Too Dangerous for Safe Boating!
 

Jim wrote:

"HK" wrote in message
...
Eisboch wrote:
"Wayne.B" wrote in message
...
On Thu, 16 Aug 2007 08:14:17 -0400, "Reginald P. Smithers III"
wrote:

LOL, Harry you sure seem to be hung up on this transom thing.
You noticed that also. Methinks he is a mite sensitive perhaps.

Not to worry though, Harry has told us many times how experienced he
is and there's no reason to doubt it that I know of.

http://www.newsargus.com/news/archiv...escued_at_sea/




My comments on this transom thing is based on personal experience. I
swamped a small boat once, back in my teenaged years and it was on a
fresh water pond, flat as a pancake with no other influences on the
boat other than my stupid operation of it.

I was pulling a skier and she fell, but didn't immediately let go of
the tow line. I immediately made a hard turn, while pulling the
throttle back. The resultant wake wave hit the boat on the stern
quarter and filled the boat with well over a foot of water in a
nanosecond. There was no way I could move it with the engine without
more water pouring over the open transom.
The engine then quit, the boat became extremely unstable, in danger
of flipping so I slid into the water. The skier and I then swam
back to the nearby shore, slowly pulling the swamped boat with us
with the tow line.

When it happens on a small boat, it happens fast.

Eisboch


Yes, when I was about 10, I momentarily swamped an 8' plywood pram
which we had overloaded with a friend's 10 hp outboard. Boat would
only plane with a friend in the bow. Stopped the boat suddenly, wake
came rushing over the little stern. Lesson learned: when you come off
plane in a small boat, goose the accelerator a little to stay ahead of
the oncoming collapsing wake.

On the other hand, if you ram your 49' trawler onto one of the
uncharted underwater rocks around the Thimble Islands, guess what?
You're probably going to sink the boat. That 9' tall transom won't
save you.


Harry,
Read what Pasco says about boat sinkings.
http://www.yachtsurvey.com/sinking.htm Remedy the flaws that you can.
Then invest in the best life jacket and EPIRB you can afford.
Safe boating.



There are thousands of reasons why boats swamp or sink. Some of these
are the result of bad design or bad materials or bad construction. MAny
more are the result of operator error. Some just happen. I'm always more
concerned about my safety on this country's highways than I am while I
am piloting a boat.

I've got six of the proper lifejackets on son of Yo Ho, plus a Mustang
auto inflatable for my wife and me. I just bought a McMurdo epirb for
the new boat. It has a built-in GPS transmitter. Of course, if I boated
on Lake Lanier, I could just walk to shore on the decks of the 93,000
boats on that little bit of water.

Too Dangerous for Safe Boating!
 

Reginald P. Smithers III wrote:
Vic Smith wrote:

--Vic

Vic,
Harry knows everything about boating, so our comments are not directed
towards him. If you have been around long enough, you will see he
spends every weekend and weekday logged onto rec.boats. When he goes to
sell this boat in a few years, you will see it has very very few hours
on the engine meter. But if you also noticed, those regulars who
actually use their boats and boat in salt water, no of them, would have
picked a boat with an open transom. So this discussion of open transom
vs. brackets or engine well is really designed for those people who
don't know everything yet, but might be interested in buying a CC to
actually use.

I find any discussion that actually involves a boating topic to be far
superior to one that involves cut and pasting a political argument into
a boating NG, just so one can call other assholes. So in that respect,
I would have to say the NG is the winner, and there are no losers.

Vic,
As someone who doesn't know everything there is to know about all
subjects, I do learn something new just about everyday. David Pasco, a
professional marine surveyor and author
(http://www.yachtsurvey.com/surveyorrelated.htm)

had this this to say about open transom boats:

Open Transoms or boats with no transoms have been appearing on the
market with more frequency lately, and many of these are just accidents
waiting to happen. A boat without a transom cannot reasonably be called
seaworthy unless the internal compartments of the hull are made
absolutely watertight. This is almost never the case because the
builders never put absolutely watertight hatches in the decks.

They make a mistake by ignoring the probability that at some point in
time the vessel will encounter circumstances where waves are crashing
over the nonexistent transom, flooding the deck, and thereby endangering
the vessel and its passengers. Builders of such boats don't have the
foresight (which they should have) to consider what would happen if such
a boat lost power while navigating a dangerous inlet, or breaks down
while at sea. Under these circumstances, the lack of a transom becomes
very dangerous. Even large sport fishermen with large, open cockpit
scuppers or non-sealing transom doors have gotten into trouble under
such conditions. If you are the owner of such a boat, you had better
think carefully how you use it.

I have no doubt Harry will not have any problem using his boat on
perfect days in the Chesapeake Bay, so it is the perfect boat for his
application, but if I was buying a boat to go offshore in less than
perfect conditions.

When I used to hear all of the Bayliner Bashers I said that they were a
great boat for inland lakes, bays and close to shore use, but to compare
them to a true offshore battlewagon (as Skipper used to do) was silly.
I think before anyone purchased an open transom boat, they should review
how they plan on actually using the boat.

