On Sun, 29 May 2016 22:52:21 -0400, Alex wrote:

Wayne.B wrote:
On Sun, 29 May 2016 09:03:20 -0400, Poquito Loco
wrote:

On Sun, 29 May 2016 05:13:06 -0700 (PDT), True North wrote:

StinkyJim farts...

"The kinds of boats he buys are designed for occasional, light duty, in
shore, fair weather, calm seas, fresh water use only. That kind of
limits his opportunities to go boating. Donnie should sell his boat and
buy a share of Harry's canoe if he's so worried about his perceived
requirement of boat ownership to be allowed to post on rec.boats."

Not sure if you're talking about The John or me....
My boat is classified as a 'C' on the International Capacity scale.
That means it's classified as inshore maximum wind of 31mph and max wave height of 6.5 feet
Boat use is limited to coastal waters, large bays, estuaries, lakes and rivers

There you go...now you've been educated at no charge.
Wow. That thing is right up there with the big boys! But be careful:

"Update : Autumn 2010 : We are now aware that an insurer has refused to place a Category C craft on
risk for offshore use in Norway. This is in spite of the fact that the craft a Grand Banks Trawler,
is of a design known to be suitable for offshore passage making. This is the first case to our
knowledge where an insurer has restricted use based on the Design Category. Though not yet a policy
within the industry as a whole it is likely that this will occur over time."

Just think, your 17.5' Bayliner can take the same seas as a Grand Banks Trawler (this one was 34', I
believe), if you believe what you wrote above.

Some advice: If you get anywhere near six foot waves, you'd best say a prayer and hope your life
jacket works. Hopefully you don't believe what you wrote above.
===

I have been in 6 ft seas with a 12 ft inflatable dinghy. It takes a
lot of concentration and each wave has to be negotiated individually,
but it can be done. The most important criteria for waves however is
not height but shape. Unfortunately there's no easy way to measure
shape and put a number on it. The closest I've ever come to capsizing
the dinghy was from the steep, curling wake of a sport fishing boat -
probably no more than 3 ft high but there was something about the
shape that just wanted to flip the boat.


RIB's can handle waves much larger than their counterparts made of
fiberglass or aluminum. The Coast Guard uses them extensively and they
put multiple, large outboards behind them!

===

Interestingly enough most of the Coast Guard boats are not actually
RIBs, they just look that way. It's like they took RIB tubes and
molded a solid boat around them. I don't know what the actual
material is but I think the bottoms are aluminum.