I am new to boating and have a couple questions about what to do when
caught in bad weather. Last weekend I got caught on a lake in a bad
thunderstorm in a 16.5' bow rider, deep V fiberglass hull powerboat.
Clearly the biggest mistake I made was not to get off the lake when
the sky began clouding up, but the storm came quickly and this
question is about what to do after the storm is on you. Please no
flames, am trying to learn from my mistakes here.

The waves were surprisingly (to a newbie, anyway) high and the boat
got swamped. The water level was somewhere above the deck and below
the seats, hard to say for sure (it all happened so fast!) We were not
far from shore and had children on board so I chose to beach it ASAP
(unfortunately on a fairly rocky shore) and wait the storm out. Once
beached, the boat was forced by the waves onto its side and waves were
coming into the boat, and the rocks beat up the hull. After the storm
we got some help and got the boat back out into the water and
pumped/bailed out the water.

The question is, what should I have done after we got swamped? I am
told the boat will not sink due to foam filled hull, so I think I
probably should have turned the boat into the wind and waves and
waited the storm out on the water, while running the bilge pump and
bailing. Is that correct? Or what should I have done?

Thanks.

It's always easy to Monday morning QB, But here are a few things I personally
would like to think I might have considered before beaching the boat.

(All depending on the actual sea state and how much in jeopardy you perceived
your life and safety to be, of course. Better to destroy the boat than lose a
life. Beaching is not without risk, either. People geting out on a beach have
been killed or injured when waves have knocked them into rocks, or tossed the
boat onto them.)

First thing, assume command of the boat.
You're in trouble, this is no time for a committee debate. Expect people to do
as they're instructed: whether that's sit down out of the way, bail, secure
gear, etc.

In a bowrider, you probably want to get the foredeck covered as the storm is
approaching. Do you carry a canvas cover?
Is it attached securely enough and maybe supported with a bow to avoid caving
in when clobbered by a wave?

Of course, anybody not already in a PFD should put one on.

When the storm is upon you, quarter into the waves if moderate or head into
them if
extremely severe. This is why covering the foredeck is important- you'll be
taking a lot of splash and spray up there and anything you can keep out of the
boat won't have to be bailed or pumped as the situation progresses.

With water halfway between the floorboard and the seats, you had enough water
in the boat that it could have taken quite a while (30 minutes?) for the bilge
pump and bailing to evacuate it. It's sort of judgment time, was it a single
wave that caught you offguard and dumped all that water into your boat, or is
every third or fourth wave shipping more water aboard? IOW, if you don't beach
the boat, is the situation likely to improve or get even worse?

What's the weather doing? Are you experiencing a 15-minute squall that's almost
over, with clear skies approaching,
or as bad as it is already, does the weather quarter look even worse? If you're
getting beat up under light grey clouds and a dark black bank is
approaching...things are likely to get a lot worse before they improve

Do you have a VHF radio? It woulda, shoulda, coulda, been wise to listen to
the weather channel before setting out. Once in trouble, that VHF will alert
nearby boaters and the CG to your predicament.
You might not have had a full blown Mayday, but it wouldn't hurt to open a
communications channel just in case things suddenly got *much* worse, and they
could. Do you carry a GPS? If you have to radio for help specific coordinates
are a lot more helpful than "we're maybe a mile or so east of Hickory Creek." A
16-foot bowrider can be tough to see from any distance in stormy conditions.

And of course you had flares aboard, to help any vessels searching for you in
the immediate vicinity pinpoint your location. Right?

Sometimes beaching is the best solution.
A freind of mine was once the highest ranking CG officer on the W Coast, and
even ran the CG Academy at one time. Four or five years ago, he tore out the
bottom of his boat on a rock up in BC.
(Can happen to anybody). He put it on the beach. Lost the boat, (totalled by
insurance co), but nobody was hurt and
that's the ultimate standard.

Interesting predicament. Here are my thoughts in no particular order.

First, you got the children and your other passengers to land safely. Sure,
you did some damage to your boat but that is small potatoes compared to some
of the other possibilities.

Even if you could have ridden out the storm in a swamped boat, I'm wondering
if that would have scared the hell out of the children? Would that have been
worth saving the damage to the boat?

The swamped boats I've seen are almost totally underwater and I've never
seen them with people in them so I'm not sure if that would be enough to
sink them. You would still have to deal with the waves which you said were
pretty big. You would have to somehow hang on to the boat and the children
at the same time -- I'm not sure how many arms you have but if you're
equipped like me then it's only two.

I'm assuming it's an outboard and if it totally swamped and you got the
powerhead under the water you might still have expensive damage, scared
children and now you're in a swamped boat with no motor. At best.

