"NOYB" wrote in message
hlink.net...

"HK" wrote in message
. ..
Wayne.B wrote:
On Fri, 10 Aug 2007 11:39:30 -0400, HK wrote:

I've been offshore plenty of times in boats with 15" transoms,
including some of the older Boston Whalers.

If you believe the ads, a Whaler will float after you cut it in two
with a chain saw.

Never tried it. :-)

I'd like to, but no one with a Whaler will allow me to get near it with
my Sawzall.

I never tried the saw-it-in-half test, but I have tried the
crab-pot-around-the-motor test in a 17' Whaler. About a foot of water
flooded into the boat while I was "stern-to" before I could cut the line.
The nice part was just a blip of the throttle forced most of it right out
the back over that low transom. I've also taken green water over the bow,
and the low transom just allowed it to shoot right out the back.

I certainly wouldn't want an open transom boat down here during stone crab
season unless it was a Whaler, McKee Craft, Cape Horn, etc with full
*level* floatation.
In fact, an open transom Whaler is about as safe a boat as you can buy.

There was a case of a 50-something year old man, and a 14 year old boy
drowning/dying from cold exposure down here 3 or 4 years ago when their
19' center console caught a crab pot and turned stern-to. Water temps
were 54 degrees, and seas were 3-4'. Although it's not likely to happen,
it still is a genuine concern.




Problem with at least the smaller whalers is if you get a crab pot line
wrapped on the prop and have good swells, and you go to the back to free the
line, you should have handles on the bottom of the boat to hang on to.
Happened here last year.