Covering distance in a smaller boat in chop..

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wipe_out

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So last Sunday we had a really good run from Poole to Yarmouth in out Merry Fisher 695.. Conditions were perfect and we cruised at about 25kn (sometimes up to 30kn) all the way there, it was a wonderful..

On the way home in the afternoon we were heading into the wind and tide and it had become quite choppy.. Being a small boat relatively light boat it made is quite a hard ride.. I tried various speeds and various states of trim (although we don't have trim tabs so couldn't really push the bow down too much to try and cut through the chop) but nothing seemed to really improve the ride.. Coming off a plane just meant lots of spray coming over the bow and lots of rocking and rolling and would have taken us too long to get back..

So if you want to cover some distance in a smallish boat in choppy conditions what is usually the best strategy for the most comfortable ride?

Would trim tabs have improved things over what the outboard was able to do in pushing the bow down to try and cut through the chop?
 
You are somewhat at the mercy of your hull design, so some boats will just be better/worse at this. As a planing hull, I think it is usually better if you can stay on the plane; just trim the bow down as much as you can and put up with it ! You can sometimes get out of the worst of it by looking at the charts and seeing if there is some shelter-ie, it might be better along the shoreline than from A to B (or not!)
And don't forget that you want to get back, so do look at tides and weather for the return. Sometimes the best thing to do is just not do it.
It is a stretch of water that does seem to get quite messy.
Edit- if you can trim the outboard, then I would suggest trim tabs are really only for leveling the boat side to side, unless for some reason on this boat the o/b can't trim the bow enough?
 
Being able to lower the bow will make a difference,and trim tabs are the most effective way of acheiving this. But if you don't have trim tabs there are other way of getting a similar effect.

You could trim the engine/drive all the way in, and move some weight to the front. Both these would push the nose downwards and some improve matters somewhat. But at some point there comes a point that the only way to get a better ride is to get a bigger boat.

I find that with my current boat (windy 25). The trim tabs are much more effective at lowering the bow than using drive trim. Trim tabs are definitely worth the money Imo.

My previous boat (sea ray 200) didn't have trim tabs,and I couldn't get the bow low enough using just the drive trim,I also moved some weight forwards which helped enormously.
 
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As others have said it's a factor of the size of boat compared to the state of the sea - you can't do much about it. Wind against tide in the solent can turn flat calm into a nasty chop in a matter of minutes - I imagine that was a very stressful trip back - even the 3 miles back to Lymington from Yarmouth can be bad on occasion. Judicious use of the throttle and making sure the waves are bow on can help but if you're planing then there will always be a couple of waves that leave you out of the water or breaking through an oncoming wave. It's the reason RIBs are so popular down here as they're much better sea boats.
 
When I had a small 20 footer I found that maintaining plain gave the best ride. Then adjusting speed so the boat didn't slam cresting a wave. In order to achieve the best compromise this often meant not heading straight into the waves or directly towards port but rather tacking across the waves. As said keeping the bow in gives the best ride as a general rule however on the odd occasion I found trimming out to raise the bow worked better. This depends on the steepness of the wave face and whether the bow is digging in or not. The main point being, tack across the swell, not directly into it.
 
Thanks for info..

Last boat had trim tabs so I know how they can push the bow down really well or angle lift one side a little more to affect the hull entry into the water, the outboard doesn't seem to be as effective at pulling the bow down.. I did think about fitting tabs when we bought the boat, maybe I need to look at it again..

Tacking is a good idea too.. I should have thought about that as an option but was more looking for some flatter water which I didn't find.. :)
 
We have found that staying on the plane but backing right down to the slowest that it will stay on the plane and using the tabs to push the bow down gives us the most comfortable ride with the least spray in choppy conditions.

We have only once been out where conditions were too rough to stay on the plane (in hindsight we perhaps shouldn't have been out!) and it was a long slow soggy slog with wave after wave coming over. We were glad to be back in sight of land and port that day!
 
Stats007 said:
That's what oilskins are for!
Click to expand...

You are hankering after a Flybridge
lg.gif
I can tell :cool:
 
For us, also in a small boat the most important thing when covering distances is doing a passage plan before setting off. This helps avoid potentially dangerous wind against tide situations. As previous posters have said, the Solent can go from strong winds with calm seas to strong winds with very rough seas in a matter of minutes. Scary stuff in small boats.
 
I totally agree with looking at the weather and making the call, of course being England if you were to wait for a perfect day where the weather was perfect ALL day (not even thinking about two or more successive days) you would probably never go boating.. :)

As I mentioned in the original post it was perfect and flat calm heading out to IOW but just became uncomfortable on the way home with the chop, around here chop is a fact of life so really looking at best strategies for improving the ride when it gets choppy.. I don't mind it that much, although a comfortable ride is more enjoyable, but the others on board really don't enjoy it very much when it's slamming a lot.. Especially because we are sitting "in" the boat so it is quite loud..
 
I'm not a motor boater'ist (but I do have a small boat)... so excuse possible stupidity, but would it make a difference if you changed your direction/angle to the oncoming chop - rather than take it head on meet it a few degrees off and almost "tack" up wind?
 
We have suffered the same on that trip many times...doing it today in a 24fter infact,. It is often caused by returning on a falling tide against the prevailing SW winds.timing being everything. Also these winds mean the waves are usually with you on the ay there and against on the way back which can give you a completley different ride in the same conditions. N winds today so should be ok!
 
Think some may have mentioned this but I have the 755 so almost identical. When I encounter chop and inevitably do at some stage of a longer trip, not that it is a risk that passage planning would stop me heading out in but as you say it is uncomfortable for guests, I have found tacking is the best option. I put her on the plan at 16-20knots and tack so I never meet wind over wave head on. You do get a bit of a roll but not uncomfortable and decidedly better than a slam. For me that has meant guests out in a 90% perfect day don't need to run for home at 2pm to miss the chop but enjoy the full day and have it slightly rolly for the return home. As you can do this at decent speed I've seen me effectively double the journey distance on the choppy section without it being too long or irritating.
 
Surely the key is to anticipate the likely sea conditions, of course that's not always possible, but the tide/current is a known factor and the direction of the wind can usually be anticipated from the forecasts, even if the actual strength is a somewhat unknown. Wind against a strong tide invariably gives you a nasty chop, worse with a spring tide, better with neaps.

This is not meant as any sort of criticism of the op and there are many occasions when you're doing a return trip in the same day you can't avoid choppier conditions than you'd ideally like, but timings can improve the situation. There have been many times in the past where I've been caught out, and if I'd only waited an hour is or so for tide to die down the trip would have been much more comfortable.
 
You would think so, wouldn't you? Unfortunately common sense and boaters struggle to maintain a relationship sometimes!
 
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