You wouldn't be able to keep it faced into the wind/waves without applying
some power. If you faced into the waves would that have taken you farther
from shore? If so then how far to the other shore, was it a small lake? What
I'm thinking is that heading out into a large lake in a thunderstorm in a
boat that is clearly wallowing wouldn't be my first choice even without kids
on board.

You say that after the storm you pumped and bailed out the water, how long
did that take you? Did you have to stop for a rest? Now imagine trying to do
that, keep the boat faced into the waves, the boat keeps getting more water
into it, take care of the children, and keep your own panic under control.

If the waves were big enough to get into the boat it must have been rocking
pretty good. Sounds like it might have been easy to lose a child over the
side. Major complication if that happens, don't even want to think about it.

And I know you said not to say it but I'm going to say two things anyway.

A weather band radio might be a good thing to listen to if you see some
clouds coming in. I'm not sure where you are but where I was this weekend,
Thousand Islands/Lake Ontario area, there were constant reports about
thunderstorms accompanied by extremely heavy downpours. We didn't go out on
Saturday because by the time we were ready I wasn't confident about the
weather -- I'm a newbie boater too.

The other thing I'm going to say is that you can always go back out so just
come in next time and wait and see.

Bottom line, you damaged your boat but I think you did the right thing.
Maybe if you (and I) were more experienced it never would have happened but
it did and you still met your first obligation, the safety of your
passengers.

Good job.



"pb" wrote in message
om...
I am new to boating and have a couple questions about what to do when
caught in bad weather. Last weekend I got caught on a lake in a bad
thunderstorm in a 16.5' bow rider, deep V fiberglass hull powerboat.
Clearly the biggest mistake I made was not to get off the lake when
the sky began clouding up, but the storm came quickly and this
question is about what to do after the storm is on you. Please no
flames, am trying to learn from my mistakes here.

The waves were surprisingly (to a newbie, anyway) high and the boat
got swamped. The water level was somewhere above the deck and below
the seats, hard to say for sure (it all happened so fast!) We were not
far from shore and had children on board so I chose to beach it ASAP
(unfortunately on a fairly rocky shore) and wait the storm out. Once
beached, the boat was forced by the waves onto its side and waves were
coming into the boat, and the rocks beat up the hull. After the storm
we got some help and got the boat back out into the water and
pumped/bailed out the water.

The question is, what should I have done after we got swamped? I am
told the boat will not sink due to foam filled hull, so I think I
probably should have turned the boat into the wind and waves and
waited the storm out on the water, while running the bilge pump and
bailing. Is that correct? Or what should I have done?

Thanks.

Most boats, even though they advertise that they won't sink due to full foam
floatation, will not remain upright when they're fully swamped. They become
extremely unstable. Riding the storm out with the bow headed into the waves
may have just allowed more water to enter the boat and ultimately capsize
it.

If I were aboard a center console with an outboard and an open transom, I'd
power into the waves and let the water rush right out the back.

I doubt your boat was self-bailing (most bow riders aren't)...and it's not
likely the bilge pump would have emptied it very quickly. Knowing this, you
probably made the right decision...FOR THAT PARTICULAR BOAT!

What do you do in the future? Take Gould's advice and get a very durable
canvas for the bow. At the first sign of big waves or bad weather, cover
the bow, move the passengers (wearing life jackets) to the middle and stern
of the boat, and keep the bow pointed into, or at a slight angle to the
waves. Keeping the water out in the first place should be your number one
priority. Once it gets in there, you don't have many options other than
beaching it.













"pb" wrote in message
om...
I am new to boating and have a couple questions about what to do when
caught in bad weather. Last weekend I got caught on a lake in a bad
thunderstorm in a 16.5' bow rider, deep V fiberglass hull powerboat.
Clearly the biggest mistake I made was not to get off the lake when
the sky began clouding up, but the storm came quickly and this
question is about what to do after the storm is on you. Please no
flames, am trying to learn from my mistakes here.

The waves were surprisingly (to a newbie, anyway) high and the boat
got swamped. The water level was somewhere above the deck and below
the seats, hard to say for sure (it all happened so fast!) We were not
far from shore and had children on board so I chose to beach it ASAP
(unfortunately on a fairly rocky shore) and wait the storm out. Once
beached, the boat was forced by the waves onto its side and waves were
coming into the boat, and the rocks beat up the hull. After the storm
we got some help and got the boat back out into the water and
pumped/bailed out the water.

The question is, what should I have done after we got swamped? I am
told the boat will not sink due to foam filled hull, so I think I
probably should have turned the boat into the wind and waves and
waited the storm out on the water, while running the bilge pump and
bailing. Is that correct? Or what should I have done?

Thanks.

Thanks, all, for the info and the good advice. Another question, then.
We got swamped when I tried to go around a little peninsula to get to
a relatively calm cove which was close to our position. But to get to
the cove I had turn sideways to the waves, and that was not good. But
turning or quartering into the waves would have taken us further out
from shore, away from the cove, to the open water.

