V boats - rough water handling

[tartuffe]

Originally Posted by bgreene

Seriously speaking............... in worst case scenario......... pitch poling the boat, but let's say getting spun AND rolled over / swamped / boat upside down.
1. You're either thrown clear of the boat and in the water.
2. You wind up under the boat - hopefully with air pocket to breathe before dive under to come up to the surface.

Talking safety gear......... in example # 2......got to wonder if the life jacket would keep a person from being able to dive back under and come up to the surface. I don't know...... might have to remove the jacket, push it under and up, then swim up and try to put it back on. All that in rough seas.

Option # 1 while wearing life jacket would be the best outcome.

I now keep my type 1 lifejacket ( the offshore serious model) on the passenger seat in case I need to put it on. It's equiped with a sports whissle, and waterproof light.
I don't like wearing a preserver on calm days, summer heat but at least it's very close by.

I've spent alot of time thinking about that scenario during my current rebuild. Particularly in foam placement. My 81 had foam below deck. My line of thinking is that if the boat swamped, buoyancy low would cause the boat to turtle and roll. Now with the boat upside down the weight of the motor along with the lack of foam in the bilge area would cause the boat to sit not flat but at an angle. My primary concern is what would that angle be and would it be too steep to sit on top of the boat awaiting rescue.

With that in mind I wonder what I could do to make the boat less prone to that particular scenario.

Currently I keep a ditch bag equipped with a handheld waterproof GPS and a handheld waterproof VHF with 6 mile range, flares, and a strobe. The bag also acts as a flotation device.