IMPORTANT!!! handling small boats in the rough.

[michael_Brewer]

Can anyone please help me. I am sixteen years old and I own a 13ft tinne with a 20 Mariner.
I took my mate out the other week over to Mud Is. We left Manly boat Harbour at around 5 in the morn with the winds expected to be around 10-20 kn. when we arrived there we fitted a few hours of fishing in before the wind started to pick up. We left at about ten to be safe. on the way back the wind picked up quite fast so it was pretty scary driving back to the ramp. it was almost like an arcade game or a roller coaster because my boat isn't tiller steer it has a steering wheel.

I haven't really got anyone to help teach me so I thought by bringing up this subject, this could give me and other rookie boaties a chance to here your ideas, hints, and tips on driving and handling a small boat in swell or big chop.
Anything like how to tackle a wave... head on or slicing it diagonally. The best shaped hulls for big waves. drive fast or slow etc. things like that.
any help would be greatly appreciated.
I think this is an important subject to discuss and could help provide newer anglers with important info.
please do not hesitate to write in with your views.

I look forward to how you feel towards this subject.
thanks for your help.
Michael

[POC]

Hi Michael

I used to fish Peel Island in my 4.3m Clark Abalone, often I was going out when every other boat was coming home (seems irresponsible now that I am older and wiser). I have never fished Mud but given most of the bay is shallow I hope the following helps.

In a small boat in rough seas slower is better, no point beating you, your crew and gear to death, go as slow as feels safe and comfortable even if that means getting off the plane and ploughing home. A wise man once told me that a good skipper handles his boat for his or hers passenger safety and comfort not for speed.

The best way to handle a sea depends on your hull but don’t be afraid to triangulate your way home, different hulls handle seas in their own way so find what’s best for yours, if its fighting you or pitching and rolling try another angle of attack.

Have plenty of fuel up your sleeve, I used to use approximately twice the amount of fuel heading back to Vic. Point on a rough night as I would on a good night.

Keep a good watch on the water, you may be in a protected spot and not be exposed to the wind but watch exposed water to see what it is doing.

If you think the situation is getting dangerous or you don't feel in control never delay getting life jackets on and calling for help, better to be safe than sorry!

I hope this if of some help to you but I am sure there are others in the newsgroup better qualified to offer you some advice.

All the best

POC

P.S. I was up at Lucinda in October and coming in past the sugar jetty reminded me of the paddock between Peel and Vic Point.

[blaze]

Hi all
Small boats rough sea, not a good combination. I think first and fore most is learn to read weather charts, tell some body where you are going, makesure you have all the safety requirements plus extras like eperb dont hurt. report into your local coastguard etc. dont be a dead hero, if it gets too rough put to the closest land ( might'nt get home but you will be alive) If the weather looks like getting up leave earlier in preference to later.
even doing all these things over a lifetime of boating you will still get caught sometime, slow and steady and if you keep the nose up and be aware of whats happening you will get home
Have good floatation fit to your boat
happy boating
cheers
blaze

[clutter]

I used to have a 13 foot tinnie and consider myself quite experienced in that sized boat and I definitely would not have ventured out if the winds were predicted to be up to 20 knots. Would have stuck close to home or up the rivers and esturies. Don't try to second guess the weather.
Clutter

[adrian]

I've been caught out like that too in my bayhunter best way was to head for home early or to nearest safe land tuck in behind an island and wait . or if you are out in the middle slow down and i found that if you ride the back of the wave it's not so bad . BUT Keep a good look out behind you for the one that is coming up .

Anzac

[Jeremy]

Michael,

good question. Including the obvious, my advice is:
1. check the weather forecast. If the wind if forecast to reach 20 knots, fish somewhere protected or make sure you leave well before the wind freshens. It is hard work slogging it back into even 15 knots. You are better off planning to head into the forecase wind direction when you set off, and coming back with the wind on the way home.
2. always carry a fuel reserve. The basic rule is to use 1/3 of the fuel to get there, 1/3 for the way home, and 1/3 in reserve. Better to have extra reserve in a jerry can is you are going into open water or travelling further than usual.
3. always carry all mandatory safety gear and know how to use it. If you are heading out into open water, consider also carrying a radio (or at least a mobile phone) and an EPIRB.
4. heading into rough seas, I try to accelerate through the troughs and ease off on the crests, so you don't get airborne. You will be the best judge of how best to drive your boat through experience. The only things you need to watch are comfort and safety.
5. If the waves are breaking, try to take them either directly head on, or at an angle of 10-20 degrees. Try to time your arrival the the face of the wave either before it breaks, or after it had broken. The last thing you want is to have a wave breaking over you.

