Seaworthy ?

[Tugw]

I was reading the post of a couple of days ago and was trying to understand how you decide if a boat is seaworthy or not.i.e. is it a river boat or a sea-going boat.Hers the thread.
http://www.ybw.com/forums/showflat.php/Cat/0/Number/1472684/an/0/page/1#1472684

I have a Storebro 35 Adler and looking at the hull shape maybe i could be forgiven for thinking that the Storebro looks very much like some "River Boats" so whats the differance? How do you decide what the boat was originally designed for?

 

[Sixpence]

Some say that my old Birchwood 25 Interceptor is a river boat but as she has a semi planing hull it would seem daft to consider her as suitable only for rivers as I'd rarely get on the plane at four knots , so hull shape must be one consideration

 

[Andrew_Fanner]

"Seaworthy" doesn't just cover hull form, also deck openings, cockpit drainage and so forth. Even engine size, which for a boat that sits on a slow flowing river or even a canal could be more of an issue than hull form, if you haven't the grunt to defeat currents you get into trouble.

 

[Sixpence]

Could you go into more detail on the ' so forth ' ? , the foredeck has a hatch that will be locked down , the cockpit will be self draining and the engine has the required oomph , so what else is there to look at ? . Oh , and there are no opening windows and the entrance doorway will have a sill and will lock down too . All other ideas welcome

 

[Tugw]

OK,But does that mean that a top speed of say 17 kts is the same as saying your boat isnt sea worthy?

 

[Sixpence]

A worthy debate indeed , personally I don't think top speed comes into it when you consider that our stick and hankie friends are happy at 6.5 knots , so the power to get through current and tidal flow are more important than the ability to fly through the water at high speed , but as always I'm open to suggestions

 

[Major Catastrophe]

Try using the word 'Seagoing'.

A seagoing boat can be seaworthy or not, depending on whether it is , erm, seaworthy or not.

 

[Tugw]

When you look at some of the boats that have gone around the world single handed makes me wonder how they drummed up the guts to get in them in the first place let alone go around the world(or atlantic as the case may be)

 

[kevinbrown2021]

Very interesting answers!
This is the sort of response i wanted from my post!

 

[kevinbrown2021]

[ QUOTE ]
Some say that my old Birchwood 25 Interceptor is a river boat but as she has a semi planing hull it would seem daft to consider her as suitable only for rivers as I'd rarely get on the plane at four knots , so hull shape must be one consideration

[/ QUOTE ]

If Hull types are to be taken into consideration, then why is my boat a river cruiser with a displacement hull, yet sea going vessels also have displacement hulls.

Surely this type of hull would be more stable at sea??

 

[rickp]

Well, look at it another way - narrowboats are displacement, but no-one would say they are particularly seaworthy. Sure people have crossed the channel in them, but only in the flatest of conditions. On the flipside, a Nordhavn is displacement and is very seaworthy. The hull shapes between the two are very different and thats what counts.

Rick

 

[kevinbrown2021]

OK Thanks