By JON W. GLASS, The Virginian-Pilot
© May 5, 2006 | Last updated 7:02 PM May. 4

VIRGINIA BEACH - The city warned boaters Thursday to use "extreme caution" when navigating Rudee Inlet.
A weeklong nor'easter filled in parts of the channel to depths as shallow as
5 feet, making it dangerous to many oceangoing yachts and fishing boats. Optimally, the channel should be at least 12 feet deep at low tide.
Most of the shoaling is along the mouth of the inlet on the ocean side, said Phillip Roehrs, the city's coastal engineer. "It certainly warrants caution," he said.
David Wright, a veteran sport fishing captain, said he was one of the first to use the inlet after the wind and waves began subsiding Tuesday.
"It was kind of hair-raising," he said. "Waves were breaking all the way across the inlet and there was very little water in there."
Wright said he came in during the middle of a high tide and recorded depths as shallow as 6 feet until turbulence prevented him from taking measurements.
At least two yachts, including one on its way to Florida, navigated the inlet Wednesday without problem, said workers at two marinas.
The inlet has a history of shoaling during heavy northeast winds. The city stepped up dredging after a $1.5 million yacht grounded and broke apart there in 1996.
Roehrs said the city's hydraulic dredge, Rudee II, will begin clearing the shoals when conditions permit. The city has asked the Army Corps of Engineers to bring in a large ocean-going dredge, but one may not be available until June - after the summer charter-fishing season begins.
Wright and marina workers said that in early May , most activity is focused on striped bass in the Chesapeake Bay.