John H wrote:

On Fri, 02 Jan 2004 17:29:11 -0600, adectus
wrote:

Im thinking about buying a 22 foot proline sport. I will be using
the boat mostly for offshore fishing. Does anyone have experience
with these boats on the open water.

I have a 21'er, a 97, which I believe is about the same hull as the
newer 22'ers. I do all my fishing in Chesapeake Bay, and have had it
in some pretty rough stuff there. However, I didn't say I was
comfortable in it. When the chop hits 3ft, the ride is very rough. You
certainly can't plane with chop that high. One to two footers are
fine. Two footers plus are kinda rough, fishable though. Three footers
are fishable, but don't plan on getting home quickly.

Of course, the Bay is not offshore, so the situation may be much
different.

I love the boat though.

John H


Apparently John H's experience is limited to Chesapeake Bay, where tight
chop is pretty much the norm.

If you're offshore in the usual two to three foot rolling ocean waves,
not chop, you'll learn to run your boat comfortably at planing speeds.
Off the east coast of Florida and South Carolina and Georgia, for
example, you'll find plenty of boats the size of that 22-footer 12 to 40
and even 50 miles offshore on good days when the weather and its changes
are predictable, typically heading out very early in the morning (4 am)
and back in before mid-afternoon, when the thunderbumpers usually start up.

But it is a small boat, and you always have to keep that in mind. If
you're going way offshore, it's a good idea to head out in a small
flotilla of boats, so that if someone has a problem, there's help
readily available.

Tight chop is a different story. It's very hard on the boat and you to
make planing speeds with those kinds of bumps. Even in a large boat.








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