Tinboaters ESPECIALLY custom builders. CHECK THIS OUT

https://www.ohiobass.org/StateTournaments/Erie/Erie.htm


I wouldn't leave the flotation out. This boat is a big heavy duty tin boat, and as far as tin bass boats go, you aren't going to find a better big water boat.

WOW

That is a bass boat - not really up to big water at all

You want a Deep V Starcraft, SeaNymph or that sort to go out on the bigger water

We run them on the bog bay (DE Bay) and inshore ocean and you need those high sides

Also, they are never decked up high like that just because of what that guy had happen

Finally, he should carry a hand pump - like this

Man that woulda puckerd my *** up so tight you could shove a piece of coal up my *** an i'd **** a dimond...

See that my friend is why i wont go out into the gulf with anything less than a 20fter, growing up in florida iv seen TONs a guys go out in the gulf with small v boats or jonnies and watch them crest over the top of a 6 or 7ft wave an barely come out on the otherside by the skin of their teeth..

Considering the great lakes have their own weather like a ocean i would treat them the same way..

:shock:

Poor choices equate to dire consequencec...stupid is as stupid does [-X [-X

I use one or two drift socks often. For convenience sake, they are tied amid-ships, not at the stern. Never thought about having to do a quick release, though. I'll be thinking about some easy way to release them.

My drift socks have a pull string that runs to the narrow funnel end. A pull on that cord instantly dumps the sock.

This article just proves why we need all of the free-board that we can get, especially in the stern.

Thanks for posting this. There is always something that we forget about ....and it often catches you just when you least expect it.

regards, R

Yup, always file a flight plan

Glad I put as much flotation in my build as I did. Seeing this makes me wonder if I need more just in case.

Too small a boat too big of water....
Also a bilge float switch would probably have helped...and a forward battery
I'm not sure I would take my 18 foot Welcraft on erie...at least not very far out.

Scary...

I don't use drift socks, but I do have a quick release for my anchor rope. It's called a really sharp knife in my pocket. I've had to cut anchor ropes quickly when swells suddenly appeared and the anchor was stuck.

I DO have a hand operated bilge pump for both boats, fresh water and salt.

bulldog said:

Glad I put as much flotation in my build as I did. Seeing this makes me wonder if I need more just in case.

Click to expand...

Me too. This scares me quite a bit because I plan to fish the same water. My boat is much higher, but still.

I need to dig up the thread on calculating how much flotation you need, and figure out how much I need. I just kinda winged it without figuring a set amount.


And I KNOW my flotation isn't spread throughout the boat evenly. MUCH more up front than in back.

I grew up in Michigan and sailed with my parents on lake Huron for about 15 years. The Great Lakes are no joke. The storms build fast and the waves get BIG in a hurry. I have had the diamond from my *** experience several times...in a really well equiped 30' sailboat. Now I play offshore of Massachusetts in a 22 foot center console and use all of the stuff I learned on the big lakes to keep me and my crew safe.

Unfortunately the dudes in that story aren't the first to be stupid enough to think a bass boat is appropriate for what is equivalent to offshore ocean conditions.

If you fish big water you need to have your boat set up for it...and know that a tethered stern is the kiss of death in a big sea.

They were missing:

A proper floating ditch bag mounted in an accessable location above deck that includes signaling equipment, handheld VHF and an EPIRB or PLB.

Redundant bilge pumps on independant circuits

A DSC capable fix mounted VHF

And, of course, enough sense to get the hell out when the getting was good.

IMHO 3-4 foot seas is too big for the typical 16-20 foot freshwater boat. I'm turing tail and making a mad dash for shore in a 22 foot deep V set up for offshore travel when it looks like it will build beyond 4 feet.

They are lucky they "bumped" into a somebody willing to help.

That's some scary stuff right there! I don't know that I would have been able to stay positive in that situation as the story said.

I've had my 12 foot springbok offshore (we call it onshore) lots of times to work the shoals. I'm never more than a mile out and always check the marine broadcasts before I go though. Learned it from my dad. Here's the old feller with the tinny out on a nice day working the shoals:





I have a small weather radio I take with me also for unforcasted changes.

Anything over sea state 2 is a no go for me. Sea state 3 is completely out of the question (start to see white caps, around 3 foot seas).

I also can't believe guys would tie a sea anchor (or any anchor) anywhere but at the bow.

Bow into the waves, always.

Must be the difference between a lake and ocean mindset.

I can see how you may want to keep the boat in an orientation when working a lake shore, but open water tells you how you're going to point you don't tell it.

Meh, maybe it's just because I was raised on/around the Atlantic....try going 20 miles off in a 16 foot open boat (admittedly, wooden, 2-3 feet of free board and a proper bow) to jig some cod on the grounds. You learn respect for open water reaaaaaaaal fast....

I'd say these dudes have a new respect.....