Is this boat sea worthy...

[Godfirst]

Ok girlfriend says no...lol

24' deep V euro cuddy merc 5.7 carberated gas, alpha 1 sterndrive no leaks has new bilge everthing works properly have all emergency requirements vhf and portable, gps, even paid for vessel assist even bought a 2 man raft.... the way I look at it is life is a adventure and to respect mother nature and be prepared.
any comments

Thanks

 

[veritas honus]

Re: Is this boat sea worthy...

OK, how's this for a comment...

There will be no comments until you post some pics!!!

Anyway... sounds like a perfectly reasonable plan. My boat's only 20'. I don't have a life raft on board. I do, however, have my wife, and two children (8 & 3 years old) on board. My boat is seaworthy. I'm confident in my skills, knowledge, and my boat.

I agree with you 100% and then some... Life is indeed an adventure. We are always best to respect Mother Nature, and be prepared. Always check weather and conditions prior to, and throughout your voyages. Watch and pay attention to the weather and all it's signs, regardless of what the reports say. Stay well aware of your surroundings at all times. Your level of situation awareness can make or break you.

Have fun out there!!!

 

[dingbat]

Re: Is this boat sea worthy...

You?re skills will get you by with a flawed boat to a point. ?Seasoned? Mariners die every year when Mother Nature calls their hand and they have an equiptment failure.

Common themes of lost boats

1. Water/Wave breaches hull
2. Water floods motor/ batteries.
3. Motor fails. No mean of maneuvering
4. Subsequent waves breach hull
5. Boat sinks

1. Motor fails. No means of maneuvering
2. Subsequent waves breach hull
3. Boat sinks

Anytime your out in open water without a self bailing deck you?re one wave away from disaster. An engine failure in rough water can spell disaster. If your confident that neither one of these scenerios can happen, then go for it.

 

[jigngrub]

Re: Is this boat sea worthy...

Has it been stored out in the elements uncovered or covered, or indoors/drydock?

Does the deck have any soft spots?

Have you checked for transom rot?

What does the overall appearance look like? Does it look like refried rat crap or has it been well maintained? I know appearance doesn't keep a boat afloat, but usually if someone takes the time to keep their boat looking good they also take the time to keep it seaworthy as well.

 

[erie_guy]

Re: Is this boat sea worthy...

Godfirst,

My first question is what "sea" do you want to be worthy of ? And do you operate on a lake, river or ocean ? Also, how far from assistance - shore, other boats, Coast Guard, etc.

Sounds like you have the necessary equipment, but may need a course in seamanship. See local Coast Guard Auxiliary for training over the winter months and you will be good-to-go in the Spring.

erie_guy
"on the hard" in Port Clinton, OH

 

[high'n'dry]

Re: Is this boat sea worthy...

IMO, seaworthiness in small boats is an almost impossible thing. That said, look for a hull that has self bailing, sealed decks, minimal under deck bilge, large deck scuppers that can clear the deck of water fast. I would not buy an I/O for ocean use. Under 24 feet I would want an absolutely unsinkable design with a foam filled double hull, essentially a surfboard, fiberglass encapsulated foam all the way to the gunwale tops. Such boats are Boston Whaler, Edgewater, Mckeecraft and several others. Anything other than a foam and glass, self bailing, non-bilge boat with large deck scuppers is a future dive site.

If you have two inches of foam all the way to the gunwale caps, it will also be highly resistant to rolling over, capsizing. That is my opinion, based on my experience, if you cannot ride around with the plug pulled, it ain't unsinkable.

 

[Outsider]

Re: Is this boat sea worthy...

If you have to ask, this may be one of those life experiences that should end with 'yes, dear'. The sea floor is littered with the bones of 'adventurers' who got in over their heads (pun intended) ...

 

[26aftcab454]

Re: Is this boat sea worthy...

The "where at "question is what is important--open Ocean??- Great Lakes? you'll need experiance Captain!
If your on smaller or protected waters & good equipment & common sense you should do fine.

 

[oops!]

Re: Is this boat sea worthy...

there is a reason your gf says that......post pics or change your gf

 

[Bondo]

Re: Is this boat sea worthy...

there is a reason your gf says that......post pics or change your gf

Ayuh,... Or maybe She knows more than we do,...
About the poster, not so much 'bout the boat...

