On Sat, 15 Sep 2007 18:12:02 -0300, "Don White"
wrote:


"JimH" ask wrote in message
.. .

"Don White" wrote in message
...

wrote in message
ups.com...

I guess the smaller the boat, the wetter you get I usually end up
with wet feet retrieving my skiff. That's why I wear Solomons


I wear 'Crocs'... but both times I've had the Princecraft out so far I've
gotten the bottom of my shorts wet.

Did driving a powerboat scare you that much?

No... just the launch/retrieve procedure.
I did throttle back though when heading into a stiff breeze and 1.5' waves.
I'm not used to the bow bouncing up & over. Is it possible for the wind to
flip one of these light aluminum boats?

Pansy. :)

It's possible certainly if you do something really stupid - not that
you would.

The one problem with boats like this one is that they will porpoise if
given enough speed and the proper conditions. Wind can be a concern
if your boat speed is high enough. With you and the boat as
delivered, full fuel load, etc., it will probably top out at 25/27 mph
with a fairly flat running aspect. Which means, and in my experience,
that in a light chop it will just skim along and you won't even notice
it. The wind might move it around a little, but that's about it.

At speed in the type of wave action you described, it will also tend
to skim, but if the period of the wave cycle is longer, it will
porpoise and that is where the danger lies. If you get more air under
the boat than normal, it will launch itself at the next available
opportunity and that's where you get into trouble. I've never done it
and I've had it out in some marginal conditions on Webster Lake which
can get snarky in bad weather. The nice thing about that boat is that
there is some weight in the bow and if you back off the throttle a
little, it will settle down quickly.

If you find the nose bouncing in wind, then you need to adjust the
trim a little - check to make sure that you put it back where I had it
because at that setting, it was perfectly balanced even with two
people aboard.