First time frightening experience on lake with bad storm front... still questions

[9758JB]

Hello everyone. Kinda feel like a noob on here posting this, but i already lost my pride out on the water.

i wouldn't consider myself a weekend warrior on the water, in general, i have a pretty level head and compared to most im pretty confident in my ability over theirs. Until recently i never felt real stupid. I have a 1973 Lucraft TRI-V. its a heavy boat(for its size) that was made in Florida as an offshore boat. On it i have a 70 hp Johnson that handles pretty well. Iching to get out, i had a free afternoon so i took it. i really just wanted to run a tank of gas through her to make sure everything was tuned and in tip top shape. Dark clouds were off in the distance but i didn't think much of it. i get about a mile out on this shallow(5 foot average) lake. I begin to turn on my port side and i can feel the wind pushing my vessel hard, it was hard to turn. i look and those clouds are very dark, and theres thunder. and i feel a hard gust of watery wind in my face.

At this point im still pretty calm. Im only a mile out. itll be like 2 or 3 minutes to to get back to the dock. the waves were about 1 to 2 foot with whitecaps. just sitting there my boat was handling it fine and it probably would have been easier to drive to the nearest cove and wait it out as my boat was good(thats thinking back now). At this point i start to throttle my engine up, and begin to go on plane. but instead of leveling out, my bow just kept going higher. i was trying to plane directly head wind. then i felt a huge gust, and i really felt the power of the winds. between the wind and my engine trying to push me, it felt like i was an inflatable out there, about ready to get blown directly backwards.

I throttle down fast and turn slightly. at this point i was freaked out and just thought i need to get out of here. i go 45 degrees against the waves and try to plane but still couldn't. and i didn't feel like pushing the limits. waves were splashing in my face with cold windy gust. i was partially blinded and couldn't catch my breath. it was crazy. just above idle speeds( to be honest, not really sure bc i never thought to look down at my tach. and i couldn't use my ears because the wind drowned out the engine) i begin to head closer to the bank as i figured waves would be calmer. they were, and i begin driving along about 100 feet offshore. the wind was causing the trees to bend way over, the boats at dock looked like they were on a bouncing castle. finally get her in to dock. feeling way releaved.

so the wind gust where at 47 mph, with a constant wind of 30mph. not really sure if i should of handled that differently. like i said, i could have probably sat it out, but i didn't know how long that would of last. the waves were not the problems. it was the wind. it leaves me with some questions..

If i was able to get on plane, going 2/3 speed, could those gust flip me going against it? what about when throttling down?
(maybe i wasnt as far up as i felt, but i felt high)

if i had a true V hull would that of fixed that problem all together?

my boat did handle the waves very well thinking back. it was just i couldn't plane with that wind( should i of tilted my engine all the way down(manual tilt, currently on hole 3 from bottom) or maybe a hydro foil?

If my boat did flip, would it of sank? i often see capsized boats upside down after its said and done.

And its just scary to think, this was my first run of the season. who knows what kinda problems could occurred engine wise. i have a 6hp kicker that handles pretty well. just in case but who knows.

Any comments or experiences are much appreciate. thank you for reading this long post. im going to try to get some pictures of my boat on here.

 

[Scott Danforth]

assuming your boat has dry flotation foam, it should not sink, however be mostly under water

if you have wet foam, it will go to the bottom

power tilt and trim is almost a must. this would allow you to suck the motor in

old tri-hulls dont handle waves that well as you found out.

always check the radar forecast before going out.

 

[roffey]

You have more confidence than I, I have a 20 foot boat with 190hp and I would not take it out in a storm. I check the weather before I go out but I am a fair weather boater for sure. It's good to hear you made it back with boat and your self all safe and sound.

 

[9758JB]

Yes, no foam in mine. just heavily fiberglass. and i mean thick. put other boats to shame. And thats the thing. the waves were not bad. sitting or trotting along the boat handled great. just that wind that wouldn't let me plane. I wasn't worried about the boat taking on water. it was the winds. those winds just felt like it could flip me trying to plane head on to them. my boat weighs close to 1600 lbs gross weight, with probably 70% behind the center console. I have a 12 foot aluminum boat too, that boat would of been a tumble weed across the water it felt like.

