RUNNING IN THE WIND

[marty kirk]

At the risk of sounding stupid....can you experienced nitroer's give me some tips on running in high winds...be it that i'm a new boater and oklahoma winds are BAAAAD, throw a fellow basser some tips if you could. first time out I felt like a prisoner in the cove because I had about 35 mph winds in the open lake...so needless to say I stayed around the cove where i put in....thanks all

 

[Rob LaMoy]

35 mph....that's all? So whats the problem? LOL

Marty, until you're comfortable with your rig (that will only come with wheel time) keep it slow and keep your bow up so you don't spear any waves. Remember to keep the boat in the water. Don't go so fast you're jumping the waves. Once your transom leaves a wave, you have lost control and can only wait and hold on. The boat will "fall" back to the water and when it hits, both you and your boat are liable to get hurt. "Lull" your boat up and down the waves always keeping at least the last 10" of your hull in the water and get a hot foot and trim on the steering column. You want both hands on the wheel in that stuff, but also a hand on the throttle. We only have 2 hands, so you have to put a foot on the throttle. Hope that helps.

 

[Texas Transplant]

Ran my boat in HEAVY wind last month. Really a learning experience. What I learned.



First of all, going like a bat out of hell is not the way to go. See Rob's note. I found that making headway at about 25-30 mph gave me the best control; minimized the wet ride (to some degree); and didn't have too many hard landings. I'll wholeheartedly agree with the 'two hands on the wheel' and the hot foot. It's great.



Running 'into' the waves will likely get you wetter. What I found, is that I either wanted to be going with the waves, or going against them. I didn't like the handling/behavior when going at a diagonal at all. However, you don't always get that choice.



If the boat starts to get uncontrollable, then shut it down, bring it under steerage control, make directional corrections, and then get underway again. Most of all, when getting going again, get it up quickly - if at all possible.



In a real heavy see, be very careful of large displacement boats (like the big 25-30 foot cruisers), making 25-30 in teh slop. They create HUGE wakes that you won't readily see in time. If you need to cross their wake, slow down to 'steerage speed' and go through it slowly.



Last but not least. If it's real heavy water/wind, put on your rain suit.



I'd tell you about running near hills/mountains, but you live in Oklahoma. Kinda like Texas, not much wind relief.



Tex

 

[Scott Hammer TOXIC]

Wind or WAVES??? I was gonna say a drift sock yada, yada, but if you mean running in heavy seas the the above comments are true (opinion on the hot foot, there are some of us that do not like them). Careful not to slow down too much because wave can swamp you as well. Keep the bow up and if you have to cross then try to take them in the belly of the boat.



TOXIC

 

[TrepMan]

Head Tex's "be very careful of large displacement boats"!!!



When I lived in Tx and fished out of a 14ft jon boat, my first trip with someone else I decided to "pass" a barge! It was REAL smooth while beside the barge (a good distance away from the barge) but when I began to pass it the HUGE waves and LONG Distance between crests SWAMPED my boat!! Luckily it was summer and we were real close to a small island. So we just dragged the boat up on shore, pulled the plug and drained it. Even my 175 is TOO heavy to do that now!

 

[marty kirk]

Thanks all, hopefully I can get wet this weekend (that is if these tranny's will cooperate!)You all are a life saver to say the least

 

[Larry Harp]

Hey Marty! You know why it's so windy in Oklahoma don't ya?











BECAUSE TEXAS BLOWS!!!

]:>)))))





Harpo

 

[marty kirk]

u got that straight harp!!!!!!!