Steps wrote: I really like looking at those sorts of boats.. have a charactor about them... like old 1950s english cars. looking thru specs etc.. sort of doesnt add up in places. 18 ' 9" Displacement of 1136kg. I think from the construction materials it would be rather more than this. Hand laid fiberglas tends to be far heavier than gun/chooer therefor mettered sprayed... getting up around the 1300/1400kg Then add say 3 guys ave 85 kg (250kg) then gear fuel batteries etc that takes gross weight on the water up around the 1800 kg |
t does very good if you slow down a little. With 3 of us in the boat, in a 1-2 chop it's comfortable running low 20s. In bigger seas she'll comfortably run about 8-15 into any kind of slop you'd want to be out in, waist-head high stuff and close together. If it gets bigger than that, it's either got to spread out, or you got to go home. She's faster, more comfortable and drier in a following sea than a head sea and requires less attention. She doesn't like much slower than 8 mph, or faster than 15 into a sea, but handles a following sea well at any speed from idle to plane. |
It was easy riding out the sound at 22 kts. and we ran about 3 miles offshore to get well clear of the bars and disturbed shallow waters along the beachfront, then set the GPS for the Charleston sea buoy, 85 miles, and turned north. It's 4 pm and dark is at 8 pm, no problem. Also had no problem with running into Charleston after dark if we needed to, it's a well marked, deep, shipping channel. As we worked our way north up the coast of Hilton Head, the wind steadily increased and the seas were running about 4' with some occasional white caps, and we were getting pretty wet, but the boat was riding easy and we were still making good time, although we had slowed down to about 18-20. I headed a little further out, moving to deeper water. We passed the north end of Hilton Head and Port Royal Sound from 6 miles out. At this point it was getting rougher and we discussed heading into Pt. Royal and up to Beaufort, we had tentative reservations both in Beaufort and Charleston, but Port Royal is rough on a good day and I knew with the falling tide it would be real rough today, so we kept heading north up the coast of St. Helena Island. As we headed up the coast the wind and waves kept building, now it was blowing a steady 25-30 out the NE and seas running about 6-8 feet. We slowed down some more, down to about 12 kts. A few miles later we started to get into some much larger waves and slowed down more, and more, down to about 5 kts. I knew NOAA was wrong and Miss Jimmy was right, she's always right about weather Where did this crap come from We soon got a set of waves that made the rest look small. I spun the boat to meet the first one and it was like hitting a brick wall. The second of the set was even larger and I had to keep a lot of power on her to hold the bow up so she wouldn't stuff. When we came off the backside it was like falling off a 2 story building. There was a loud crack and I knew something had busted. The next waves of the set made Dori tell me that I had to build her a bigger boat.She was not pleased, we couldn't see, couldn't breathe and we were taking on a lot of water. The scuppers and pump were keeping up, but if it got any worse, we'd found the limits of this boat. Then a radio call came over VHF 16. A 65' shrimp boat was taking on water and sinking off Sullivans Island, south of Charleston. I punched in his co-ordinates on the GPS, he was 20 miles north of me and there was nothing I could do to help him. At this speed I'm 5 hours away. Said a prayer for them. We tuned back to NOAA and they'd finally woke up. "A tropical depression has developed off the GA/SC coast, winds building to 30-50 kts, seas building to 12-15 feet. Moving slowly up the coast and intensifying. Small craft should remain in port, yada,yada,yada, great. Our next chance inshore was at St. Helena sound, but it's shallow, poorly marked and I'm not real familiar with it, and in these conditions we'd have to run it in the dark. Not a good choice, I'd rather stay offshore in deep water than get on some bars in an unfamiliar inlet with these waves breaking in the dark. It was almost 7 pm, an hour before dark. We kept plugging north, now making about 3 kts. Then we got into another set of waves that left us no choice but to turn around. The boat couldn't take much more than that, and there was so much spay we couldn't even breathe. I keep a mask and snorkle in the boat and Dori put it on to keep the contact lenses in her eyes. Wish I had 2 of them. We made a 180 turn, timing it careful on the wave face so we wouldn't broach, and headed back south. It was almost instant relief running with the sea. I put us on the back of 1 wave and stayed with it. No more pounding, no more spray, I could get a whole breath of air without salt water. We matched the wave speed of about 8 kts, dried off, lit a cigarette, made a drink, dang that felt good The only problem was, we were 8 miles offshore and the seas were still building. I would have kept running south all night, but Dori wanted in, now, the sooner the better. I set the GPS on the Port Royal sea buoy, 8 miles south of us. It's not a good inlet, but at least I'm familiar with it. I figured worse case I'd run her aground on St. Helena and we'd get out and walk. This boat is amazing in a following sea 9 pm, past dark, got another radio call, a 49' shrimp boat was sinking 30 miles off Charleston. Said a prayer for them. 930 pm, another, a 65' sportfisherman had broke in half and sinking at the mouth of Charleston Harbor. Said a prayer for them too. We still had a long way to go. I called USCG Tybee, reported our position, situation, and set up a 15 minute reporting schedule. We were riding safe, but wanted someone to know where we were. Called Beaufort Downtown Marina and made arrangements for overnight dockage, called Charleston Harbor Resort and cancelled reservations for the night, called the Beaufort B&B and made sure we had a dry bed lined up, if we made it. I'd promised Dori a dry bed every night 10 pm, made the Port Royal sea buoy, couldn't see it but the GPS said it was there. Turned up the north channel and lost all advantage of the following sea, back into it again but only a few miles to go before we'd get some protection. Running completely blind except for the chart plotter and compass. I had paper charts, but no possible way to use them in the wind and spray. 11 pm, made the Beaufort river and turned north, straight into the 40 mph. wind and a slow slog, but making 6 kts towards a hot shower. Wet and uncomfortable but not dangerous. Home free now. |
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