 

[2ndtry]

Re: Is this boat sea worthy...

there is a reason your gf says that......post pics or change your gf

or change the boat and post pics of the gf

The real question (which has been asked), is which sea? No issues what so ever on an inland lake, I wouldn't be heading to the bahamas in that rig.

 

[CaptainKickback]

Re: Is this boat sea worthy...

"seaworthiiness" - depends

Relative To A Boat , the term generally applies to the condition of the boat for use on the water. Is it properly maintained versus a ratively high expectation of a major failure.

Size is irrelavant as it is the skipper's responsibility to determine if sea conditions, boat capabilities, and skipper capabities are compatible.

For example, even large vessels are not safe in a hurricane, yet they were considered seaworthy.

And whether your boat stays at the surface or sinks when swamped, if you are in sea conditions where engine failure means swamped, then swamped is swamped and you shouldn't be there. Even the best maintained engine can fail, and if it does and you swamp, I consider it more a failure of the captain.

Just my $.02 - guess we're just being anal about the definition of seawothy.

 

[Thalasso]

Re: Is this boat sea worthy...

IMO, seaworthiness in small boats is an almost impossible thing. That said, look for a hull that has self bailing, sealed decks, minimal under deck bilge, large deck scuppers that can clear the deck of water fast. I would not buy an I/O for ocean use. Under 24 feet I would want an absolutely unsinkable design with a foam filled double hull, essentially a surfboard, fiberglass encapsulated foam all the way to the gunwale tops. Such boats are Boston Whaler, Edgewater, Mckeecraft and several others. Anything other than a foam and glass, self bailing, non-bilge boat with large deck scuppers is a future dive site.

What is the downside to I/O's other then the engine is blow the waterline?Isn't O/B's capable of getting water in them on rough sea's?

If you have two inches of foam all the way to the gunwale caps, it will also be highly resistant to rolling over, capsizing. That is my opinion, based on my experience, if you cannot ride around with the plug pulled, it ain't unsinkable.

What is the down side of I/O's on the open water other then engines are below the water line?
Can't the O/B's get water intrusion in rough water.

 

[Beefer]

Re: Is this boat sea worthy...

IMO, seaworthiness in small boats is an almost impossible thing. That said, look for a hull that has self bailing, sealed decks, minimal under deck bilge, large deck scuppers that can clear the deck of water fast. I would not buy an I/O for ocean use. Under 24 feet I would want an absolutely unsinkable design with a foam filled double hull, essentially a surfboard, fiberglass encapsulated foam all the way to the gunwale tops. Such boats are Boston Whaler, Edgewater, Mckeecraft and several others. Anything other than a foam and glass, self bailing, non-bilge boat with large deck scuppers is a future dive site.

If you have two inches of foam all the way to the gunwale caps, it will also be highly resistant to rolling over, capsizing. That is my opinion, based on my experience, if you cannot ride around with the plug pulled, it ain't unsinkable.

You can't be serious. I grew up on a single I/O that was in the Atlantic every weekend, and made canyon trips at least once a year. I currently have a 22' single I/O, that is not foam filled, and I'm going out tomorrow 15 miles in the GOM with SCA's being posted today for tomorrow's forecast. Are you one of those folks in the 35 footers on inland lakes?

As for OP, I would have no worries taking the aforementioned boat into the ocean, GOM, or the Great Lakes, weather permitting. You seem to have all the necessary safety equipment, and as long as your skills are competent, shouldn't have any problems. My $0.02

 

[high'n'dry]

Re: Is this boat sea worthy...

Beefer, I am serious and I don't care what you grew up on, you give your opinion, I gave mine, I will not change it to suit what you grew up on.

What is the down side of I/O's on the open water other then engines are below the water line?
Can't the O/B's get water intrusion in rough water.

I/O have a huge bilge, need bilge pumps, rarely have self bailing, sealed decks. The engine is below the water line and the bellows is as well. If the bellows tears then down you go, blub, blub, blub.