 

[9758JB]

https://docs.google.com/document/d/e...tgI3xIoMW8/pub


Here a google doc of 3 pictures of my boat

 

[southkogs]

Every once in a while here in TN, we have ugly cells like that pop up outta' nowhere. I got caught in one once. It's one of three times I've been scared on the water, and I've been caught in a storm on the Great Lakes once and on the Gulf of Mexico once.

You had shallow water, so your chop was gonna' break easier. You had high sustained winds and good gusts. When it happened to me, I did two things: 1) didn't try to plane. I was in a tri-hull similar to yours. Bouncing and banging over waves wasn't gonna' help - I was trying to do as much surfing as I could working with the water. Stay on the waves as best you can and work hard to stay outta' the troughs when waves are breaking. 2) I also opted to keep a distance from shore and find some land to use as a wind break. When I looked into the shoreline, the boats were bobbing all over the place, and one dude who was trying to load on his trailer was using three guys just to keep the boat from winding up on top of his truck. I decided to stay safely off the shore, and try to get to a spot that was a little more calm while I rode things out low speed (boat rodeo). The rough stuff passed in about 15 minutes and I hot footed it to the boat ramp. My knees were shaky as I went to the truck.

As they say with airplanes: "any landing you can walk away from."

I wasn't there to see all of what you were up against, but from what you wrote given your conditions you seem to have done okay. Would another boat handle better in that stuff? Sure, but you didn't have that other boat Is it worth you getting another boat to avoid that in the future? Depends on how often you plan on potentially being in that kinda' slop. A center console bay boat with a bigger bow rake would have handled things better than what you have, but if you're not doing that kinda' boating often - it may not be worth spending the money. You see the idea.

Otherwise, Scott's gotcha' on the rest of it.

 

[9758JB]

Thanks southkogs, and no. i do not intend on being out when waters are like that!!! like you said, surfing the waves kinda helped. just enough rmps to keep the bow a little up. looking back it would of probably been easier to just ride it out like you done. it was maybe 45 mins when the heavy stuff passed. but i was freaked out. never ran into that before. i just though get back to the ramp. wind was headed east, i want to go west.

 

[H20Rat]

That is a tiny boat for waves! I certainly wouldn't want that on open water, so I wouldn't say they designed that for the ocean. Far more of a bay boat with a slight V to it.

And as echo'ed above, power tilt/trim really is almost a requirement. You need to be able to either push the end down, and in other use cases, you need to lift the front end up.

Last piece is don't run into the waves at 45 degrees. I've been out on big waves in small boats, and sometimes you have go straight into the waves past your desired spot, and then turn and run parallel to them if you have some speed and are on plane, or run down wind into them. (Both parallel and running with the waves can be risky in their own regards also, so it depends on the boat and conditions)

 

[9758JB]

H20Rat, as far as im aware, the boat was made in Daytona Florida as an offshore boat. maybe it is a bay boat but just dont understand what that exactly means.. i do not know its max capability, nor do i want to test them. a lot of people look at that boat and say they wouldn't even take that to lake Erie. i know of an older man who grew up in Florida and actually used lucraft boats. he said he'd take it out just about the most because it handled so well. not really sure why or how it did, or if that guy was full of it. its a 17 foot boat and close or over to 1600lbs loaded with just me. its solid for sure. im just tryna figure out what made it a good offshore boat and ppeople that been on them say they are, and why most people who never been around them say that. im not sure myself. just curious. maybe thats for another thread.

 

[dingbat]

My first "big water" experience with a storm was on a tri-hull similar to yours but equipped with a 100 HP motor.

Four of us followed the charter fleet to the opposite side of the Bay (~20 miles) to go Grey Trout fishing.
Giddy with our success, we didn't notice the charter fleet had moved on despite the fish still biting.

It wasn't until we turned to head back that we saw the storm front building to the west. Young, dumb and confident in the powerful motor on the back, we decided to make a run for it.

Fortunately, the storm's short fetch field wasn't enough to build substantial waves. Most where 3-4 ft. with a few 5 ft. mixed in for good luck. We got tossed around like a cork. The "powerful" 100 HP on the back could do little in the confused seas except keeps us pointed into the waves.

Took a wave over the bow that flattened the windshield. Put a gash in the Captain's head that took 7 seven stitches to close up. Another guy spent the return trip hanging off the back of the boat talking calling for somebody named Ralph. The other two of us spent the entire time bailing ankle deep water out of the boat with scoops fabricated from the plastic milk jugs we filled with ice for the cooler.

