First Stuff!!!

Jimmy_Beam · 10 September 2006, 17:19

Well,
Unfortunatly (or fortunatuly, depending on the ego) I don't have pictures if this moment, but alas, my first stuff. Coming across tustumena lake (28 miles long by very wide) with a 50 to 60 mile an hour tail wind I was hitting a few waves with the bow and blowing some impressive water into the air about 15 feet, so I trimmed out a little better and it stopped doing that. Thought it was all good and I decided to stop paying attention for a few seconds to look at some scenery. BIG MISTAKE!!!!! Bow hit the wave bringing me to a screeching halt and slamming my face into the lexan windshield snapping or stripping the threads on all of the vertical nylon attaching screws. Whilst in pain I still made the effort to bring the boat to a slow stop and regain my sences. Buddy that was with me said the bow hit about two feet below the top of the wave and sent an impressive 30 foot blast of white spray into the air and about 6 inches of water streamed down the tubes and off the back.

Question: Would this have been worse with the "V" nose tubes? My snub nose front tube deflected most of the water from entering the boat, bilge pumps cleared in about 2 minutes. WoW!!!

Jimmy

P.S. If you have a windshield on your console, make sure it is secured with nylon screws, I think I would have been seriously injured if the widshield hadn't moved..

Biggles · 10 September 2006, 20:54

Why is it as soon as you take your eyes off the waves things go wrong ?

Is it because sub consciously whilst your reading them your body is able to carry out the correct actions as long as it knows what to do. IE it sees the waves coming and controls the throttle.

Case in point today. Was out with some new passengers to RIBs. Belting along at a fine old pace with no major scary bits. Got asked a question by a passenger so turned to reply, all of a sudden the boat slams into a wave and and I can hear groans from the back. I didn't want to do any hard landings and had been trying so hard to not do so. But the one second I look away it all goes wrong.

codprawn · 10 September 2006, 21:28

A good case for a crash helmet!!!

It may have been better with a V bow - not worse. You would have had more water on board possibly but you wouldn't have stopped so fast!!!

Simon B · 11 September 2006, 08:11

Only 6 inches of water! You'll have to do better than that! Come back to us when you've had it level with the tubes!

More seriously though, you did okay and learnt in a way that didnt do too much damage. Not being able to decide if I should buy a helmet niggles me a bit. The screen bolts shearing made me think if this wasnt a bad idea? At least it gave as it collapsed and didnt offer up rock hard imovable resistance. Was this because of the force applied by you hitting it or from the water coming from the other direction?

Jimmy_Beam · 11 September 2006, 09:02

When my face hit the screen the bolts sheared. I think that most of the reason more water didn't enter the boat is that the 60 mph tail wind sent most of it forward. I haven't encountered anything in that boat that would shove the entire nose under the water enough to fill it. I am not even sure the nose of the boat could make it under a wave with that flat portion of tube. I have been out in small craft advisories a few times and never met waves that made me uncomfortable, even when bigger aluminum boats wont go out I still seem to think conditions are fine. But, on the other hand, if I was in an open aluminum boat I wouldn't be heard from again I am sure of that.

Jimmy