bow steering

[1TUBERIDER]

Last summer I posted a story about an offshore event in high wind and had horrible bow steering problems.

On Saturday it was 20 ft swell and I went to Whalers to check out the surf and I saw a friend. We witnessed a 70ft commercial boat enter the harbor in the 20 foot conditions. We saw the boat almost broach 3 times and the one time he could keep it straight it went straight down into the trough and took water over the bridge. After they entered the safety of the harbor I saw the crew standing aft on what must have been the

POOP DECK!

I talked with a seasoned skipper(70 foot fishing boat) about it and he said that a following seas of size is tough to keep it straight. He would throw it into reverse when he felt the seas lifting him just to slow down and keep the boat from broaching.

Guess the big boats that only goes displacement speeds can also broach.
Take care when in following seas if caught in the rough. Remember to control your direction thru helm and slower speed when caught getting launched and from what the seasoned skipper was saying Its ok to go into reverse to slow the boat down.

Be safe!

 

[thataway]

One has to be careful about giving generalities in advice. For example, you might slow the boat down to keep it from going over the crest of a wave, but you would not want to put the boat in reverse, when you are already on the face. The torque of reverse, even in large vessels (especially single screw) can cause a broach in itself.

The prudent thing to do is to avoid getting caught in that situation--and stay at sea if it is too dangerous. By waiting for high slack water, a dangerous situation can become more manageable.