Wet and exhausted, the USCG stopped us coming in the creek to ask if we where OK. They said the owner of the marina was concerned because he saw us leave and didn't come back before the storm hit.

Lessons learned:
1. Man is no match for Mother Nature
2. There is no replacement for (hull) displacement
3. Self bailing cockpits are a godsend
4. Why ocean going boats have enclosed bows and big bow flares
5. Always keep watch on the horizons

I've been caught is substantially worst storms over the years, but none in a boat so ill-equipped for the task.

 

[CaptainSteveo]

Hello everyone. Kinda feel like a noob on here posting this, but i already lost my pride out on the water.

i wouldn't consider myself a weekend warrior on the water, in general, i have a pretty level head and compared to most im pretty confident in my ability over theirs. Until recently i never felt real stupid. I have a 1973 Lucraft TRI-V. its a heavy boat(for its size) that was made in Florida as an offshore boat. On it i have a 70 hp Johnson that handles pretty well. Iching to get out, i had a free afternoon so i took it. i really just wanted to run a tank of gas through her to make sure everything was tuned and in tip top shape. Dark clouds were off in the distance but i didn't think much of it. i get about a mile out on this shallow(5 foot average) lake. I begin to turn on my port side and i can feel the wind pushing my vessel hard, it was hard to turn. i look and those clouds are very dark, and theres thunder. and i feel a hard gust of watery wind in my face.

At this point im still pretty calm. Im only a mile out. itll be like 2 or 3 minutes to to get back to the dock. the waves were about 1 to 2 foot with whitecaps. just sitting there my boat was handling it fine and it probably would have been easier to drive to the nearest cove and wait it out as my boat was good(thats thinking back now). At this point i start to throttle my engine up, and begin to go on plane. but instead of leveling out, my bow just kept going higher. i was trying to plane directly head wind. then i felt a huge gust, and i really felt the power of the winds. between the wind and my engine trying to push me, it felt like i was an inflatable out there, about ready to get blown directly backwards.

I throttle down fast and turn slightly. at this point i was freaked out and just thought i need to get out of here. i go 45 degrees against the waves and try to plane but still couldn't. and i didn't feel like pushing the limits. waves were splashing in my face with cold windy gust. i was partially blinded and couldn't catch my breath. it was crazy. just above idle speeds( to be honest, not really sure bc i never thought to look down at my tach. and i couldn't use my ears because the wind drowned out the engine) i begin to head closer to the bank as i figured waves would be calmer. they were, and i begin driving along about 100 feet offshore. the wind was causing the trees to bend way over, the boats at dock looked like they were on a bouncing castle. finally get her in to dock. feeling way releaved.

so the wind gust where at 47 mph, with a constant wind of 30mph. not really sure if i should of handled that differently. like i said, i could have probably sat it out, but i didn't know how long that would of last. the waves were not the problems. it was the wind. it leaves me with some questions..

If i was able to get on plane, going 2/3 speed, could those gust flip me going against it? what about when throttling down?
(maybe i wasnt as far up as i felt, but i felt high)

if i had a true V hull would that of fixed that problem all together?

my boat did handle the waves very well thinking back. it was just i couldn't plane with that wind( should i of tilted my engine all the way down(manual tilt, currently on hole 3 from bottom) or maybe a hydro foil?

If my boat did flip, would it of sank? i often see capsized boats upside down after its said and done.

And its just scary to think, this was my first run of the season. who knows what kinda problems could occurred engine wise. i have a 6hp kicker that handles pretty well. just in case but who knows.

Any comments or experiences are much appreciate. thank you for reading this long post. im going to try to get some pictures of my boat on here.

My brother and one of his friends talk of a very similar situation on a inland lake in CA of all places. Except they had a flat bottom speed boat. They where out enjoying themselves cruising around when they noticed some dark clouds approaching rapidly. Since the lake was only about 5 miles long and they had a fast boat they figured they could get back to the ramp before it hit. Much like you they started to hit about 40 to 50 mph head winds a coupe miles out and the rain started. But for them it was the waves that kicked up that caused the problem. The washed over the low hull and rapidly started to swamp the boat. They had to make for the nearest shore and beach the boat to avoid sinking. Eventually the wind died down, they bailed the water out, and eventually got back to the ramp. But both said it was the only time they have ever been scared on the water.

