Rough water

[edingerfa]

Thinking of a pocket trawler (31s). Use on Lake Michigan. Primarily shore type cruising, but waves of 3-4 feet often come up quickly. How would the 31s handle head, following or beam seas at that level. Beam is narrow, fairly light weight. Don't go looking for trouble, but want to feel safe.

 

[Spinner]

Hi, 3-4 foot seas are manageable if quartering or even following (if you keep your speed up to maintain steering downwind). I would not want to travel with 3-4 foot waves on the beam - I tack in circumstances like that. I had my Ranger 29 out in 7 foot seas. It wasn't pleasant, but workable. The 31 will handle a bit more, of course.

 

[Captain Steve]

We take our R25 out in the Santa Barbara Channel to the Channel Islands off our coast. Sometimes waves are 8-10 feet. My partner boat and I lose sight of each other in the troughs. Just be careful and safe the boat will take much more than we can. Just quarter them and match your speed to the wave period.

 

[Just Dreamin']

We keep our R25 classic on Lake Erie (Marblehead, OH) and you are correct, waves on the Great Lakes can build very quickly with short wavelengths. To your question, we have been caught several times in waves in the 3-4ft range and never felt the tug was not safe. What we have found is the tug will take a lot more than either the 1st mate(me) or the admiral. :shock: The 31 with its wider beam would provide a more stable ride. However, as noted by Sue beam sea is a different story. We use the same procedure, tack to destination.

 

[nzfisher]

The wave height is not as relevant as the period between crests and troughs. I have fished while drifting off the coast of Oregon (sometimes when you drift fish you are in the trough abeam). 4-5 foot seas are common and as long is the period is 7 seconds or greater it is not a big deal although not comfortable on an R25. A period less than that is still safe but not fun enough to keep fishing typically unless you troll against or with the wave. While moving you are much more in control of the conditions on the boat. Uphill, against the wave direction 6-7 ft. with 5 seconds is completely doable at a slow speed, but again, not fun as I have done this many times.

Sort of the point of the above is "feeling safe" is a condition that is based upon a lot of factors. I would say your sense of balance and how many hours you have spent on the water are the primary factors as well as the kind of boating you do. In any case your wider R31 would feel much "safer" than my boat in the same conditions.

 

[Brucks]

We keep our R25 classic on Lake Erie (Marblehead, OH) and you are correct, waves on the Great Lakes can build very quickly with short wavelengths. To your question, we have been caught several times in waves in the 3-4ft range and never felt the tug was not safe. What we have found is the tug will take a lot more than either the 1st mate(me) or the admiral. :shock: The 31 with its wider beam would provide a more stable ride. However, as noted by Sue beam sea is a different story. We use the same procedure, tack to destination.

Hello: I am thinking of buying a R25 for use on an inland lake in KY, but also to take on the great lakes and on the bay down in FL. I saw your post. Could you please tell me how the ride is on 203 ft. chop in the R25? Do you like it? In calm waters, what is the cruising speed? I am unable to do a sea trial because the dealer is in TN and can't accommodate. Any advice would be appreciated. Thank you, John email is jbruck714@gmail.com

 

[Brucks]

We keep our R25 classic on Lake Erie (Marblehead, OH) and you are correct, waves on the Great Lakes can build very quickly with short wavelengths. To your question, we have been caught several times in waves in the 3-4ft range and never felt the tug was not safe. What we have found is the tug will take a lot more than either the 1st mate(me) or the admiral. :shock: The 31 with its wider beam would provide a more stable ride. However, as noted by Sue beam sea is a different story. We use the same procedure, tack to destination.

Hello: I am thinking of buying a R25 for use on an inland lake in KY, but also to take on the great lakes and on the bay down in FL. I saw your post. Could you please tell me how the ride is on 203 ft. chop in the R25? Do you like it? In calm waters, what is the cruising speed? I am unable to do a sea trial because the dealer is in TN and can't accommodate. Any advice would be appreciated. Thank you, John email is jbruck714@gmail.com

 

[JamesTXSD]

We keep our R25 classic on Lake Erie (Marblehead, OH) and you are correct, waves on the Great Lakes can build very quickly with short wavelengths. To your question, we have been caught several times in waves in the 3-4ft range and never felt the tug was not safe. What we have found is the tug will take a lot more than either the 1st mate(me) or the admiral. :shock: The 31 with its wider beam would provide a more stable ride. However, as noted by Sue beam sea is a different story. We use the same procedure, tack to destination.

Hello: I am thinking of buying a R25 for use on an inland lake in KY, but also to take on the great lakes and on the bay down in FL. I saw your post. Could you please tell me how the ride is on 203 ft. chop in the R25? Do you like it? In calm waters, what is the cruising speed? I am unable to do a sea trial because the dealer is in TN and can't accommodate. Any advice would be appreciated. Thank you, John email is jbruck714@gmail.com

Pretty sure 203 foot chop would be quite unpleasant. :shock:

 

[S. Todd]

We have had or 2015 R25SC on Lake Michigan, Lake Superior, Lake Huron, Lake Erie, Lake Simcoe, Dale Hollow and Lake Cumberland. 303 total hours. Prior to purchasing the Ranger Tug we had 5 Sea Rays all at 24 feet or less and did the same lakes. The Mercruiser IOs made following seas much easier and more fun, but otherwise the handling of the Ranger Tug has been fine in 1 to 3s and gets more of a challenge at 4s. The worst we ever had was Lake Simcoe where the shallow water conditions after a long fetch caused the waves to be one right after the other - before the water ran down off the windshield the next one was hitting it. I never felt unsafe in the Ranger Tug because the low center of gravity by placing the engine low in the hull makes the boat very stable. The diesel power is strong and dependable. Beam Seas can be and have been avoided. We have been so happy with the Ranger Tug that we have decided to upgrade to a R29S for more room and longer cruising with grandkids.

 

[Submariner]

We had our R27-OB in 3-5 foot seas (with an occasional 6 footer) a week ago.
5 and 6 footers are quite tall. Worst sea state I've had to drive in.

Our problem was more about being able to see out the front (the windows fogged up something fierce). My wife would wipe off what she could reach on the port side, and I would do the same on the starboard side. Just so I could see the waves coming from both sides of the boat. It was a lot of water splashing and falling around us. Like driving through a waterfall, literally.

This was in Puget Sound, during a small craft advisory that called for 20-30kt winds, seas 3-5 foot. White caps everywhere.

Our tug handled it just fine. We were heading due South into a Southwest wind. So we were taking the waves nearly head on (at a slight angle, of course, as you would any oncoming waves). The boat rocked up and down, side to side as you would expect. Took us almost 2 hours to go 10 nautical miles in that mess doing 4-8kts. We weren't white knuckled or scared. We were dry and felt safe and secure. But we also felt like "I don't want to be here. Get me off this ride."
This was Friday.

On our return trip that Sunday, it was another small craft advisory, 2-4 foot seas. Same Southwest wind (15-25kts), except we were heading due North. At one point I felt the boat bogged down, I saw us doing 3000 RPM, 2.4mpg and 10mph. (On our boat, 3000 RPM should be like 0.8mpg). We were holding position on the uphill side of a wave that was moving 10mph.

The tug did great, we made it home safe and sound, and my wife still loves me.