If you want an inboard, get an inboard, not an I/O. The larger the boat, especially once they are above trailer-able size, inboard boats make huge sense. No, most are not self bailing but once you are that big, you also have huge freeboard, large pumps etc. Size matters.

Can an outboard drown, sure, if the boat is upside down or it is a design that cannot keep the power head above water when the decks are awash, that is why I included the photo. The bottom boat is likely to flood the engine out and roll over, the upper boat is much less likely to do so. Any small boat can capsize and none are self righting once upside down. Thus my statement that small boats and seaworthy in the same sentence is difficult.

Good luck

 

[CaptainKickback]

Re: Is this boat sea worthy...

Wow. Lots of differing comments here. Does make for an interesting thread though.

I would like to restate an exerpt from my previous post, "swamped is swamped". You shouldn't have been there. Caltains mistake, not the boats.

Bubba, i took jigngrub's comments to indicate he understood the original seaworthy question to mean the condition of the boat. In that regards, he was suggesting things the OP could do to verify the boat's condition.

High'n'dry, many I/Os have self bailing decks. I had a 28' twin I/9 for 9 years. No watter below. Hit 2 successive 10' standing waves (my fault, not the boat's) . Water rushed over our heads. Windshiels and bimini gone. No water below deck. Again, i shouldn't have been there. If conditions are bad enough to start swamping a boat, they are usually bad enough to finish the job no matter I/O or OB. I was lucky.

Beefer, most boaters I know would say 15 miles out in a single 22 is risky. Most of the time, no problem. If your weather skills are good, you lessen the risk if you know you can get back before a storm gets in the middle. And piloting skills can help as well. But, what if your single fails while you are racing a storm?

Interesting discussion.

 

[Beefer]

Re: Is this boat sea worthy...

Beefer, I am serious and I don't care what you grew up on, you give your opinion, I gave mine, I will not change it to suit what you grew up on.



I/O have a huge bilge, need bilge pumps, rarely have self bailing, sealed decks. The engine is below the water line and the bellows is as well. If the bellows tears then down you go, blub, blub, blub.

If you want an inboard, get an inboard, not an I/O. The larger the boat, especially once they are above trailer-able size, inboard boats make huge sense. No, most are not self bailing but once you are that big, you also have huge freeboard, large pumps etc. Size matters.

Can an outboard drown, sure, if the boat is upside down or it is a design that cannot keep the power head above water when the decks are awash, that is why I included the photo. The bottom boat is likely to flood the engine out and roll over, the upper boat is much less likely to do so. Any small boat can capsize and none are self righting once upside down. Thus my statement that small boats and seaworthy in the same sentence is difficult.

Good luck

You're entitled to your opinion, and I don't have a problem with an opinion, it's misinformation that I have issues with.

You say that: "I/O have a huge bilge, need bilge pumps, rarely have self bailing, sealed decks."
My 22' I/O has a smaller bilge area then my 16' OB did, and smaller than many OB bilges
So OB boats don't need bilge pumps? Good luck with that
My 22' is self-bailing, and most other-than-beach-barge boats (ie. fishing/offshore) are self-bailing
Once again, I'm running a sealed deck

Please watch this video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c48IWQ7vWEE

According to your opinion, this boat should have never sank; OB, self-bailing, bilge pumps, and over 24'. Sad thing is, the motors wouldn't start, even though the boat was right-side-up, hadn't rolled over (yet), and the powerheads were above water. They wouldn't start because water was getting into the huge bilge area (see integrated swim platform), and shorted everything out.

And FYI, I would say that 90% of inboards ARE self bailing, and tend to have lower freeboards (see Bertram). And, all that's keeping water out of the boat is shaft packing.

Funny thing is here in FL, there are tons of boats. Every year I see numerous news articles on boats sinking. I see very few I/O's sinking, and the majority of the boats that do are OB's. Yes, I/O's have bellows that can fail, but regular maintenance and upkeep can prevent those failures. I'm sure there are more thru-hull fitting failure sinkings (on all types of engine designs) then there are bellows related sinkings.

 

[chriscraft254]

Re: Is this boat sea worthy...

Basically guys, all boats properly set-up with the right equipment and the right operator and the right sea conditions and the right maintenance are sea worthy.