Too Dangerous for Safe Boating!
 

On Fri, 17 Aug 2007 06:18:30 -0400, HK wrote:

how long will that boat float
once you put a nice big hole in the bottom?

Longer than yours... :-)

Too Dangerous for Safe Boating!
 

On Fri, 17 Aug 2007 08:21:36 -0400, HK wrote:

On the other hand, if you ram your 49' trawler onto one of the uncharted
underwater rocks around the Thimble Islands, guess what? You're probably
going to sink the boat. That 9' tall transom won't save you.


Funny you should mention the Thimble Islands, arguably one of the most
scenic locations on Long Island Sound. We went there for the first
time in the summer of 1972 and have been going back ever since.
Unfortunately the 49 is a tad on the large size for safe anchoring in
the islands. We've never found any uncharted rocks although there are
always a few folks who rediscover one of the many that are on the
charts.

As I said once before, none of my discussion of low transom risks is
directed at you or your Parker. They are fine boats for their
intended purpose. The risks are very real however for those who push
the envelope and get unlucky.

Too Dangerous for Safe Boating!
 

On Thu, 16 Aug 2007 23:59:43 -0700, "capt.bill11"
wrote:

I must be missing something, it's a Whaler right? So, who cares if the
transom is low cut, or that the scuppers are half underwater. It can't
sink. ;-)

Exactly, level flotation. They can most definitely be capsized
however, and much more easily if swamped.

Too Dangerous for Safe Boating!
 

On Fri, 17 Aug 2007 11:12:47 -0400, wrote:

Funny you should mention the Thimble Islands, arguably one of the most
scenic locations on Long Island Sound. We went there for the first
time in the summer of 1972 and have been going back ever since.
Unfortunately the 49 is a tad on the large size for safe anchoring in
the islands. We've never found any uncharted rocks although there are
always a few folks who rediscover one of the many that are on the
charts.


I anchor out there often. I regularly see larger boats there. The
holding between High and Pot Islands is good, (sticky clay/mud) and
there is also plenty of room east of Pot Island. Just don't try to
anchor between High and Pot when there is strong wind directly from
the south. That can be pretty uncomfortable. When that happens, I tuck
in behind Horse Island for protection. I really don't think you would
have any problems.


Any problems with "uncharted rocks" ? :-)

Counting the bow pulpit and swim platform the GB49 is really more like
a 55, and I like to have a lot of scope and swinging room. It is a
great place to hang out though.

Too Dangerous for Safe Boating!
 

Wayne.B wrote:
On Fri, 17 Aug 2007 06:18:30 -0400, HK wrote:

how long will that boat float
once you put a nice big hole in the bottom?

Longer than yours... :-)


Really? Your barge has flotation, eh?

Too Dangerous for Safe Boating!
 

Wayne.B wrote:
On Fri, 17 Aug 2007 08:21:36 -0400, HK wrote:

On the other hand, if you ram your 49' trawler onto one of the uncharted
underwater rocks around the Thimble Islands, guess what? You're probably
going to sink the boat. That 9' tall transom won't save you.


Funny you should mention the Thimble Islands, arguably one of the most
scenic locations on Long Island Sound. We went there for the first
time in the summer of 1972 and have been going back ever since.
Unfortunately the 49 is a tad on the large size for safe anchoring in
the islands. We've never found any uncharted rocks although there are
always a few folks who rediscover one of the many that are on the
charts.

As I said once before, none of my discussion of low transom risks is
directed at you or your Parker. They are fine boats for their
intended purpose. The risks are very real however for those who push
the envelope and get unlucky.


I used to know of a few uncharted rocks around the Thimbles. Perhaps by
now they are on the charts.

Too Dangerous for Safe Boating!
 

On Fri, 17 Aug 2007 04:59:31 -0400, "Eisboch" wrote:

When it happens on a small boat, it happens fast.

In my opinion, some of these "events' all relate to boat design. Open
transom work ok, but I'd rather have something more back there than a
hole.

I've often wondered why none of the majors in the small CC fishing
market have gone back to the tried and true center well outboards. In
my opinion, those are the safest for variety of reasons including
placing stern way on the boat for any number of reasons.

Inshore lobster men used these types of boats for years - most based
on the Swampscott Dory and/or Amesbury Dory designs. It's a clean
design, efficient, actually adds interior room and is the safest.

That's my opinion and I'm sticking to it. :)

Too Dangerous for Safe Boating!
 

On Thu, 16 Aug 2007 18:39:08 -0300, "Don White"
wrote:


"John H." wrote in message
.. .
How's your mom, Don? Haven't heard much about her lately.
--
John H


John.. this is a boating newsgroup.
People don't come here to hear about my mother.
She is doing fine by the way...still waiting for her nursing home bed.


Don, asking about your mom is no more inappropriate than your and Harry's
derogatory comments, wouldn't you say?
--
John H