? for Scott E.

[AnglerX]

In my wading for wipers this weekend I seen an underpowered and overloaded jonboat. They were having a hard time with the wind and 3' waves. I then seen them put everyone and some gear in the back of the boat and the hull rose up about 3' and off they went slowly and tippy looking. To me it didn't look safe and I thought any minute I was going to be calling 911 because of capsized boat. What's a good way to get a unpowered boat going in the wind?

[OldBaldGuy]

I'm not Scott, and I didn't stay at a Holiday Inn Express last night, but I'll tell you what immediately came to mind, Andrew, when I read your post. Growing up around boats pretty much all my life, I've been amazed through the years at how many people think there's some kind of mandate about sitting up in boat seats. Whether it's a 17-ft. canoe, or a 12- or 14-foot jonboat or conventional hull, the most important first step in rough water is to lower the center of gravity. That means getting your fat butt off those elevated seats and centered flat on the bottom of the boat, along with anything else (gas can, anchor, whatever...) that has any weight. You can ride out some pretty hairy rollers safely in a little boat if you can keep the center of gravity below or near the water line.

[Scott Eveland]

Good advice above!

Also:

Step 1: Check the weather before you head out. If its too windy for your boat, stay home.

I have a 12' jon boat in storage at Lake McConaughy. It belongs to a man from Commerce City who took his boat out on Lake Mac on Labor Day weekend in 35 mph winds. He launched from the south shore during a south wind, so it probably didn't look tooooo bad when he left, but soon discovered otherwise when the waves overtook his stern and the boat capsized. Thankfully he and his partner were wearing PFDs and were rescued by a person in a bigger boat (who probably shouldn't have been out either, but thankfully was). We recovered the boat off the north shore six hours later. He was home before it reappeared and apparently has no desire to return to pick it up.

Step 2: If you do get caught in bad wind/waves, lower the center of gravity, have everyone don PFDs (if they weren't already wearing them) and head for the safest shore--which may not necessarily be where your trailer is. You may have to have a Plan B and ride it out somewhere. If you have to go into the wind and waves, try to take them at about a 45 degree angle, rather than straight on.

[AnglerX]

So putting everything in the back(like they were trying to get traction in the snow) was a bad idea.

I'm glad they made it out safely this time.

[BPbowhunter]

As everyone has said, getting a low center of gravity is very important.

This last summer when my me, my dad and some friends were fishing up in Canada we ran into a problem similar to this one. It was the first day of the trip, and when we left dock it was dead calm, not even hardly a ripple on the water.

After fishing, for most of the day we decided it was time to head back to camp. Once we got out of our secluded bay we had been in and got onto the open lake we discovered the wind had picked way up, and there were now 5-6 ft. rollers. Luckily for our boat my dad had worked as a guide at this same camp in Canada and knew what to do. We took a heck of a beating on the way back, but the important thing was that we made it back...

[fishinwithdad]

Originally Posted by Scott Eveland

...If you have to go into the wind and waves, try to take them at about a 45 degree angle, rather than straight on.

Can you explain the rationale for this? I don't understand why taking it at an angle would help that much.

[racksniper]

Swim!

[Scott Eveland]

Originally Posted by fishinwithdad

Can you explain the rationale for this? I don't understand why taking it at an angle would help that much.

Here is some of the reasoning:

• Reducing headway reduces strain on the hull and superstructure (and the persons onboard).
• Taking waves head-on increases propeller racing if the outdrive lifts out of the water as you rush down into a trough. You can also lose rudder control.
• Running broadside can cause your boat to roll heavily, perhaps dangerously.

While this is a little more relevant to extremely heavy conditions, especially off-shore, the concepts still work for small boats on inland water.

For some light reading on the subject, get yourself a copy of Chapman's Piloting and Seamanship, Chapter 10, Special Seamanship Techniques (pp 350-354 in the 64th edition).