 

[southkogs]

I used a boat not too terribly different than that one on Lake Huron several times. I wouldn't go too far off shore in it and I paid real close attention to the weather, but I did go out. I've seen boats similar (style and size) along the coast. I'm not sure I'd want to get out of the protected waters, but there are boats (like a Carolina skiff) that are made for that sort of thing.

Part of it is also the skipper. An experienced guy, who knows what he's doing and knows how to handle things, could take a pretty small boat on some pretty big water and have no real issues. A neophyte with no clue as to what they're up against, could take a solid, and appropriate, boat out and wind up in major trouble.

You just added a layer of experience

 

[briangcc]

I can say 17' and offshore boat, to me, don't go hand in hand. That's a boat I wouldn't take out on any lake that had a wave around 2-3' or higher. But that's me. I see dark clouds off in the distance or white caps bucking the normal flow of a lake/river and I'm grabbing my mooring cover and buttoning down until it clears. There's plenty to do on land while it calms the heck down....adult beverage usually flow at that point!

 

[9758JB]

Yes. i did learn a lot. learned to respect the weather and the water. i also learned that maybe holding out until it clears is a better option if i can find a cove or somewhere the winds not as strong. thanks everyone for the reply's and stories of their own.

 

[harringtondav]

2nd-3rd time out in our new boat we had a nice ride 20+ miles up river. When we turned to return I spotted a bad storm moving behind us. I tried to out run it with a seven yr old son and four yr old daughter. The storm caught us and I felt like the storm scene in Gilligan's Island. Horizontal wind and rain. The nippers laughed it off in front of our feet under the dash in the 'cubby'.

Wife and I got the full enclosure on, and then the sun came out and all was good. The ramp was a cluster. I passed two river beaches on the scramble to the ramp. I realized I just should have pulled in, tied it on the beach, put up the enclosure and waited it out. "Experience is a lifetime of mistakes", ....or something like that Old Ironmaker says.

Then I bought the VHF marine radio, and frequented NOAA weather. Also never went out with a >30% chance of rain/storms.

 

[Captain Caveman]

We ran into a significant storm on our honeymoon. My 16ft boat was taking water over the bow as it dove into the troughs of the waves while at idle speed. I got the boat on plane but it hit each wave so hard that my wife and tackle box eventually went for a tumble. I grabbed the tackle box! The smartest thing that I did was heading full throttle to an island to get out of the wind and waves. Unfortunately, I discovered that the pounding put a gash in my hull. The bilge pump was overmatched but I got it back to shore in time and up on my trailer.

Weather is one thing that can be predicted but is still unpredictable. What we can all do, is make sure that we have the boat, knowledge, and equipment to handle whatever mother nature throws our way.

 

[JimS123]

The year was 1970 and I was working 2 jobs in the Summer to pay ahead for my senior year at the University. It was a Friday afternoon on a simply beautiful day. I blame the fact that my coworker and I blew off work to go fishing on our eventful afternoon. I was 20 and didn't even know what a VHF was. Cellphones weren't invented yet.

It was a clear blue sky and no wind at all. We were about 6 miles out on Lake Erie in glass calm water. The walleyes were biting like crazy and we were at anchor. We were in my 16' woodie with a 40 HP Evinrude.

All of a sudden the wind started to come up. The sky was still clear. I said we need to go in. By the time I had the anchor up the waves had built to about 3 feet. By the time we were half way in the seas has built to 5 feet.

It was trough to crest at almost idle, weaving back and forth to keep the bow up. Just before we got to the safe harbor we could hear women screaming in another boat. We rounded the jetty just as they did, and took turns helping each other load the boats back on the trailer.

My co-worker didn't help at all. He spent the whole time heaving at the end of the dock.

When I got the boat home and back in Grandpas's garage, I only had about a gallon of water to bail out, owning to the seaworthiness of the boat. However, a closer look revealed that every screw holding the 2 front seats to the hull had popped out.

My buddy vowed never to go out again in a boat for the rest of his life.

Several years later I was out in a thunder storm with a girlfriend and she vowed the same thing. (and kept her promise)

A year later I met my wife and she has been a fearless seaperson for going on 50 years now.

 

[Captain Caveman]

All the best stories are when everyone returns home safely