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Ryan23
08-21-2006, 01:23 PM
Any good advice from some of you salty dogs?

I grew up on a decent sized lake in Connecticut. Driving around on that was a cakewalk....just don't hit anybody. Weather was *rarely*, if ever, an issue.

15-some-odd years later, I have my own boat and my girlfriend and I are out on the Chesapeake Bay. Totally, !totally! different experience.

On our way up to Baltimore, we were going through, what I can only guess, were 3 footers? We were popping up out of the water, drives and all, for a good while. It was a blast, I can now recognize the need for a dedicated throttleman. Trying to steer and back off the left handed throttle sticks was a bit challenging. Boy was it fun though! However, I couldn't see us going much faster than the 35mph or so we were cruising at. Is this just a limitation of our boat length and the sea state? Or was I simply not being ballsy enough...lol?

Saturday night, unbeknownst to us, a small craft advisory warning issued on our way from Baltimore back to Annapolis). The seas were pretty rough, according to the weather service, 3-4 footers. I saw (and drove over) some "Holy sh*t!" sized whitecapped swells (the kind that wash over the bow and soak you from head to toe). Not to mention we were dragging ass due to a lost motor enroute (failed waterpump). Oh yeah, as a consequence to our slower speed, nightfall fell ahead of schedule (no moon). My 24' Spitfire and I were *not* enjoying the ride. Mandy didn't enjoy crawling up in the V-berth to try and keep us on plane either. There are very few times in my life that I recall having some *serious* concerns for safety. Saturday night was one of those rare times. In the end, we lived to tell the story and the boat came through unscathed. However, I can't help but think I could have probably handled the boat a bit differently to ease the journey.

Sure, we could have headed to the dock earlier, we could have had the weather service playing in the background but we didn't. I learned a pretty good lesson from this but nonetheless, when put into a situation like that, what are some good rough-water driving tips?

Thanks,

Ryan

glashole
08-21-2006, 02:48 PM
best advise i can give

get out in the boat by yourself and drive it as much as possible

that way you can experiment with the boat without the risk of injuring or worrying about any passengers.

the more seat time the better you will get and the better you can understand how each condition effects the boat and how it handles

have fun and be carefull!

do a search on this site and see what you come up with there have been many posts on this over the years :)

Shea

olredalert
08-21-2006, 08:53 PM
-------Ryan,,, A big pat on the back for undertaking a ballsy trip so soon into ownership!!! The 24 takes seat time much the same as pretty much all the rest of the Classics but its a different animal. Especially a twin. I remember taking Sam for a ride in the El P soon after completion and happened to hit a wake the wrong way and was super embarrassed at how hard we hit on re-entry. It was entirely my fault and I now know the angles to hit much better. When you hit right in a 24 you almost dont know you are in a 24. Feels more like a 30 something-or-other. I know you wont loose the faith. Keep up the good work.........Bill S

Ryan23
08-21-2006, 09:27 PM
-------Ryan,,, A big pat on the back for undertaking a ballsy trip so soon into ownership!!! The 24 takes seat time much the same as pretty much all the rest of the Classics but its a different animal. Especially a twin. I remember taking Sam for a ride in the El P soon after completion and happened to hit a wake the wrong way and was super embarrassed at how hard we hit on re-entry. It was entirely my fault and I now know the angles to hit much better. When you hit right in a 24 you almost dont know you are in a 24. Feels more like a 30 something-or-other. I know you wont loose the faith. Keep up the good work.........Bill S

Bill -
No pat on the back necessary, I was a bit in over my head due to inexperience. Honestly, when we lost the first motor, I should have spun the boat around and pulled back into Baltimore (where the 38' Top Gun that we chased earlier was resting :D ). However, I didn't want to phone someone to pick us up and have to go back and pick up the truck (it's a haul from Baltimore to Annapolis via land). We honestly could have lost the boat and ended up in the drink. The port engine was nick-named "Lucky" when we got her back on the trailer :crossfing .

Anyways, the post-mortem has been done. Lost the impeller on the stbd engine's water pump. It's a neovane unit, 8 rubber vanes. I found 5 1/2 of them. I also need to pick up a new rubber boot from the manifold to the transom (it melted a lil'). When she's back up and running I'll cross my fingers and run a compression test. Lesson learned: Carry a spare WP impeller!

Back to boat handling, we were constantly crashing down. It didn't seem to matter how I hit thee waves. If I hit them at an angle, it seemed like it would toss the boat to one side or the other. I didn't mess with the tabs at all, maybe I should have? They were all the way up. I don't have any drive trim but neither did anyone else back in the day. I know there's a whole lot of skill involved in boat handling but I think I'm missing some of the basics. Boy was it fun hopping right along though!

Ryan

gpapich
08-22-2006, 12:06 AM
Well, I've pitched this book before, but try "Fast Powerboat Seamanship" by Dag Pike. It covers waves and wave periods related to hull length as well as how to throttle safely over waves and maintain speed in heavy seas.

