V boats - rough water handling

[bgreene]

Originally Posted by barnegatV20

No kidding, fresh underwear might have been needed

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.

[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.

[Kracker Jack]

We fished our v20 as a kid with my dad in places were 20 foot boats really don't belong. We had her out fitted with twin 20 gallon acid jugs mounted to the sides of the console full of gas, along with 2 30 gallon external tanks. We would burn off the external or portable tanks first then burn the main 50 gallon tank to get home. That was back in the day when a SeaRanger LoranC and a Sea King paper bottom was top of the line!!!!!! We were also very good friends with a lot of the mates and captains with the main fleet out of Rudee Inlet,so we were always in very close distance to a charter boat. My dads major fear was always fire!!!! No smoking was allowed!!! The fleet used to call us the floating bomb. But we fished the hell out of that boat almost every weekend.

[bgreene]

Originally Posted by Kracker Jack

We fished our v20 as a kid with my dad in places were 20 foot boats really don't belong. We had her out fitted with twin 20 gallon acid jugs mounted to the sides of the console full of gas, along with 2 30 gallon external tanks. We would burn off the external or portable tanks first then burn the main 50 gallon tank to get home. That was back in the day when a SeaRanger LoranC and a Sea King paper bottom was top of the line!!!!!! We were also very good friends with a lot of the mates and captains with the main fleet out of Rudee Inlet,so we were always in very close distance to a charter boat. My dads major fear was always fire!!!! No smoking was allowed!!! The fleet used to call us the floating bomb. But we fished the hell out of that boat almost every weekend.

Any rough sea condition stories to share ?

[Kracker Jack]

Really the worst one we had was coming in from tuna fishing. The blue water was laid out slick but we could see the summer storm built up on the beach. We got into the green shallow water as we hit the thunderstorm about 18 miles off the beach. We got a little further inside about 8 miles and she turned into a **** storm!!!!! The swell was fastly wind blown so the waves were just about ontop of each other. It was about consistent 6 foot with the occasional doubled up 8 footer. I will never forget it. I was 13 years old. We had one or two bow dips and loaded the boat with about 8 to 10 inches of water but it all rolled right out the back. That was the worst I've ever been in a v20

[bgreene]

Originally Posted by Kracker Jack

Really the worst one we had was coming in from tuna fishing. The blue water was laid out slick but we could see the summer storm built up on the beach. We got into the green shallow water as we hit the thunderstorm about 18 miles off the beach. We got a little further inside about 8 miles and she turned into a **** storm!!!!! The swell was fastly wind blown so the waves were just about ontop of each other. It was about consistent 6 foot with the occasional doubled up 8 footer. I will never forget it. I was 13 years old. We had one or two bow dips and loaded the boat with about 8 to 10 inches of water but it all rolled right out the back. That was the worst I've ever been in a v20

Interesting, water flowed out the back.......... that is the good thing about a lower transom.
The V21 had the removable elevated transom rod holder - good thing to remove in case of really rough water on the bow.........