So it seems my choices at that point, before we were swamped, we 1)
try to get to the cove, which I did and it failed; 2) turn into the
wind and head away from shore or 3) beach it on the near side of the
little peninsula, where I ended up beaching anyway.

Any advice on that?


(pb) wrote in message . com...
I am new to boating and have a couple questions about what to do when
caught in bad weather. Last weekend I got caught on a lake in a bad
thunderstorm in a 16.5' bow rider, deep V fiberglass hull powerboat.
Clearly the biggest mistake I made was not to get off the lake when
the sky began clouding up, but the storm came quickly and this
question is about what to do after the storm is on you. Please no
flames, am trying to learn from my mistakes here.

The waves were surprisingly (to a newbie, anyway) high and the boat
got swamped. The water level was somewhere above the deck and below
the seats, hard to say for sure (it all happened so fast!) We were not
far from shore and had children on board so I chose to beach it ASAP
(unfortunately on a fairly rocky shore) and wait the storm out. Once
beached, the boat was forced by the waves onto its side and waves were
coming into the boat, and the rocks beat up the hull. After the storm
we got some help and got the boat back out into the water and
pumped/bailed out the water.

The question is, what should I have done after we got swamped? I am
told the boat will not sink due to foam filled hull, so I think I
probably should have turned the boat into the wind and waves and
waited the storm out on the water, while running the bilge pump and
bailing. Is that correct? Or what should I have done?

Thanks.

On 13 Aug 2003 14:24:43 -0700, (pb) wrote:
Thanks, all, for the info and the good advice. Another question, then.
We got swamped when I tried to go around a little peninsula to get to
a relatively calm cove which was close to our position. But to get to
the cove I had turn sideways to the waves, and that was not good. But
turning or quartering into the waves would have taken us further out
from shore, away from the cove, to the open water.

So it seems my choices at that point, before we were swamped, we 1)
try to get to the cove, which I did and it failed; 2) turn into the
wind and head away from shore or 3) beach it on the near side of the
little peninsula, where I ended up beaching anyway.

Any advice on that?
=============================================
Turning from upwind to downwind in large steep waves is a dangerous
maneuver and best avoided as you found out. If you really have to
make the turn, try to pick your spot carefully and maneuver between
waves as best you can. You might have been able to avoid trouble by
trimming the bow up a bit and motoring SLOWLY into the waves at an
angle. If things get really nasty however there's no guarantee even
that will work out safely. Open bow boats are particulary vulnerable
and by far the best cure is prevention. On balance though I think you
did the right thing once you were swamped. Lives are much more
important than boats, capsizing was a very real possibility that would
have greatly increased the danger, and you don't have much time to
make these decisions. Well done in my opinion except for being
"caught out" in the first place, and we've all had that happen.

If I was within 20 feet or so to the shore I'd be tempted to drag anchor and
hope that it would hold the boat in water just deep enough to float.
I
would be reluctant to throw an anchor off the front of an open bow in high
waves. If it were possible, Id try to get the boat heading into weather, hover
& walk her slowly sideways until protective water is reached. Its possible to
point into the weather & let yourself lose ground as to your advantage.

On 13 Aug 2003 17:55:53 GMT, (Gould 0738) wrote:


Do you have a VHF radio? It woulda, shoulda, coulda, been wise to listen to
the weather channel before setting out. Once in trouble, that VHF will alert
nearby boaters and the CG to your predicament.

there's no question the CG would launch a boat if notified about this
situation. that's why it's always prudent to carry a radio.
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On 14 Aug 2003 02:09:24 GMT, (Wwj2110) wrote:

If I was within 20 feet or so to the shore I'd be tempted to drag anchor and
hope that it would hold the boat in water just deep enough to float.
I
would be reluctant to throw an anchor off the front of an open bow in high
waves. If it were possible, Id try to get the boat heading into weather, hover
& walk her slowly sideways until protective water is reached. Its possible to
point into the weather & let yourself lose ground as to your advantage.


folks should be aware that, if a rescue becomes necessary, it's going
to be more difficult if the boat is in the surf. it's a judgement call
on the part of the skipper, but that's why they earn the big bucks :-)
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On 13 Aug 2003 10:01:19 -0700, (pb) wrote:


The question is, what should I have done after we got swamped? I am
told the boat will not sink due to foam filled hull, so I think I
probably should have turned the boat into the wind and waves and
waited the storm out on the water, while running the bilge pump and
bailing. Is that correct? Or what should I have done?


in this situation, make sure you call the coast guard and let them
know what's going on. in your situation, they would definitely have
sent a boat, but it's better safe than sorry. never, never hesitate
to call the CG if you're in danger.
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