Try using outdrive trim first to trim the bow down to neutral as you get air, so the bow's not hanging in the air waiting to drop you pancaked onto the the next wave face. Tabs do the same and also give you a bit of roll stability. If you're going too fast and too far trimmed out, the boat catches air off the first wave, trips the stern on the second wavetop, setting you up for a stuff directly into the third waveface. Just watch some of the videos of offshore race crashes.

If you're lucky, no damage. If your not, you can peel the deck right off the boat and possibly kill yourself and anyone else in the boat. Another thing to think about is that racers expect this and have kevlar reinforced lifejackets, helmets, crash boats, and helicopters to help increase their odds of survival.

Running solo, one minute you're in your groove going faster than you've ever gone before in the conditions. The next moment you might be in the water with broken ribs and an arm or leg bleeding profusely, if your lucky enough to survive. Then you need to worry about what's going to get you first; hypothermia, or shock, exhaustion and drowning.

Sorry to be grim, just something to think about if you're out pushing it in heavy weather. The guys are right though. Seat time is it. Know your boat and know your limits. If you have someone with you, back it down from 90% of your ability to about 70%. Also, watch your passengers. If they're white knuckling it, they're probably not enjoying the ride.

Take care and be safe,

George

MOP
08-22-2006, 06:23 AM
gpapich sounds like a very good book for the novice to read, many do not understand just how powerful water can be. I have been power boating since 1949 with quite a few years of both pleasure and commercial operation and taught boat handling professionally for six years. I have a rule of thumb, if I am uncomfortable the boat is uncomfortable. Things can and will break, the sludge in the fuel tank will stir up and can kill the power. There is just so much that can go wrong that can put you and your passengers in jeopardy. When things get rough the best tool you have is your head "Use It", over the years I have had to rescue more then one "Hero".

Phil

Ryan23
08-22-2006, 12:05 PM
Well, I've pitched this book before, but try "Fast Powerboat Seamanship" by Dag Pike. It covers waves and wave periods related to hull length as well as how to throttle safely over waves and maintain speed in heavy seas.
Try using outdrive trim first to trim the bow down to neutral as you get air, so the bow's not hanging in the air waiting to drop you pancaked onto the the next wave face. Tabs do the same and also give you a bit of roll stability. If you're going too fast and too far trimmed out, the boat catches air off the first wave, trips the stern on the second wavetop, setting you up for a stuff directly into the third waveface. Just watch some of the videos of offshore race crashes.
If you're lucky, no damage. If your not, you can peel the deck right off the boat and possibly kill yourself and anyone else in the boat. Another thing to think about is that racers expect this and have kevlar reinforced lifejackets, helmets, crash boats, and helicopters to help increase their odds of survival.
Running solo, one minute you're in your groove going faster than you've ever gone before in the conditions. The next moment you might be in the water with broken ribs and an arm or leg bleeding profusely, if your lucky enough to survive. Then you need to worry about what's going to get you first; hypothermia, or shock, exhaustion and drowning.
Sorry to be grim, just something to think about if you're out pushing it in heavy weather. The guys are right though. Seat time is it. Know your boat and know your limits. If you have someone with you, back it down from 90% of your ability to about 70%. Also, watch your passengers. If they're white knuckling it, they're probably not enjoying the ride.
Take care and be safe,
George

George (and everyone else!), thanks for the advice. I went ahead and splurged ($7 delivered from Amazon ;) ) on a copy of "Fast Powerboat Seamanship". There is no substitute for seat time, I know this from auto racing. However, a little bit of book theory never hurts. I had been auto racing for a good 10 years before picking up Skip Barber's "Going Faster...". I learned a few good things from that book which translated to a more enjoyable track day experience.

As far as going boating alone, it won't happen. I've got a rather unique girlfriend who would sooner wrench on a car, spend her vacation at a car meet 500 miles away from home or beat herself up on the water rather then get her nails done or go shopping. She's my best friend and yeah, I'm a lucky guy :pimp: . After that last ordeal, I've got friends (guys) who would have passed on ever going out on the boat again. Mandy is asking me when I'm going to get the water pump fixed so we can take her back out...lol. Either way though, I always have her safety in the back of my mind which *usually* keeps me from pushing the envelope a little too much.

Ryan

gpapich
08-22-2006, 02:36 PM
Ryan,

You are a lucky man to have a girlfriend like that! Sorry for the grim stuff. I've been in rough water on a sailboard that I broke in half after a good ten-foot air. I was in San Francisco Bay and I had a dry suit on, so I wasn't really concerned about hypothermia, just whether or not I could flag someone down to send for help.

I've also been around naval aviation, where safety regs are written in blood.

Anyway, all of us like the adrenaline that going fast on water brings. It sound like you are thinking and to echo MOP, that's the best safety gear around.

God bless and enjoy the water, your Donzi, and your girl! (not always in that order):wink:

George