In article ,
"John Reimer" wrote:

Thanks for the great replies everybody, and KRJ, great idea, but my budget
is LESS than a billion dollars, unfortunately.

But that does bring up an interesting question, what's the biggest ship
that's been sent to the bottom by seas? Not icebergs, U-boats, or
collisions, but by good ol' Mother Nature, other than turning the Cape and
meeting up with the rocks, just out on the open blue water. Will have to
look into that...


'Derbyshire' ?

Molesworth

But that does bring up an interesting question, what's the biggest ship
that's been sent to the bottom by seas? Not icebergs, U-boats, or
collisions, but by good ol' Mother Nature, other than turning the Cape and
meeting up with the rocks, just out on the open blue water. Will have to
look into that...

This typhoon and it's effect is interesting, but no ships as big as
"Derbyshire".

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Halsey%27s_Typhoon

John Wrote:
"But that does bring up an interesting question, what's the biggest ship
that's been sent to the bottom by seas? Not icebergs, U-boats, or
collisions, but by good ol' Mother Nature, other than turning the Cape
and meeting up with the rocks, just out on the open blue water. Will
have to look into that..."

Sometime during WWII the US Navy ran into a fierce typhoon in the
Pacific that sunk a lot of their ships. Don't know the specifics on
which types though.

Red

On Sun, 1 Apr 2007 07:37:46 -0700, "John Reimer"
wrote:

Is there a general rule of thumb on what size of seas become inherently
unsafe for a particular size of boat?

I know there's no firm answer to this, water is unsafe period, and you can
be enjoying the trqnquility of 1 foot swells and have Mr. Whale decide to
knock on your keel to say hello

But is there a general traditional guideline or at least in terms of what
size seas vs boat size that starts making YOU uncomfortable and more
concerned beyond the vigilance water should always be respected with?

I am uncomfortable trying to use a tape measure when surfing sideways.

On Apr 1, 7:37 am, "John Reimer"
wrote:
Is there a general rule of thumb on what size of seas become inherently
unsafe for a particular size of boat?


To quote Donald Rumsfeld, "... You go to sea with the boat you have,
not the boat you want...."

So get your ass out there and stop fllip flopping.
Bob

On Apr 2, 12:17 am, "Bob" wrote:
On Apr 1, 7:37 am, "John Reimer"
wrote:

Is there a general rule of thumb on what size of seas become inherently
unsafe for a particular size of boat?

To quote Donald Rumsfeld, "... You go to sea with the boat you have,
not the boat you want...."

So get your ass out there and stop fllip flopping.
Bob

This is a loaded question. A lot depends on how seaworthy the boat is,
and how skilled the captian is. A good captian can get away with a
lot, a good captian on a seaworthy boat can get away with a lot more
(within reason). Their are plenty of larger boats that are just not
very seaworthy, and plenty of small boats that are very seaworthy for
their size.

John

It is not the size of the boat but the skill of the sailor.

Cap'n Ric

On 2007-04-01 10:37:46 -0400, "John Reimer"
said:

Is there a general rule of thumb on what size of seas become inherently
unsafe for a particular size of boat?

Not really, if you're only considering wave size. I've been in 6-8'
waves over 8' swells and it was a fun romp. I've also encountered 3'
waves that convinced me to slink back into the anchorage, tail between
my legs.

What are the other conditions, depth of water, winds? Are you sailing,
motoring, hove to, on a sea anchor or anchored to the bottom?

I expect you're thinking about a storm at sea. While any storm makes me
uncomfortable --I hate to spill drinks-- and I do everything in my
power to stay away from them, I'd wouldn't be unduly alarmed to find
myself in one if I were well away from any shore, was on a series
drogue sea anchor, and had time to strip the exterior and unship our
rudder and put it below.

--
Jere Lull
Tanzer 28 #4 out of Tolchester, MD
Xan's new pages: http://web.mac.com/jerelull/iWeb/Xan/
Our BVI pages: http://homepage.mac.com/jerelull/BVI/

"Jere Lull" wrote in message
news:2007040223482216807-jerelull@maccom...
On 2007-04-01 10:37:46 -0400, "John Reimer"
said:

Is there a general rule of thumb on what size of seas become inherently
unsafe for a particular size of boat?

[...] I expect you're thinking about a storm at sea. While any storm makes
me uncomfortable --I hate to spill drinks-- and I do everything in my
power to stay away from them, I'd wouldn't be unduly alarmed to find
myself in one if I were well away from any shore, was on a series drogue
sea anchor, and had time to strip the exterior and unship our rudder and
put it below.

Unship your rudder?

-Paul

On 2007-04-04 12:13:02 -0400, "Paul" said:

[...] I expect you're thinking about a storm at sea. While any storm makes
me uncomfortable --I hate to spill drinks-- and I do everything in my
power to stay away from them, I'd wouldn't be unduly alarmed to find
myself in one if I were well away from any shore, was on a series drogue
sea anchor, and had time to strip the exterior and unship our rudder and
put it below.

Unship your rudder?

I wondered if anyone would notice that.

One of the advantages of our transom-hung rudder is that I can take it
off and eliminate damage caused by drifting backwards in high sease. I
also can, and do, inspect the fittings regularly. There is a good pic
of our rudder on Xan's exterior pics page.

--
Jere Lull
Tanzer 28 #4 out of Tolchester, MD
Xan's new pages: http://web.mac.com/jerelull/iWeb/Xan/
Our BVI pages: http://homepage.mac.com/jerelull/BVI/