Marinette Boat Forum

This post is out of pure curiosity...

My 1970 28' is the "old" hull design with shallow deadrise. In following seas (waves coming from straight behind) the boat wobbles all over the place as the stern gets pushed around by the waves. Steering becomes laborious as you constantly attempt to correct the boat's reaction to the waves.

Obviously it is best to avoid following seas in almost any boat. However, for those of you who captain the newer 28' or 32' 's with the deeper deadrise: how do your boats perform in this condition?

How about the folks with 37, 39, and 41 footers?

Our 39 handles them pretty well. I have to remember to not to use too much trim tab when the waves are 3' or more. The boat will try to turn when running down the face of a wave and we hit the next.

That's classic Marinette behavior. I used to call it the Charlie B (boat name) hula. Boat was a 1988 32' FBS sedan.

I tried hard to ride the back of a wave for as long as possible. Took some timing and throttle adjustment. In higher seas, tried hard to avoid running downhill and getting nose stuck in the trough for fear of flipping. Never went out in conditions that serious and when a squall kicked up, we waited it out with nose headed a little off to the side of the oncoming wind and engine speed set to mover forward slowly (barely making way).

But it's inevitable on a large body of water that if you go out against the waves, you'll have to return with them. I also recall having to "take off" the tabs, that is raise them so they let the nose rise for the reason noted above.

Previous posts are good advice. Keep your tabs up and play with a speed that is most comfortable. I say this with all possible caution, but slower is not always better. A "slightly" higher speed relative to the wave action may actually increase your overall stability. I don't mean "go fast" but play with speeds that allow you maximum control riding down the wave face. Again, caution and waiting for better conditions is always the best answer.

Scott

3ft is my limit and when in those conditions, I go just a bit faster than the swell. I've never been able to outrun it by enough to know if you should just gun it. Also the angle is tricky so I zig zag so I'm not going parallel because that sucks.

Had a 1968 28' that acted the same way. Just had to limit the trips in Lake Michigan to days when the lake was not rough. I can tell you that a move to a 32 with the weight of twin engines does make a difference.

My old style 32 is the same. I try to run faster than the waves. It may not be the safest but it is to me because I know I can handle stuffing a wave or falling in a trough yet I don't know that I could handle the transom push when it gets real big from behind. They just aren't designed for following seas.

No tab in a following sea and go fast enough to slowly overtake the waves. Takes a lot of work with the throttles. Been in some large following seas in 30+ blows on Erie, not fun but manageable.

Smooth seas never a good sailor made

Getting all the movable weight aft helps--especially the mother-in-law and etc.

Jeff