On 18 Apr 2004 06:35:07 -0700, Parallax wrote:
I know nothing about power boats but am curious about something.
Every year here on the N. Gulf coast, a small power boat goes offshore
fishing and gets swamped because somehow it gets a wave washing over
the cutaway transom that drown the batteries etc.

You hear about it much more often during shrimping season. An outboard
powered boat dragging a shrimp net won't be lifted by a wave from
astern. The net will hold it down and allow the wave to come aboard.
In my book, that's called operator error.
You'll also hear about it when someone stops for a few minutes to fish
and for convenience sake, anchors by the stern instead of the bow.
Same problem as above with the same result. Again, operator error.
The stern of a properly designed drifting o/b boat will lift up and
over a non-breaking wave if it's allowed to do so (within reasonable
limits of course) and a well designed motorwell will dump incoming
water right back overboard. Batteries shouldn't be in the motorwell.

why not have a
piece of canvas that covers the transom cutaway so waves cannot come
aboard so easily? It wouldnt even have to make a seal, just slow down
the entrance of water.

You've got the right idea but a piece of canvas won't stop solid
seawater water from rolling in. Fine for stoping rainwater but not
solid seawater. There are a number of other ways of doing what you're
thinking of though. The ways I know about are all basically just
variations of a motorwell.

Rick