Rough seas

Corrosion, Paint, Through Hulls, etc.
martindesign
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Rough seas

Post by martindesign »

So I noticed this topic doesn't come up much. Our boats admittedly are known for being roomy and very economic but lack in ride quality foot for foot due to the weight. Even though they get thrown around in big water what sea worthy experiences have you guys had. I feel like though it sometimes feels sketchy these boats are very capable. Let's hear some horror and success stories in the rough that you have been through.
Machanic, fabricator, carpenter, plumber, electrician, designer, hotrod builder and glutton for punishment. :ugeek: current boat; 1969 Marinette 32 express bridge 440's
Catawba Oh
ddependo
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Re: Rough seas

Post by ddependo »

I love to get in big waves . Don't see very often on Tennessee river. Three or four ft during a storm. I like to plow thru & have water come over the bow. The ride is good. I think the ride is better than a plastic boat.
Wayne
1973 32 express fly bridge
Chattanooga
"Southern Lady"
EWRice
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Re: Rough seas

Post by EWRice »

My first big lake trip with my boat was 3 weeks after taking ownership. Muskegon to Grand Haven, Mi. Not a long trip, but enough for things to go real bad if the stars see fit. 4-6 footers, heavy winds and sub par steering. Made it down and back. Many times I had to be on the throttles because one prop or another was coming out of the water. As uncomfortable as the ride was, I never felt concerned that I was pushing the old girl beyond her capabilities. My wife hated me by the end of the day.

I learned more about my BigM in that weekend than I have learned in the years since.

Would I do it again? Hell yes! Not with the wife on board. I have some crazy friends willing to go.
Note: when you think "that __________ will never fall down or move around in the cabin", think again!

Happy cruising!
E
Muskegon Lake
1972 32' Express flybridge
"AL13"
Twin 318s
On board air & prime 920
1963 Thompson Super Sea Lancer
Graymarine 327
1961 Alumacraft 12'
'55 10hp Johnson
fighterpilot
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Re: Rough seas

Post by fighterpilot »

Interesting. Have contract on a 37 sedan. We keep it on a bay and fish there some, but also like to go out into the gulf to fish, particularly during red snapper. Don't go if more than two feet, but could get caught out there with waves building up before we get home. Can you run 20 knot cruise speed thru the 2 foot waves or will it beat you to death??
EWRice
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Re: Rough seas

Post by EWRice »

My 32 will hold 22mph on the gps through 2 footers with no problem. Keep in mind I have an early model with a very shallow deadrise. Fast but leaves some to desire in rough seas.

The original owner of my BigM used to run it between Fla. and the Bahamas on weekends.
Muskegon Lake
1972 32' Express flybridge
"AL13"
Twin 318s
On board air & prime 920
1963 Thompson Super Sea Lancer
Graymarine 327
1961 Alumacraft 12'
'55 10hp Johnson
Rockit
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Location: Phoenix, AZ

Re: Rough seas

Post by Rockit »

When I was shopping for my BigM, I rode a 28' Pursuit and a 28' BigM on the same day in the same conditions (about 2 to 3' of chop) on Lake Erie. The Pursuit was faster but the ride much bumpier. Like wood, I understand aluminum has some give to it that provides a softer ride. We don't get much in the way of big waves on the Ohio except for towboat wakes (some of those look to be 5') and the first time I took my 28' out after her refit we throttled into a big one. She charged through it throwing spray through the open windshield. My buddy and I were startled then started laughing. The Admiral has remarked about how much softer our BigM rides than plastic boats. That flat section aft and those small rudders can make the boat a handful under certain conditions, but in general she handles well. (BTW, anyone ever try installing bigger rudders or even a thistle rudder on a BigM? That might help the single screw boats.)

The scariest situation for me was the time she started moving sideways toward the guide wall while approaching a lock. It finally dawned on me that the prop wash from the big towboat to starboard was pushing the BigM toward the wall.

Though the boat can handle more than you may think, there is no crime in slowing to displacement speed if you're uncomfortable and staying in port when it's nasty.
Joe Napoli
1977 28' Express
Twin raw water cooled 318s
Beaver River--near mile 25 on the Ohio
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Maestro
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Re: Rough seas

Post by Maestro »

Worst I have done so far is 3-4 footers in my 28'. She wobbles and bobbles all over the place but I have not felt threatened. Have to go slow. If I try to cruise she pounds.

The main problem is I get so much wind shield spray that visibility is almost nothing. Have to use the GPS almost exclusively to know where I am.

Another member of this forum has crossed from upper Michigan to Isle Royale (60+ miles of lake Superior) in 5-7 footers in a twin engine 28ft BigM .
Maestro
1986 32' Sedan
Chrysler 360s
1.5:1 Gears, 16x16 props

1970 28' Express
Single Chrysler 440
1:1 Gear, 14x12 prop

Green Bay, WI
fighterpilot
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Re: Rough seas

Post by fighterpilot »

Sounds like the 28 footers do well, hope the 37 footers do as well also. Thanks
jralbert
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Re: Rough seas

Post by jralbert »

The boat can handle rough seas. For me, really rough was a day with 4-footers. Taken head on or a little off the bow, it's a roller coaster ride with some hard landings but the boat isn't jeopardized - just an insult to passenger comfort (though it was never bad on the bridge).

Following seas are a different matter. The boat got what I'll call squirelly when moving in the same direction as waves above, say, 2 ft. Required lots of work at the wheel. My SOP in those conditions was to try to adjust speed so I was riding as much as possible on the back of the wave, trying never to skid downhill uncontrollably for fear of being turned to the side. No trim tabs (that is, tabs up) because they presented an additional surface against which the water could push. It was (sort of) fun, a test of piloting skill but exhausting because you could never relax fully. And, to avoid getting pushed on the beam, I sometimes had to go out of the way until I got a better angle to head to my destination.

I was never worried about the boat but nature has its own agenda
-joel-
former owner 1988 '32 FB Sedan
Chesapeake Bay
twin 318 / 240 hp
Potomac MD
javalin390
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Re: Rough seas

Post by javalin390 »

Ah, interesting post. My very first trip was for the Marinette Rendezvous during my first year of ownership at the Huron Boat Basin in 2015. All those that did attend can tell you it was a terrible weekend, weather wise. Rendezvous was fun though. I was the last one to arrive that Saturday morning, and the only one that had the guts to leave on Sunday, the worst of the storm that weekend. Mine is a 1975 37' sedan flybridge. They said the seas were 8-12 footers (don't know if that was true or not, but the surges were popping the manhole covers off, on the pier, on the river side on the boat basin, and the break-wall in front of the Comfort Inn !!) The waves were bad enough that I was getting drenching spray over the windscreen piloting from the flybridge ! I can tell you that I felt totally confident while piloting her in the storm. I was surprised how well she handled. I thought it was kind of fun, like riding one of those water rides at Cedar Point. Don't know if you could get away with that in a 28' or a 32'. (the 37' has a 13'6" beam) As I recall, the trip back Sunday, from Huron to Marblehead, I was the only powerboat on the lake, and the only other boats I saw were a couple hard core sail boaters ! My guess would be that a double cabin would be ever better with the extra weight and the taller gunwale.
Jim Elias
1974 37' SedanFlybridge
Twin 360 Chryslers.
Marblehead, Ohio
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