Roughest conditions you faced in the V ?

[bradford]

Originally Posted by Destroyer

I think you missed the point. The V got you home. There's a LOT of boats out there that wouldn't have. No one likes to get into those situations, but when I do, I thank God that my V is under my feet.

I agree, plus a lot has to do with the experience of the skipper and boat handling skills. The V20s are a GREAT mass production boat.

[Pipe_Dream]

Topic always reminds me of this photo (not mine!).

It's a 20-foot boat. Respect what open water can do and be smart.

[bradford]

Awesome picture Pipe Dream!!

Would hate to see the landing though.

[chart]

the tower on her looks interesting wonder how it holds up to the pounding.

[RidgeRunner]

I once ran out of Gentleman Jack and I was hours away from the boat landing. Those were some of the toughest conditions I ever want to encounter.

Seriously, I just went 28 miles out into the Atlantic trolling up dolphin. The weather was perfect for our 20 and 21 footers. However, mine is best used in lakes, streams and rivers. It is a 20' 6" boat that handles great.

"IT IS NOT A MAGIC CARPET" - Sir Reelapeelin

[jamesbalog]

Originally Posted by CDAWWGG

I just bought a cheap 1986 20' fisherman center console to learn boating. We have a lake house on Sandusky Bay. I've gotten good at sailing and charting etc. So the bay was like glass and my Mom came out with me. She wanted to go by Cedar Point. Lake Erie is a shallow unforgiving death trap of lake. Especially when you follow the channel from the bay out into the main lake. I get into the channel and about a good 2' chop is waiting for me combined with the wake of the other boats near me which about swamps this thing if you catch it sideways. The Jet Express passed in front of me and we were stuck. You can't duck out of the channel left or right because it goes from 26' deep to 2' deep in about 100yds. We slam over that and the swell picks up. We have nasty chop from all directions between 3-5 feet. We made a beeline for the place we dock our other boat but the waves were behind us. My mom was white knuckle holding the rails and cleats crying while I got us in. Once we were there everything was cool. I don't care how well these Vees are built, 20' on the lake gets really sketchy REALLY quick. I wouldn't trust it to go to Put-In-Bay, Kellys, or Peele.

I run mine on Erie in a hell of a lot worse than 2' chop. the boat can take it, you just need to know how to operate it.....

lake Erie is a very unforgiving lake though, it goes from a nice 2' chop to dow right nasty very quickly...

PIB and Kelleys are very short runs from catawba and marblehead less than 5 miles.

we plan on running our v20 from lorain to kelleys this weekend if the weather forecast changes which is roughly 25 miles each way...we usually run to the weather buoy walleye fishing several times a summer which is just shy of 20 miles

myMy point is the boat is plenty to handle Erie... just know what you can handle and know the weather forecasts

[bgreene]

Originally Posted by jamesbalog

I run mine on Erie in a hell of a lot worse than 2' chop. the boat can take it, you just need to know how to operate it.....

lake Erie is a very unforgiving lake though, it goes from a nice 2' chop to dow right nasty very quickly...

PIB and Kelleys are very short runs from catawba and marblehead less than 5 miles.

we plan on running our v20 from lorain to kelleys this weekend if the weather forecast changes which is roughly 25 miles each way...we usually run to the weather buoy walleye fishing several times a summer which is just shy of 20 miles

myMy point is the boat is plenty to handle Erie... just know what you can handle and know the weather forecasts

I've seen Erie with short, steep 6' waves crashing continually for days.
That is one rough lake !!! Can smash, destroy, sink most any small boat.

[jamesbalog]

Here is a picture of some big erie waves that was shared on ohio game fishing this past weekend . Ive only been out in waves close to that once on erie... dont wannt do it again

its not fun not being able to see over the waves when they are coming every few seconds, from sometimes different directions and constantly breaking.

[Stinky_Hooker]

Worst Ive been in was in the Wellcraft 18, I was very mad at the fish when I was younger and would regularly take it 20-25 miles out as long as it wasnt tropical storm force winds.

Once I got caught in a bad front moving offshore while coming back in. I knew it was coming but had planned the trip accordingly. Mother nature dont follow the radar models all the time though. From about 15 miles out all the way back in to Dauphin Island I was in genuine 8-10'ers. I know lots of folks overestimate waves and will say "oh it was 4-6's out there" and its really close chopped up 2-3's. I checked the offshore buoys later to confirm cause at the time I swore they were 10-12'. It was a stupid move I never made again but when I got to the dock that day I never again complained about how heavy that boat was. She handled like a much larger vessel. It was built like a tank and I miss it sometimes. It was unpleasant and exhausting handling it over that 3 hour period it took me to get home but I never thought we weren't going to make it unless the motor quit.

[spoggy]

Originally Posted by jamesbalog

I run mine on Erie in a hell of a lot worse than 2' chop. the boat can take it, you just need to know how to operate it.....

lake Erie is a very unforgiving lake though, it goes from a nice 2' chop to dow right nasty very quickly...

PIB and Kelleys are very short runs from catawba and marblehead less than 5 miles.

we plan on running our v20 from lorain to kelleys this weekend if the weather forecast changes which is roughly 25 miles each way...we usually run to the weather buoy walleye fishing several times a summer which is just shy of 20 miles

myMy point is the boat is plenty to handle Erie... just know what you can handle and know the weather forecasts

I grew up on Erie. Haven't been out in the V20 yet, still getting it seaworthy. Made a run from the mouth of the Detroit River to Put-in-Bay in 8 footers in a 28' Trojan hard top. Not fun.
The absolute worst was in November of 1988. Took a ferry back from the island to Port Clinton. This was pre Jet Express. Here's a picture of the ferry

That boat is 90' long, and the pilot house windows are 20' off the deck. They can transport a tractor trailer on here. We left the dock at 1:00 in the afternoon and made it to Port Clinton at 8:30 pm. It's normally a 45 minute ride. There were waves that hit the pilot house. At one point, we were circled by 3 separate Coast Guard choppers. It's the only time in my life that I really thought we were going to have to ditch. I had a brand new E 350 extended body service van with the entire rear filled with shelving and equipment screwed to the van itself. It was backed into the starboard bow, and would disappear under green water every wave. When we docked, the van was the last off. The rear doors were gone and the interior was as clean as the day we bought it. Two seats and the doghouse, that's it. Never want to be in water like that again.