washington NC. was pretty idyllic...

 

[caltexflanc]

Our Delivery trip in December, from Oriental to Washington NC. was pretty idyllic...

Anyone who has spent any time boating on the Neuse, Pamlico Sound and Pamlico River will testify what an awesome photo that is. The first time I ever crossed the Albemarle Sound it was like that.... but never again...

 

[READY2GO]

Our Delivery trip in December, from Oriental to Washington NC. was pretty idyllic...

Heron,

That is absolutely gorgeous.

 

[Heron]

Anyone who has spent any time boating on the Neuse, Pamlico Sound and Pamlico River will testify what an awesome photo that is. The first time I ever crossed the Albemarle Sound it was like that.... but never again...

You're right George! We haven't seen it that flat since!

Heron,

That is absolutely gorgeous.

Thanks Mike..Photo credits to my son who was along for the trip..

 

[High Wire]

The notorious "wait for weather" Delaware Bay:

Nice to see the plants running! Don't miss the work though.

 

[Nomad Willy]

OK good.
Richard Cook I love Dry Pass. Thought it would be ho hum but I was instantly thrilled w it's beauty.

 

[markpierce]

Glass day on Carquinez Strait:





Typical day on Carquinez Strait:

 

[janice142]

You're right George! We haven't seen it that flat since!

I swear all mother had to do was read Albemarle or Pamlico on the chart and she'd get queasy. [And generally there'd be a pretty good reason she was not feeling so swell... or perhaps it was the swells, cross waves, current and the roll of the boat that made her sick.]

 

[Marin]

Not quite glassy water but an uncharacteristic flat day on Johnstone Strait. Took this while lung cod fishing the other year.

 

[MikeD]

Here's a photo from Pelorus Sound, NZ.

 

[MikeD]

And another, looking back at the stern,

 

[N4712]

A flat day on the bank.

 

[Datenight]

It would take me far to long to explain why glassy water is so dangerous to a seaplane pilot. Not once you're on it but landing on it and taking off from it. Landing is the far more potentially dangerous situation, but it can get a pilot in trouble when taking off with a heavy load.

Marin,

Is the danger due to not being able see where the sky ends and water begins? In my HS and College days I was on the swim teams. During the diving part of the meets another member of the team would splash the area near the diving board to make it easier for the diver to judge where the surface was. You may notice thst the surface is always agitated in Olympic diving. Just wondering if the reason is similar.

Rob

 

[Gulf Comanche]

Lake Ponchartrain (LA) last October and March. The bridge is the causeway between New Orleans and Mandeville, LA.