squirrel tailing effect

[capt. meares]

I was able to get out and do some extensive ocean time yesterday here in Tillamook. The bottom fishing was great and I limited in less than an hour. I then had a lot of time on my hands to play around until the tide swung and the bar was smooth enough to return. I am more than pleased at how well she handles in on coming swells. I have read lots on how the C-dory hull glides through the water, but had no idea how smooth of a ride it really was until yesterday. Right at about 15 mph, was the sweet spot.

Coming from the other direction, down the swells was a little different ball game than I am used to, compared to my old aluminum 18 footer. It really does squirrel tail a lot and slip around all over the place. I guess this is pretty normal with all dorys'. I am wondering what I can do to get accustomed to this. Has anyone else made the switch like me and been a little surprised? Is it better to slow down, or the more power the better? Should I consider twin 40's instead of a 90 when I repower in the spring or does it not make any difference? Thanks.......

 

[hardee]

Congrats on getting out over the bar and having time to enjoy the ride. OK, I'll bite. I have no idea what you mean by "Squirrel tailing". I have heard of squirrelly, and bow steering and I don't think they are the same but, you asked.....

"Should I consider twin 40's instead of a 90 when I repower in the spring or does it not make any difference? Thanks......."

So, my answer is yes. Yes you should consider twin ____ :!: OK, so maybe I am a bit biased, but my personal thought is that IF YOU ARE in the ocean, (and especially where you are getting into open ocean) you should consider twins. Yep, there will be some that will come behind me and say no, and they have their reasons, and some of them are good reasons, and all of them are good people BUT you do not want to get stuck crossing a bar, even Tillamook on a little kicker.

So, you ask ....40's? Since I have twin 40's, I can speak here with some experience, and I have been in some significant water with my 22 Cruiser and twin 40's. If I were repowering, and the thought has crossed my mind but the timing is not right yet, it would be with more that 40's. I would consider at least 50's, and I think that would do the job fine. I have not looked into weights and hp really seriously, but in 6-8ft following seas, and 30-40% whitecaps, I know I was working my 40's pretty hard. There were times when I wished for just a bit quicker response and a little bit faster would have been nice but, remembering my old surfing days, and paying VERY close attention to over my left shoulder, we made it though. I don't know if you could plane your boat on a single 50, but it would at least have enough power to push you through the bar.

And then there is the other side of twins, steerage control at slow, and incredible maneuverability with unbelievable ease. And they look cool, which is not why I have twins, but there are folks who think that. (Either meaning.) :lol:

Yup, it's twice the price for some things, but the redundancy is there if/when you need it. Maybe you never will. That would be good, but it only takes once.

Harvey
SleepyC :moon

 

[Foggy]

IMHO "squirreling" down the face of a wave is the boats flat stern wanting to
get ahead of the more "V'd" bow, which, because of its shape, digs in and lifts the
stern. If severe and uncorrected, this could end in a broach.

Prevention might be minimizing bow weight in heavy seas, trim tabs "up", neutral
engine tilt, more weight in the stern with that second engine and good
helmsmanship. The surest cure is avoidance followed by experience.

This is the trade off we buy in a C-Dory for being able to plane off earlier at lower
speeds compared to our "deep V" (or keeled) cousins.

Aye.

 

[Foggy]

Addendum: some may want to use a drogue to help stabilize the stern going down steep seas.

Aye.

 

[thataway]

I have owned boats with both twins and singles. Nothing that I have seen would recommend twins as far as handling in the down large wave conditions.

Looking at your weather from NOAA Buoy it appear that you had about 6 foot seas at 9 to 10 second intervals. These are large enough that surfing down the front of the wave might give you the issues your reported. When the waves are heigh enough to cause the boat to accelerate down the face of a wave enough to cause potential broaching--then it is time to slow down. If you watch the ocean racing power boats, they have a helmsman and a throttle man. This same technique applies to the C Dory--right and on the throttle, and left hand on the helm. Generally I prefer to run on the back of a wave. If I need to go faster, then I trim bow up, (both with engine trim and trim tabs --trim tabs full up in those conditions) and use a lot of throttle work to keep the boat from the bow down/tendency to broach. There are some very specific conditions with a quartering sea where working the trim tabs may be of value.

Drogues have their place, but this would be in a displacement boat, and at slow speeds. For the C Dory, for drift fishing I can see a value. A disadvantage of a drogue, is the open non self bailing cockpit, and large splash well. Part of the seaworthiness of the C Dory is related to good reserve buoyancy aft and ability to pull ahead quickly if necessary of a breaking sea--rather than being held back to allow a sea to break over the boat from astern.

In another post today, I mentioned a run down Johnstone Straight inside of Vancouver Island, with very steep seas over 10 feet. I maintained about 15 knots of speed, but by working the throttle all of the time--the boat handled it well, but it was tiring.