Yesterday my son and I got to experience a bit of rough water in the Dory. We put in at the W. Seattle launch for a quick run across to West Point for an evening of coho fishing. There had been a steady North wind blowing all day, but only 1' wind waves in Elliot bay. By the time we reached West point, we were in full 3' wind waves backing up against the North shore of Magnolia (and against an ebb tide). The boat handled things surprisingly well, and I was able to quarter over all but the biggest of the waves. We ducked into Shilshole to get a marine forecast (note to self: do this before launching in the future) and collect our thoughts. We decided to run back home while it was still light, and considering fishing was completely out of the question in our small boat. The boat handled the following waves on the way back just fine, but the prop cavitated a few times coming over large waves with the motor trimmed up (Permatrim procedure). I had my son run her back to gain some experiencerunning in following seas with a Permatrim. My conclusion: we never really felt unsafe, but in the future I will not choose to take a CD 16 out if I know wind waves greater than 2' are likely. The boat would be able to handle a bit more, but in true 3' wind waves it's not relaxing at all. We'll try the fishery again tomorrow, with wind waves predicted at 1' or less. Cheers! Mike.
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16 Angler in wind waves
- Thread starter westward
- Start date
Thanks for the account of your trip in some rough water. Today I'm putting my new 1985 16 Angler in the water for the first time. If the forecast holds true we'll have nice conditions, but I'm on pins and needles, anyway.
I'm in Eastern Oregon on the middle Columbia river where we don't see very many C-Dories. This is windy country and very often we'll get a brisk upstream wind that combines with the river's current for some pretty choppy water. Back in the day when I could only fish on my scheduled days off, there were a few times we went out in less than optimal conditions.
The first time I took my new-used 1975 Fiberform out, (in 1985) we went downstream of the marina several miles and the wind came up and things got a bit nasty in a short time. We were getting ready to duck into a sheltered area when lady luck smiled on us and we had a reasonable trip back to port by following close behind a tug that was pushing a barge upstream. The guys on the tug knew exactly what we were doing, kind of like they'd seen this movie a few times before. It's a good thing they came along or we might have spent the night on the Washington side of the river.
I learned an important lesson that day about small boats and weather forcasts.
I'm in Eastern Oregon on the middle Columbia river where we don't see very many C-Dories. This is windy country and very often we'll get a brisk upstream wind that combines with the river's current for some pretty choppy water. Back in the day when I could only fish on my scheduled days off, there were a few times we went out in less than optimal conditions.
The first time I took my new-used 1975 Fiberform out, (in 1985) we went downstream of the marina several miles and the wind came up and things got a bit nasty in a short time. We were getting ready to duck into a sheltered area when lady luck smiled on us and we had a reasonable trip back to port by following close behind a tug that was pushing a barge upstream. The guys on the tug knew exactly what we were doing, kind of like they'd seen this movie a few times before. It's a good thing they came along or we might have spent the night on the Washington side of the river.
I learned an important lesson that day about small boats and weather forcasts.
C-Pup16 in Los Angeles
New member
The 16 ft CD is easily blown around at slow speeds and will do a 180 before you can even respond if you're distracted. Understand this, plan approachs with the wind in mind, and give yourself plenty of margin for error when approaching tight spots on a windy river. At high speeds, use the engine tilt to get the right angle for the bow to cut into waves without losing the planing of the hull. Always keep your hand on the wheel at high speeds too. The boat can veer quickly and throow you or passengers around. Always have an engine kill-switch line attached to you. I also suggest a teather line. I use the harness version inflatable pdf from West Marine and their quick detatch teather line. If I go over board, I want to stay with the boat and have a chance to get back in and regain control. If overboard and you don't have a swim step and the motor is off, then hug the outboard and use the power lift to raise you on it. Don't let guys with larger boats or twin outboards scoff at these safety precautions. Know your boat's character and know what YOU need to do to stay on top of things and stay safe.
C-Pup16 in Los Angeles
New member
A bow pennant flag is useful to tell the direction of wind.
Chesapeake Bay really gets the wind waves. I really try to avoid anything over 1 foot unless I will have them on my stern, and then try to avoid anything over 3 feet. The 16 seems to really handle following seas well and it is way more comfortable. Going into seas greater than 1 foot is a very tiring experience. What makes it infinitely more comfortable is for the passenger to go lie down in the berth (I have a cruiser, not an angler) and have the extra 150-200 lbs forward. I have toyed with the idea of putting two 80lb sacks of play sand or concrete up forward as balast but haven't gone that route yet.
DoryLvr":2wz54tps said:Chesapeake Bay really gets the wind waves. I really try to avoid anything over 1 foot unless I will have them on my stern, and then try to avoid anything over 3 feet. The 16 seems to really handle following seas well and it is way more comfortable. Going into seas greater than 1 foot is a very tiring experience. What makes it infinitely more comfortable is for the passenger to go lie down in the berth (I have a cruiser, not an angler) and have the extra 150-200 lbs forward. I have toyed with the idea of putting two 80lb sacks of play sand or concrete up forward as balast but haven't gone that route yet.
I have one battery in front with a fair-sized anchor, chain, 300ft of rope and a tool box, plus the usual lighter stuff. I've been thinking of moving the other battery up front also because I would then have room for a fish box under the motor well along with my tanks.
From your experiences, it sounds like moving the second battery to the front would also improve the rough water ride.