Eisboch wrote:
"HK" wrote in message
news
Eisboch wrote:
"HK" wrote in message
. ..

1. The transom would rise and fall with the wave action.

2. Boat wake and any waves would hit the transom, and it would rise and
fall with the wave action. You might get a bit of water on the deck.
Maybe.

Just for giggles, take your shoes off, get 'er up on plane, then quickly
pull the throttle back to idle as if you suddenly lost power.

Eisboch

I've done that in boats with shorter transoms. Sometimes a little water
came aboard, sometimes it did not. I suppose if I really were worried
about getting my feet wet in a small open boat, I could wear boots.

Please realize that I am not being critical of your new boat nor of open/cut
transom designs. They are fine for those who, like yourself, are experienced
boaters and are knowledgeable of their boat limitations.

The danger is when someone without any knowledge buys an open transom boat
and assumes it should self bail and be ok because, heck, "they" built it
this way. The problem is that an open transom boat is very susceptible to
taking on water over the stern and not all of that water is necessarily
drained. It often enters the bilge area through cutouts or deck hatches
that are not watertight. Enough of this and the bilge pump (assuming it's
working) can't always keep up and the boat starts to sit lower in the water
at the stern, compounding the problem. People new to boating who are drift
fishing with the stern to chop, wakes or building seas may not realize the
point at which the boat has lost enough buoyancy to become dangerous.

Another issue that isn't always realized is the capacity of a bilge pump.
Just because it may be rated at "1500 gph" or "2000 gph", the actual pumping
capacity is far less than that due to drain hose length and type. The
conductance of the hoses used on bilge pumps dramatically cuts the actual
pumping capacity, especially the common "ribbed" construction type typically
found at West Marine.

Eisboch



Richard,

Your points are exactly why I think this has been a valuable discussion.
Even Harry's original position was that if you know how to handle a
boat, you will not have any water coming on board.