I hope this helps. If in doubt don't go out. The skipper is responsible for the safety of the crew. Good fishing, but remember, the best fishing and the biggest fish aren't necessarily the furthest away.

Jeremy

[deb]

Mick,
A couple of extra's, definately take it slow, look around, if another bigger boat is near you or is coming, flag them down and ask if you can get in their wake on the way in, I have slowed down heaps of times for a tinnie to follow behind, most boaties out their fishing are a pretty friendly bunch

[argonautical]

Mick
My two bob's worth. Be aware of what the tide is doing and whether there is going to be a strong tidal influence. It can work for you or against you. Coming home from Mud Is into a sou-easter and a big run-in tide creates a very steep chop on the surface of the water. Uncomfortable in a big boat, trouble in a small boat like yours and mine. The point being, if at all possible, head for home when the wind and tide are both going the same way...If in doubt, don't go out.
Argo

[Jeremy]

Hey Argo

"Coming home from Mud Is into a sou-easter and a big run-in tide creates a very steep chop on the surface of the water."

How would you be coming home from Mud into a sou-easter, unless you lived on Moreton? A sou-easter and run-in tide would be in the same direction. I would have thought that it would be the sou-easter and run out tide that would be the problem.

Jeremy

[argonautical]

Jeremy,
In broad terms, run-in tide runs north south in the bay down to about Canaipa. It does swirl around the islands and even sort of goes the wrong way in Horseshoe Bay.

OK Mud to Manly is roughly south -west so you are running across rather than into a sou-easter. Irrespective of your direction of travel, the surface of the water will chop up more if the wind and the tide are going in different directions. The bigger the tide and the stonger the wind the greater the effect. Not directly on point, but see the way an offshore wind can change slop into surf and a nor-easter just as quickly turn it back.

Fully support the view that prevention is better than cure, but those issues well covered in yours and other posts. In my current boat probably would not fish that part of the bay.

Argo

[Jeremy]

Argo,

definitely agree that wind against tide is not what we want out there. Take your point about the run in tide pushing water South in the bay. I launch from Fisherman Is. and head out through the Brisbane R to Mud Is on the few occasions I have fished there, so the run out tide at the Brisbae R mouth goes directly into a SEerly, which is the point I was making

Jeremy

[sharkbait]

No offence but if you seriously launched at manly and went to mud island in a 13ft/20hp tinny in 10 - 20 knots regardless of wind direction you are bloody crazy! for a start it must have taken you an hour to get there! you have to remember that like peel to cleveland, mud to pinkenba or manly has open water that will chop up very quickly in any sort of wind, even though on the chart its not very far. try fishing green island a few times in up to 10 knot winds to get a feel for what your boat can handle safely. I would have thought mud island would be a prospect for a boat your size only in up to 5 knots.

[aussiebasser]

The simple answer is:
If the weather report says 10 to 20 knot winds, do not venture into Moreton Bay in a 13 foot tinny. Stick to the rivers.

[Jeremy]

Sorry Sharkbait and Aussiebasser, but I think you are both being a bit conservative. The bottom line is know the capabilities of your boat and local conditions. There can be big differences in the seaworthiness of different 13' boats. You'd never get to go fishing if you only went out in forecasts of less than 10 knots. You just can't make blanket statements like that. I regularly see 12 and 13 foot tinnies up to 10 km offshore at Caloundra and Mooloolaba in reasonable conditions.

I say again to Michael, you are the best judge of the capabilities of your boat, but this knowledge does need time and experience to build up. I do agree that it is a long way from Manly to Mud, and the weather can change quickly in the bay. The suggestion of going to Green Is first is worthwhile, and then go further if you feel confident.

[aussiebasser]

No need to be sorry Jeremy. You may have mis-read the original question though.
Michael is 16 years old and new to boating. He is asking for help as a rookie. I stand by what I said. A rookie should not venture into the area of Mud Island to Manly in forecasted 20 knot winds in a 13 foot tinny. And I don't care how big that 13 foot tinny is. I almost lost a big 15 foot glass runabout between Mud Island and the river mouth. In a 13 foot tinny, I would have lost it.