What kind of seas can a capri handle???

[high'n'dry]

Re: What kind of seas can a capri handle???

Not being disagreeable, true it is much skill and experience and JUDGMENT not to be in a bad place to begin with but, you can grow a garden in any dirt but the results may not be to your tastes. I would rather be in a boat that was built to do what you are doing with a reserve of strength, durability and not have the windshields coming off or the deck separating from the hull when the pounding begins.

 

[diesel5599]

Re: What kind of seas can a capri handle???

Not being disagreeable, true it is much skill and experience and JUDGMENT not to be in a bad place to begin with but, you can grow a garden in any dirt but the results may not be to your tastes. I would rather be in a boat that was built to do what you are doing with a reserve of strength, durability and not have the windshields coming off or the deck separating from the hull when the pounding begins.

I agree with high'n'dry, the main thing I have learned over the years is when not to be somewhere you shouldn't be. I by no means consider myself experienced either, I've been boating for about 8-10yrs, but it has all been open ocean or Tampa Bay area.

I learned the hard way how quickly storms can come from nowhere and how very unfriendly the ocean can get with a little wind. Owned a Glastron 185 of all boats and was trying to return home in 4' seas and rain so heavy I couldn't see my own front nav light. I truly thought my time was up that day.

The first thing I learned was why no one else in FL had a Glastron (they are lake boats not ocean boats) so they sit way too close to the water and the second thing I learned was that you don't want an open bow when the waves are higher than your bow.

Somewhere below deck there was a poker game going on between the bilge pump, the engine, and the waves. Somehow the engine stayed dry enough to keep running, the bilge pump pumped enough to keep the engine dry, and the waves didn't dump enough water into the boat fast enough to sink it before I got to shore.

That was the closest call I ever had, and hopefully I will always be able to say that.

 

[Mark42]

Re: What kind of seas can a capri handle???

.....
The first thing I learned was why no one else in FL had a Glastron (they are lake boats not ocean boats) so they sit way too close to the water and the second thing I learned was that you don't want an open bow when the waves are higher than your bow.
.....

I think open bow boats are the most vulnerable in bad weather. Not only is the open bow a big basin to collect rain and waves, but the walk through dash is weak by nature and prone to flexing due to the lack of cross bracing.

A closed cabin or even cuddy cabin will fair much better in rough waters because the waves that do break over the bow roll off without entering the boat. And Cuddy Cabins have very high gunnels in the cockpit area and generally even in the aft, keeping water out better than the average open bow boat.

Don't mistake my comments as meaning cuddy cabins are ocean going vessils. What I am saying is that if you do get caught in the rough stuff, you will fair better in a cuddy than a bow rider. Any light weight boat will take a pounding for a while. But beat it on a regular basis and it will take its toll.

 

[jdlough]

Re: What kind of seas can a capri handle???

The Chesapeake is oriented in a north to south configuration with the prevailing winds coming out of the south all summer long. With an outgoing tide running against the wind it?s going to rough. We?ll get a 1.5 - 2? chop with 5 knots of wind out of the south. At 15 kts. you?re easily looking at a 3-4? chop at 2-3 second intervals. It?s the same for a north with a wind blowing against an incoming tide.

dinbat...

I wish there was a sticky just for dealing with the Chesapeake.

My situation is a bit more complicated. Eastern Shore of the Chesapeake. Mouth of the Nanticoke River, flowing mostly south into the Chesapeake. So, an outflowing river into an outgoing tide with mild winds from the west could make a nice, lovely morning into a nasty afternoon, with NO change in the weather. The afternoon now has an outgoing river meeting an incoming tide, wind helping the tide create waves in the now LOW tide, so the waves are even bigger, but the tide's too low to get the boat back on the lift, with breakers over your stearn.

Meanwhile, on shore, it still looks like the same nice sunny day. And kids wanna go tubing.

 

[jdlough]

Re: What kind of seas can a capri handle???

The Chesapeake is oriented in a north to south configuration with the prevailing winds coming out of the south all summer long. With an outgoing tide running against the wind it?s going to rough. We?ll get a 1.5 - 2? chop with 5 knots of wind out of the south. At 15 kts. you?re easily looking at a 3-4? chop at 2-3 second intervals. It?s the same for a north with a wind blowing against an incoming tide.

dingbat...

I wish there was a sticky just for dealing with the Chesapeake.

My situation is a bit more complicated. Eastern Shore of the Chesapeake. Mouth of the Nanticoke River, flowing mostly south into the Chesapeake. So, an outflowing river into an outgoing tide with mild winds from the west could make a nice, lovely morning into a nasty afternoon, with NO change in the weather. The afternoon now has an outgoing river meeting an incoming tide, wind helping the tide create waves in the now LOW tide, so the waves are even bigger, but the tide's too low to get the boat back on the lift, with breakers over your stearn.

Meanwhile, on shore, it still looks like the same nice sunny day. And kids wanna go tubing.