Any boat of any size of any configuration can sink and will if systems are overwelmed by sea conditions or have a breach in the hull. Even foam filled boats like boston whalers have sunk. Having an outboard is no more safer than having an I/O. In many cases boats with outboards are swamped, which means water over the stern. You will very rarely see this happen with an I/O or Inboard. Yes I/O can sink if the bellows are bad. This is a maintenance item and should never in reality happen, but we all know it does. But not nearly as close to as how many of outboards get swamped.


Does self bailing and freeboard come into the equation? Sure it does but it doesn't neccesarily make a boat more sea worthy than another. Some boats are built for offshore,some aren't.


When younger, I ran a 19 ft mako. The boat saw 6 to 8 foot seas and made it home. Another day with two foot seas, it got swamped and it got towed in. My point is you never know what is going to happen,even on somewhat calm days.

All it took was a couple waves over the stern of that mako to swamp the motor, batteries, electrical wiring etc. It wouldn't have mattered if I had no bilge or a bilge with a 5000 gph pump in it. The boat went down with-in seconds. Fast enough, that I didn't have time to get the rope on the anchor cut and engine started before I was dead in the water. Luckily it was foam filled and stayed afloat, hell I continued fishing until the coast gaurd got there.


Self bailing decks are nice to have, but not "for sure insurance that your not going to sink.


OP, Cuddy cabin boats wether inboard,outboard, or I/O have a much better chance of sinking than a boat that has one deck level if there is water intrusion. Once you get an intrusion of water into the forward part of a cuddy cabin, the boat is going to sink! The flip side of this, is that cuddy cabin boats offer more protection from the elements usually. To say your boat is sea worthy will all depend on the condition of the motor, electrical systems, bilge pump systems, and your ability to not put the boat in a bad situation. Having a raft is the very last thing on my list of things to have. Save the money on the raft and buy an Epirb. Not going to matter if you have a raft if no one can find you!

 

[CaptainKickback]

Re: Is this boat sea worthy...

Chriscraft254, well said.

 

[high'n'dry]

Re: Is this boat sea worthy...

Wow. Lots of differing comments here. Does make for an interesting thread though.

I would like to restate an exerpt from my previous post, "swamped is swamped". You shouldn't have been there. Caltains mistake, not the boats.

Bubba, i took jigngrub's comments to indicate he understood the original seaworthy question to mean the condition of the boat. In that regards, he was suggesting things the OP could do to verify the boat's condition.

High'n'dry, many I/Os have self bailing decks. I had a 28' twin I/9 for 9 years. No watter below. Hit 2 successive 10' standing waves (my fault, not the boat's) . Water rushed over our heads. Windshiels and bimini gone. No water below deck. Again, i shouldn't have been there. If conditions are bad enough to start swamping a boat, they are usually bad enough to finish the job no matter I/O or OB. I was lucky.

Beefer, most boaters I know would say 15 miles out in a single 22 is risky. Most of the time, no problem. If your weather skills are good, you lessen the risk if you know you can get back before a storm gets in the middle. And piloting skills can help as well. But, what if your single fails while you are racing a storm?

Interesting discussion.

Dude, I have no intention of arguing with you and your anecdotal stories, I stay with what I said as a general statement. I/O boats are generally a poor choice for ocean use and the boat in the OPs question is not one of the exceptions. Please state your thoughts, leave me out of it, thank you.

There is a lot of misinformation in this thread especially regarding statements such as "all boats properly setup" are seaworthy and others such as it is the captain, not the boat etc. As to my opinions regarding I/O boats for ocean use, this is not an isolated opinion, they are a horrible solution to a non problem and rather than the best of an outboard and an inboard, they are the worst. The bellows is a serious concern.

And for arguments that all boats have level flotation (below 20 feet but claimed for many above 20 feet):

Level flotation:

In excess of level flotation:

Not all boats can be made seaworthy, I will stick with what I said as to a trailerable boat being truly seaworthy and as to the captain issue, sooner or later if you go out on the sea, you will have to survive a storm, a rogue wave, a passing freighter, an impact with debris and many other calamities that have sent man an experienced captain to their death. Choose your boat well, don't bring a knife to a gun fight.

Some of you might need one of these for when that bellows seal goes bad: